Chapter 4 - The Maid Who Was Never Supposed to Know the Family SecretEmily did not sleep that night.
She sat in the guest room Charles had insisted she use during late shifts, staring at the photograph of Penny and Laura.
Her mother.
Her mother, who had died seven years earlier after a short battle with cancer.
Her mother, who had told Emily hundreds of stories about childhood, work, bad boyfriends, cheap apartments, and the summer she had driven across three states with Ruth.
But never Penny Vance.
Never Teresa.
Never the Vance family.
Never a ledger.
Emily turned the photograph over.
Faded handwriting covered the back.
Summer at Coney Island.
P, L, Mom.
Emily touched the letters.
P.
Penny.
L.
Laura.
Her mother had known them.
More than known them.
She had been close enough to Teresa to stand beside her in family photographs.
Why hide it?
A knock came.
Emily opened the door.
Charles stood outside.
No jacket.
No tie.
His sleeves were rolled up.
He looked less like a mafia boss and more like a man who had been awake for twenty hours.
“Can I come in?”
Emily stepped aside.
Charles entered but remained near the door.
“How is Teresa?”
“Asleep.”
“Good.”
He noticed the photograph.
“You’re thinking about your mother.”
“Yes.”
“So am I.”
Emily looked at him.
Charles sat in the chair across from the bed.
“I had people look into Laura.”
Anger flashed through Emily.
“You investigated my mother?”
“I investigate everything.”
“That doesn’t make it acceptable.”
“No.”
Emily blinked.
Charles added, “But I’m not apologizing for this one.”
She folded her arms.
“What did you find?”
“Laura Bell worked at a legal accounting firm nineteen years ago.”
Emily knew that.
“She did bookkeeping.”
“She worked for Moreland and Pierce.”
“Yes.”
Charles’s gaze sharpened.
“That firm handled several corporations connected to my uncle.”
Emily slowly sat.
“My mother never mentioned that.”
“They weren’t officially Vance companies.”
“What were they?”
“Shell businesses.”
Emily understood enough.
“Money laundering?”
Charles did not answer directly.
“That would be one description.”
Emily stared at the photograph again.
“So Penny found financial records.”
“Possibly.”
“And my mother could have had access.”
“Yes.”
Emily felt sick.
“Did she help Penny?”
“I think so.”
“Then why didn’t she tell police?”
Charles’s expression darkened.
“She did.”
Emily looked up.
“The anonymous woman.”
“Armitage’s description fits.”
Emily swallowed.
“My mother went to the police.”
“Two days after Penny’s funeral.”
“And then?”
“She disappeared from the city for four months.”
Emily frowned.
“What?”
Charles placed several photocopied documents on the bed.
“Your mother left her apartment three days after visiting the station.”
Emily stared.
“She told me she went to stay with my grandmother.”
“She did.”
“That wasn’t unusual.”
“Maybe not.”
Charles pointed to another page.
“But your grandmother filed a temporary change of address under a different surname.”
Emily’s stomach tightened.
“My mother was hiding.”
“Yes.”
“From Vincent?”
“I don’t know.”
“But you think so.”
Charles did not deny it.
Emily stood and walked toward the window.
“This is insane.”
“Yes.”
“You fired me yesterday.”
“Yes.”
“Now you’re telling me my mother may have helped your dead sister uncover a criminal conspiracy.”
Charles considered.
“When you say it that way, it sounds complicated.”
Emily turned.
“Charles.”
A faint smile appeared.
It vanished quickly.
“There’s more.”
Of course there was.
“Your mother received a payment six months after Penny died.”
Emily stared.
“What kind of payment?”
“Twenty-five thousand dollars.”
“That was a fortune for us.”
“I know.”
“From whom?”
“A company called Briar Holdings.”
Charles watched her.
“It was controlled by Vincent.”
Emily stood abruptly.
“No.”
“I have the transfer record.”
“No.”
“Emily.”
“My mother would never take blood money.”
“I didn’t say she did.”
“You said Vincent paid her.”
“I said a company he controlled transferred money.”
“That sounds like payment.”
“It could have been.”
Emily’s eyes filled with anger.
