Chapter 13 - THE DEBT THAT NEVER EXISTED|
Abigail stared at the financial statement.
Her mother's name appeared beside a transfer she had never authorized. The amount was substantial enough to cover years of rehabilitation expenses.
For a moment, Abigail could not speak.
“Someone used my mother to move money?”
Jonathan shook his head carefully.
“The record shows a payment to an account associated with her name. We have not established who opened the account or who controlled it.”
“My mother has never had an account like this.”
“Then we need to verify that.”
Lorenzo's expression was dark.
“If someone used Margaret's identity, we will find out who did it.”
Abigail looked at him.
“I need this investigation to remain independent. I don't want your people threatening anyone or making promises to the bank.”
“Agreed.”
Jonathan arranged for a specialist to help Margaret verify her identity and report the suspected financial fraud. The clinic provided documentation confirming that she had not been in a condition to authorize complicated financial transactions during the relevant period.
The next day, Abigail visited her mother with a social worker and an attorney. Margaret listened to the explanation, then shook her head.
“I never received that money.”
“Did anyone ever ask you to sign financial documents?” Abigail asked.
Margaret thought for a moment.
“Years ago, a man came to our apartment after your father died. He said he was helping families settle outstanding medical bills. He asked me to sign a form so the hospital could process a refund.”
Abigail's stomach tightened.
“What did he look like?”
“Tall. Gray hair. Very polite. He wore a ring with a black stone.”
Lorenzo recognized the description when Abigail told him.
“Richard Vale wore a black onyx ring for years,” he said. “My father gave it to him.”
The detail was not enough to prove Vale had visited Margaret or authorized the payment. But it provided a new line of inquiry.
Jonathan asked the investigators to examine the account's opening records and any documents bearing Margaret's signature.
Meanwhile, Rosa learned that Northstar Maritime had paid a private security company during the months before the accident. The company had also provided personnel to the Moretti estate.
Its former director agreed to cooperate after learning that the financial records were under review.
He identified a security contractor named Victor Cole as the person who had arranged several of the assignments.
Cole was Vanessa's personal security coordinator.
The connections were becoming harder to dismiss.
That evening, Abigail returned to the estate and found Lorenzo in the conservatory. He had spent the day reviewing rehabilitation options and discussing the future of the foundation with its independent trustees.
“You look exhausted,” he said.
“I am.”
“Sit down.”
She did.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then Abigail admitted what frightened her most.
“I can handle someone threatening me. I can handle being followed. But when they bring my mother into this, I feel like every decision I make puts her at risk.”
Lorenzo moved closer.
“You are not responsible for their choices.”
“I know that logically.”
“And emotionally?”
She gave a tired laugh.
“Emotionally, I would like to put every person involved on a very long bus and send it somewhere without phone service.”
He smiled.
“I can arrange the bus.”
“Don't you dare.”
The laughter eased the tension between them.
Lorenzo took her hand.
“I won't make decisions about your mother without you. I won't use money to make you stay. And I won't pretend that loving you gives me the right to decide what risks you should take.”
Abigail's eyes filled with tears.
“You really mean that?”
“Yes.”
She leaned forward and kissed him.
This time, neither of them was frightened by the tenderness of the moment.
But the peace did not last.
At ten that evening, the clinic called again.
Margaret had received an envelope addressed to her personally. It contained a photocopy of the disputed bank statement and a handwritten message.
Your daughter is protecting a criminal. Tell her what you did for the Moretti family, or the truth will come out without you.
Margaret had no idea what the message meant.
Abigail did.
The sender was trying to turn her mother's name into a weapon.
May you like
And beneath the signature line on the photocopy was a reference number connected to an old medical debt.
A debt that had supposedly been paid by Lorenzo's father—three months after he was already dead.
