Chapter 2 - The Name Celeste Never Expected
Celeste’s hand tightened around the bouquet so hard the paper crackled.
“What did you say?”
Rosa bent down, picked up the crushed rose, and placed it on the edge of her cart.
“Your mother’s name was Evelyn Whitmore,” she said. “She liked red roses, but never the perfect ones. She said the crooked stems had more character.”
Celeste stared at her.
That detail was not in magazines. It was not in the charity profiles about Evelyn’s death. It was not something a stranger should know.
Naomi lowered her phone slightly, sensing that the argument had turned into something else.
Celeste stepped toward Rosa. “How did you know her?”
“Pay for the bouquet.”
“Stop playing games.”
“I’m not playing anything.” Rosa nodded toward the flowers. “That bouquet was ordered yesterday. It belongs to someone else.”
Celeste glanced at the SUV, then back at Rosa. “Who?”
Rosa’s eyes narrowed. “That’s none of your business.”
Celeste pulled two hundred-dollar bills from her handbag and tossed them onto the cart. One landed in a bucket of water.
“There. Happy?”
“No.”
Celeste almost smiled. “Of course not.”
Rosa took the wet bill out, pressed it flat on the wood, and said, “Your mother wasn’t happy either. Not near the end.”
The SUV driver, Marcus, finally stepped out. “Ms. Whitmore, we should go.”
Celeste ignored him. “What did she tell you?”
Rosa looked past her at the warm brick building across the street. Whitmore Development had bought half the block in the last six months. New eviction notices had appeared on two storefronts that morning.
“She told me some buildings are stolen with signatures instead of guns.”
Celeste’s expression hardened again. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Naomi’s phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen and went pale.
Her video had uploaded automatically to a private cloud folder she used for work. But beneath the upload notification was a news alert:
WHITMORE DEVELOPMENT ANNOUNCES FINAL ACQUISITION OF MERCER MARKET BLOCK.
Rosa saw it over her shoulder.
“Final acquisition?” Rosa whispered.
Naomi nodded. “It says demolition starts Monday.”
Rosa’s face changed.
“That’s impossible.”
Celeste gave the smallest smile.
May you like
Then Rosa turned toward the old flower cart and ripped open the drawer beneath the register.
The envelope she had hidden there that morning was gone.