“You don’t know her.”
“No.”
Charles rose.
“But I know leverage.”
Emily looked away.
“The money might have been hush money.”
She flinched.
“Or money your mother never requested.”
Emily looked at him.
Charles continued.
“Maybe Vincent wanted a transaction on paper.”
“To make it look like she took a payoff.”
“Yes.”
Emily sat again.
That possibility was somehow worse.
“What happened to the money?”
“Your mother withdrew it two days later.”
Emily remembered something.
A story Ruth had told.
Laura showing up at her door terrified.
Carrying cash.
Emily had always assumed it had been savings.
She covered her mouth.
“What?”
Charles stepped closer.
“My grandmother once told me my mother arrived at her house with an envelope full of money.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
Emily’s voice shook.
“She said Mom was scared somebody would find it in her bank account.”
Charles became very still.
“Did Ruth say what happened to it?”
“She said Mom gave it away.”
“To whom?”
“I don’t know.”
Charles paced.
“Think.”
Emily closed her eyes.
Ruth’s kitchen.
Rain against glass.
Her grandmother speaking years later.
Your mother always believed dirty money could be made clean if it helped somebody.
Emily opened her eyes.
“She donated it.”
“To what?”
“A women’s shelter.”
Charles stopped pacing.
“Which one?”
“I don’t know.”
“We can find it.”
Emily’s phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
She ignored it.
It vibrated again.
Charles noticed.
“Answer.”
“No.”
“Emily.”
She sighed and picked up.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then breathing.
Emily frowned.
“Who is this?”
A man spoke quietly.
“You should stop asking questions about dead women.”
The line went dead.
Emily’s face lost color.
Charles crossed the room.
“What happened?”
She handed him the phone.
He checked the number.
Blocked.
“What did they say?”
Emily told him.
Charles changed instantly.
The tiredness vanished.
The softness disappeared.
The man the city feared returned.
He opened the door.
“Daniel.”
The security chief appeared within seconds.
“Sir.”
“Lock the estate.”
Emily stood.
“Charles—”
“Trace every incoming call to her phone.”
Daniel nodded.
“Done.”
“I want two people with Emily at all times.”
“No.”
Charles looked at her.
Emily crossed her arms.
“I am not being followed into the bathroom by armed men.”
His expression did not change.
“One outside the bathroom.”
“This is exactly what we discussed.”
“This is not about control.”
“It looks remarkably similar.”
“Someone threatened you.”
“Because of your family.”
“Yes.”
The admission stopped her.
Charles stepped closer.
“And that makes your safety my responsibility.”
Emily’s chin lifted.
“I am not another thing you own.”
His face softened by one degree.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
His voice dropped.
“That’s why I’m asking you to cooperate instead of ordering you.”
Emily stared.
Daniel looked fascinated by the historic event.
Emily finally sighed.
“One security person.”
“Two.”
“One.”
“Two.”
“One and cameras.”
Charles considered.
“Fine.”
Daniel left before either changed their minds.
Emily looked at Charles.
“This is absurd.”
“It’s temporary.”
“Until?”
“Until I know who called.”
“You already know.”
Charles’s expression darkened.
“We suspect.”
They found Teresa awake downstairs forty minutes later.
She was sorting photographs.
Emily sat beside her.
Charles remained near the doorway.
Teresa held up a picture of Penny.
“My girl.”
Emily smiled.
“She was beautiful.”
“So are you.”
Emily laughed softly.
Charles watched.
Teresa picked up another photograph.
Her face changed.
Vincent.
Young.
Standing beside Anthony.
She dropped it.
Emily noticed.
“Teresa?”
“Bad man.”
Charles stepped closer.
“Mom.”
Teresa pointed at the photograph.
“He wanted everything.”
Charles crouched.
“What did he want?”
“Anthony’s place.”
Charles’s heart slowed.
“Dad’s position?”
Teresa shook her head.
“Everything.”
Emily exchanged a look with Charles.
“Did Penny know?”
Teresa stared at the floor.
“Penny knew about numbers.”
Charles frowned.
“My sister hated math.”
Teresa laughed suddenly.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“Laura knew numbers.”
