Chapter 20
The next afternoon at two o’clock, I stood in the parlor of Patricia’s brownstone.
The room smelled of lavender and old paper, the heavy lace curtains keeping the street noise at a distance.
Patricia, wearing a high-collared blue dress, smoothed her silk scarf when I walked in.
“Sit down, Claire,” Patricia said, her smile warm and polite. “You look tired.”
“I know about the Delaware injunction, Patricia,” I said, remaining standing near the door.
Patricia poured the tea from a silver service, her hand perfectly steady.
“The Senate committee is a temporary nuisance,” Patricia said. “It will pass, as these things always do.”
She reached into her small leather handbag and withdrew a single slip of paper.
She placed it on the silver tray next to the teacup.
It was a cashier’s check for five million dollars, my name printed in clear, black ink.
“We can make this difficult, Claire, or we can make it comfortable,” Patricia said.
I looked at the check, then at the woman who had been my mother-in-law for twelve years.
“You should have used your own credentials, Patricia,” I said.
I turned and walked toward the heavy oak front door, leaving the check on the tray.
I walked down the stone steps of the brownstone, the cold air filling my lungs.
I did not look back, but I knew she was there.
I did not look back at the window as I reached the pavement, but I could feel the weight of Patricia’s stare through the wet fabric of my coat.
The taxi dropped me at the curb of my building twenty minutes later, the rain turning the city pavement into a dark mirror of headlights and neon.
Rachel was already waiting near the security desk inside the lobby, her briefcase resting against her leather boots as she checked her watch.
She looked up as I shook the water from my umbrella, her eyes scanning my face for any sign of what had transpired at Patricia’s brownstone.
“She tried to pay me off,” I said, my voice carrying across the quiet marble lobby.
May you like
“Five million?” Rachel asked.
I nodded, adjusting my glasses as we walked toward the security barrier.
