Ask your perfect nanny why she used to work for North Harbor Private Bank.
Arthur walked into the library.
Lucas was asleep on the sofa.
Maria had covered him with a blanket.
She stood when Arthur entered.
“Mr. Vance.”
“Sit.”
She didn’t.
Arthur closed the door.
“Did you work for North Harbor?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“What did you do?”
“I was a client services associate.”
“That means what?”
“I processed account documents, assisted trust administrators, handled identity verification requests.”
Arthur studied her.
“So you knew what those forms meant.”
“Yes.”
“And you recognized the problem immediately.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you had worked there?”
Maria looked toward Lucas.
“Because I didn’t think it mattered.”
“Elena apparently thought it mattered.”
“She had someone investigate me.”
“Why would she do that?”
Maria gave him a tired look.
“Because she has been trying to get me fired for almost a year.”
Arthur knew that part.
Elena had complained repeatedly that Maria was “too involved.”
Arthur had dismissed it as jealousy.
Now he wasn’t sure what anything meant.
“Why did you leave the bank?”
Maria swallowed.
“My younger brother died.”
Arthur wasn’t expecting that.
“He was twenty.”
“What happened?”
“Car accident.”
Her voice flattened.
“My mother stopped functioning afterward.”
Maria looked down at her hands.
“I quit my job to take care of her.”
“And then?”
“After she died, I couldn’t go back.”
“Why not?”
“Because by then I didn’t want that life anymore.”
Arthur glanced at his sleeping son.
“So you became a nanny?”
Maria smiled faintly.
“I took temporary childcare work while figuring out what I wanted.”
“Lucas was supposed to be temporary?”
“Yes.”
Arthur almost smiled.
“What happened?”
“He asked me not to leave.”
That sounded exactly like Lucas.
Arthur’s suspicion softened.
But not completely.
“Elena implied something else.”
“I know.”
“What?”
Maria’s expression changed.
“I don’t know.”
Arthur watched her.
“Don’t protect me from information right now.”
“I am not.”
She hesitated.
“There is something I didn’t tell you.”
Arthur’s pulse quickened.
“What?”
“Two weeks ago, I saw Elena meeting someone outside Lucas’s school.”
Arthur stared.
“Who?”
“I didn’t recognize him.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because people are allowed to meet people.”
“Not if you thought it was suspicious.”
“I didn’t at first.”
“What changed?”
Maria walked to the side table and opened a children’s art folder.
She pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“I found this in Lucas’s backpack three days later.”
Arthur unfolded it.
It was a business card.
No company name.
Only one name.
VICTOR HALE.
And a phone number.
Daniel, who had entered quietly, froze when he saw it.
Arthur looked at him.
“You know him?”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
Daniel shut the library door.
“Victor Hale used to be Elena’s business partner.”
Arthur looked toward the hallway.
Elena had told him she had never been in business before their marriage.
Daniel’s expression turned grim.
“There is more.”
“What?”
“Hale served eighteen months in federal prison.”
Arthur stared at him.
“For what?”
“Wire fraud.”
From the sofa came a small voice.
“Dad?”
Arthur turned.
Lucas was awake.
He looked scared.
“The man from the card came here.”
Arthur felt the air leave his lungs.
“When?”
Lucas sat up.
“Last week.”
“Did Elena let him in?”
Lucas nodded.
Arthur knelt beside him.
“What did they do?”
“They went into Mom’s old room.”
Arthur froze.
Claire’s room.
The small private sitting room Arthur had never changed after her death.
“What were they looking for?”
Lucas rubbed his eyes.
“I don’t know.”
“Did you hear them say anything?”
pensó Lucas.
Luego asintió.
“El hombre dijo que necesitaban el libro rojo antes de que descubrieras lo que había hecho tu primera esposa.”
Arthur se levantó lentamente.
Claire llevaba muerta seis años.
Sin embargo, de alguna manera, según un estafador condenado que se reúne en secreto con la actual esposa de Arthur, ella había dejado atrás algo lo suficientemente importante como para buscar.
Algo llamado el libro rojo.
Y de repente, el dinero robado del fideicomiso dejó de ser el único secreto dentro de la casa de Arthur.
