Chapter 14 - Vivian's Bargain
I met Vivian in a quiet public lounge with Margaret nearby and a recorder plainly visible on the table. I wasn't going to trap her. I wanted her to choose her own words.
She arrived wearing pearl earrings and the same expression she'd worn over Ruth's injured body.
"You look exhausted," she said.
"You look expensive."
"Childish."
"Where are Dad's records?"
Vivian didn't pretend not to understand. "Your father came to me because he distrusted Adrian. He believed I could persuade Grant to straighten out the accounts."
"Could you?"
"I could have."
"But you didn't."
She folded her hands. "Grant had already guaranteed loans. Exposing the invoices would have ruined him. I thought I could repair the problem quietly."
"With forged documents and evictions?"
"I did not approve every method."
"You approved enough."
Her gaze flicked toward the recorder. "If you drop the litigation, I'll give you the backup. Harbor House stays open. Ruth receives a settlement. Your marriage can end privately."
"And what happens to everyone else who lost money?"
"They get stability."
"They get silence. That's different."
For the first time she seemed to recognize me as someone she couldn't manage with a compliment or threat.
"Your father was pragmatic," she said.
"He was kind. Don't confuse those things."
Vivian opened her purse and placed a slim drive on the table. She didn't release it when I reached for it.
"One condition. You never say in public that I caused that woman's injury."
I stared at her hand. I thought of Ruth's splint, Talia's lost shifts, and the tenants praying over paperwork they couldn't afford to fight.
"Keep it," I said. "I'll get the records another way."
She snatched up the drive. As she rose, a man in a security uniform entered through the back door and whispered in her ear.
Vivian's expression changed.
May you like
"Adrian has gone to the airport," she said. "And he's taken Grant's passport."
THE NIGHT SHE TURNED THE TABLES |
