Chapter 9: Suzanne
I had not expected to hear from Suzanne.
She texted me on a Thursday, nine days after Agent Farris's visit.
No greeting.
Just:
*Can we talk.
Please.*
I stared at the message for a long time.
Then I called Diane.
"Meet her somewhere public," Diane said.
"Don't go alone if you can help it.
And don't agree to anything, sign anything, or make any promises."
I met Suzanne at a coffee shop in Wynwood, two miles from the apartment.
I arrived first and chose a table near the window where the staff could see us.
She walked in looking like someone who had not slept in a week.
Her hair was pulled back.
No jewelry.
She sat down across from me and put her hands flat on the table.
"I didn't know about the other clients," she said.
"I need you to know that."
"Okay," I said.
"I knew about the account.
Derek told me it was a joint account you both agreed to.
He said you were using it to manage household expenses and that some of it would go toward the policy for Mom." She looked at the table.
"I believed him."
"You took money from that account, Suzanne."
"He transferred it to me.
I thought it was from him.
From his commissions." She looked up.
"I know how that sounds."
"It sounds like something you'll need to explain to an investigator."
Her jaw tightened.
"I already have.
I gave a full statement two days ago." She paused.
"They told me I'm not a target of the fraud investigation.
But they said that could change."
"Then you should keep cooperating."
"I am." She looked at me directly for the first time.
"Skylar, I was not kind to you.
I know that.
I treated you like a bank.
I let Derek talk about you in ways I should have stopped." Her voice dropped.
"I'm not asking you to forgive me.
I just — I needed to say it to your face."
I looked at her.
The woman who had called me stingy in my own kitchen.
Who had taken forty-three hundred dollars and never once said thank you.
Who had stood in my apartment four nights ago with her brother while he panicked over a shoebox.
"The money you took," I said.
"I'm not pursuing you for it separately.
That's between you and the investigation."
She nodded.
"But Suzanne." I held her gaze.
"If Derek asks you to say anything that isn't true — about me, about the account, about anything — you need to understand that protecting him right now will not protect you."
"I know," she said quietly.
"I think I've known that for a long time."
She left first.
I sat with my coffee and watched her walk to her car.
She didn't look back.
Mrs.
Calloway called while I was still sitting there.
"The locks have been changed," she said.
"The building manager confirmed this morning.
And the parking space has been reassigned."
"Thank you," I said.
"For everything."
"Oh, hush." A pause.
"When are you coming home?"
I looked out the window at the street.
May you like
"Tomorrow," I said.
"I think tomorrow."
