Chapter 2 - The Woman in the Hallway
Victoria stood beneath the portrait of Anthony's late wife, her evening bag hanging from one wrist. She wasn't leaving. Two men in dark coats stood behind her, and one held a leather folder stamped with a gold seal.
I had spent eleven months learning which doors in the Marino mansion creaked. I knew which stair was loose, which window caught the morning sun, and how to tell when Anthony was angry by the silence that followed him. But I had never heard silence like the one that swallowed the dining room when Victoria said my name.
“Hand me the papers, Claire.”
Anthony rose so abruptly that his chair struck the marble floor. “You don't give orders here anymore.”
Victoria's expression shifted, just for a second. Then she smiled. “You should read what your loyal little maid is hiding before you make another scene.”
I looked at Lily. She had her hands over her ears. Rosa held her close, despite the pain in her fingers.
“Lily,” I said gently, “would you help Grandma finish her pie in the breakfast room?”
“No.” Her chin trembled. “Victoria said Daddy signed a paper because I was too much trouble.”
Anthony crossed the room and knelt before her. “Look at me, princess. I would never send you away because I don't love you. Never.”
“Then why did she show me the suitcase?”
His face drained. “What suitcase?”
Victoria stepped forward. “Children imagine things.”
“She showed me a pink suitcase,” Lily insisted. “It had my name on it. She said I could take one stuffed animal.”
Anthony closed his eyes, and for a terrible moment I feared what would happen when he opened them. Instead he pressed his forehead to Lily's. “You're staying with me. I promise.”
I unfolded the papers and put them in his hand. He read without speaking. The first document named a guardian for his mother. The second arranged a boarding school placement for his daughter. Both bore signatures that resembled his. Neither looked quite right.
“I didn't sign these,” he said.
Victoria's smile vanished. “You authorized me to make arrangements.”
“I authorized you to order flowers for the wedding.”
One of the men at her back moved. Anthony's security chief, Gabriel, appeared from the side corridor before the man took a second step.
“Sir?” Gabriel asked.
“Nobody leaves until we know why these men are in my house.”
The taller stranger opened his folder. “I'm Nathan Price, representing Hayes Family Services. Ms. Hayes requested a private assessment concerning Mrs. Marino's welfare.”
“On Thanksgiving night?” Anthony asked.
Price hesitated. Victoria answered for him. “You told me to handle the difficult details. Somebody had to.”
I recognized the logo on his folder. I had seen it on an envelope delivered to the cottage a week earlier. Rosa had asked whether it was another hospital bill. Victoria had taken it before I could open it.
“Mr. Marino,” I said, “there was a letter with that seal.”
Anthony looked at me. “When?”
“Last Tuesday. Victoria said it concerned the wedding.”
Price looked increasingly uncomfortable. “We were informed that you had delegated decision-making authority, Mr. Marino.”
“By whom?”
“Ms. Hayes.”
“Did you verify that with me?”
“No, sir.”
“Then you and I have nothing more to discuss until my attorney arrives.”
Victoria gave a brittle laugh. “You can't turn this into a conspiracy because a maid wants attention.”
It hurt more than I expected. Not because of her opinion. Because I knew she had spent months making everyone afraid to speak. Rosa had believed her own son was ashamed of her. Lily had believed her father was trying to get rid of her. And I had believed that silence was the price of keeping my job.
“I'm not asking for attention,” I said. “I'm asking why an eight-year-old child was told her father doesn't love her.”
“Enough!” Victoria shouted.
Rosa raised her head. “No, Victoria. You have said enough.”
Her voice was quiet, but the room listened. She rolled forward just enough to look directly at Anthony. “Son, I should have told you when she first began keeping you away. I was frightened you would choose her and I would lose you.”
Anthony knelt beside her again. “You shouldn't have had to make that choice.”
“Neither should Lily.”
Anthony looked at Gabriel. “Take my daughter and my mother to the sitting room. Stay with them.”
Lily clutched my apron. “Claire comes too.”
I wanted to. But the paper in my hand was evidence, and Victoria was watching it with the fixed concentration of someone waiting for an opening.
“I'll be right behind you,” I promised.
As Gabriel escorted them away, Victoria slipped her phone from her bag. Anthony held out his hand. “Put it down.”
“I have a right to call my lawyer.”
“You do. Use the house phone, with my attorney present.”
Her eyes flickered toward the hallway. I followed the glance and saw a catering server hurry toward the rear exit carrying an empty silver tray. Something dark and rectangular lay beneath the cloth draped over his forearm.
I knew every server working that dinner. I had checked their names myself that morning. I had never seen this man.
“Gabriel!” I shouted.
The stranger ran.
Anthony moved immediately. Gabriel turned, but he was too far away. I raced through the kitchen doors, nearly falling on the polished floor. The man shoved past the pantry and slammed into the service entrance. Outside, cold rain hammered the stone steps.
He dropped the tray. Beneath the cloth was a small black hard drive.
I grabbed it before he could. He caught my wrist so hard I cried out.
“Let go,” I gasped.
“Give it back.”
The door flew open. Anthony was there, his black jacket gone, his face colder than the rain. The man released me. Gabriel pinned him against the wall before he could escape.
Anthony took the drive from my shaking hand. “What is this?”
The stranger stared at Victoria, who had appeared in the doorway.
May you like
She whispered, “Don't say a word.”
And that was how I knew the forged signatures were only the beginning.