Emily’s chest tightened.
“My mother.”
Teresa smiled at her.
“Smart girl.”
“What did Laura find?”
Teresa’s smile faded.
“Accounts.”
“Where?”
“Office.”
“Vincent’s office?”
Teresa nodded.
“Penny saw names.”
“What names?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mom, try.”
Emily touched Charles’s arm.
He stopped.
Teresa’s breathing had changed.
Emily lowered her voice.
“It’s okay.”
Teresa looked relieved.
Charles hated himself for not noticing.
Emily asked gently, “Did Penny hide something?”
Teresa looked around.
“She liked birds.”
Charles frowned.
“What?”
“Bluebird.”
Emily stiffened.
“My mother’s necklace.”
Teresa reached toward Emily’s throat.
“No necklace.”
“Where is it?”
“At my apartment.”
Teresa grabbed Emily’s hand.
“Inside.”
Emily stared.
“Inside what?”
“The bird.”
Charles leaned closer.
“Mom?”
Teresa whispered, “Penny said Laura would know.”
Emily’s heart pounded.
Charles looked at her.
“Your necklace.”
Emily stood.
“We need to go.”
Charles stopped her.
“No.”
“What?”
“You are not leaving the estate.”
“My mother’s necklace might contain whatever Penny hid.”
“And someone threatened you twenty minutes ago.”
“Then send people.”
“I’ll go.”
Emily stared.
“You don’t know where it is.”
“Tell me.”
“No.”
“Emily.”
“If it belonged to my mother and Penny trusted her, I’m going.”
Charles’s jaw tightened.
She met his eyes.
Finally he nodded.
“Fine.”
Three cars left the estate.
Emily thought it was ridiculous.
Until they reached her street.
Her apartment window was broken.
Charles saw it before she did.
He grabbed her arm.
“Stay in the car.”
She looked up.
Glass glittered on the pavement.
The curtain moved in the wind.
Her stomach dropped.
“My apartment.”
Charles’s men moved toward the building.
Emily tried to follow.
Charles blocked her.
“No.”
“My mother’s things are in there.”
“Emily.”
“What if they took the necklace?”
Charles looked toward the building.
“We’ll find out.”
Daniel returned ten minutes later.
“Apartment was searched.”
Emily swallowed.
“Anything missing?”
“Hard to tell.”
“The jewelry box?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Empty.”
Emily’s heart sank.
Charles cursed quietly.
Then Emily remembered.
“No.”
Charles turned.
“What?”
“The necklace isn’t in the jewelry box.”
“Where?”
Emily almost laughed.
“My mother thought jewelry boxes were the first place thieves looked.”
Charles stared.
“Where did she keep it?”
“In a bag of flour.”
Charles blinked.
Daniel looked away to hide a smile.
Emily opened the car door.
Charles caught it.
“You stay behind me.”
Inside, the apartment was destroyed.
Books torn from shelves.
Cushions sliced.
Drawers emptied.
Emily’s hands shook.
Charles noticed.
His anger grew colder.
“They won’t touch you.”
“You can’t promise that.”
He looked at her.
“No.”
For once, he did not lie.
“But I can make it very difficult.”
Emily went to the kitchen.
The flour canister remained on the counter.
She opened it.
Reached inside.
Pulled out a plastic bag.
Inside lay a delicate silver chain.
A small blue bird hung from it.
Charles exhaled.
Emily wiped flour away.
“There’s no opening.”
“Let me see.”
She handed it to him.
Charles examined the pendant.
Then pressed along one wing.
A tiny seam appeared.
Emily gasped.
Charles used the point of a pocketknife.
The bird opened.
Inside was a piece of tightly rolled paper.
They stared.
Emily removed it carefully.
The writing was faded.
Three lines.
A storage facility.
A unit number.
And four words.
If anything happens, trust Laura.
Emily looked at Charles.
At the bottom was a single letter.
P.
Penny.
Charles closed his eyes.
For nineteen years, he had believed his sister’s final act had been walking away from him.
Now he understood.
She had not been running from family.
May you like
She had been trying to save it.
And someone had killed her before she could finish.
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