Chapter 5: The Call From London
The unknown number called again at 6:47 that evening.
I was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea I hadn't touched, reviewing the preliminary financial documents Eleanor had sent over.
Shirley was in the living room watching television.
Gerald had gone to bed early, which he apparently did every night at seven, a detail I was learning about my new housemates one uncomfortable discovery at a time.
I answered on the third ring.
"Stella." Everett's voice.
Tight and controlled, but underneath it something I hadn't heard from him in years.
Panic.
"What did you do?"
"I'm well, thank you," I said.
"How was the flight?"
"My cards are frozen.
All of them.
I landed and I couldn't pay for the car service.
I had to borrow cash from a colleague like some kind of—" He stopped.
"What did you do?"
"I reported fraudulent activity on our accounts," I said.
"The bank acted quickly.
They usually do."
"Fraudulent activity." His voice went very flat.
"Stella."
"Fifteen thousand dollars, Everett.
At Lumina Jewelers.
While your boarding gate was open." I turned one of Eleanor's pages over.
"Would you like to explain that, or shall I?"
Silence.
"It was a gift," he said finally.
"For a colleague."
"A colleague."
"A business associate.
It was a professional—"
"What's her name?"
Another silence.
Longer.
"I'm not doing this over the phone," he said.
"I'm going to sort out the card situation and then we're going to talk properly when I'm—"
"The cards won't be unsorted," I said.
"And Eleanor filed the divorce papers this afternoon."
The silence that followed was different from the others.
It had a texture to it.
I could hear him breathing.
"You filed." His voice had dropped to almost nothing.
"You actually filed."
"I did."
"Stella, you need to stop.
You need to stop right now and think about what you're doing.
We have a life together.
We have a home.
You can't just—"
"I also know about NVL Consulting," I said.
The breathing stopped.
"The forty-eight thousand dollars," I continued.
"The three transfers.
The holding account." I kept my voice even.
"The deed amendment from fourteen months ago that I apparently signed along with what you told me was insurance paperwork."
Nothing from his end.
Not a word.
"Everett," I said.
"I've been very patient.
For a very long time.
But I want you to understand something clearly." I set Eleanor's papers down.
"I was the primary account holder before you were ever on those accounts.
The house was mine before your name was ever on that deed.
And I have an attorney, a forensic accountant, and fourteen months of fraudulent transfers that tell a very specific story about who you are."
When he spoke again, the panic was gone.
In its place was something colder.
"You have no idea what you're starting," he said.
"I think I do," I said.
"Goodbye, Everett."
I ended the call.
Shirley appeared in the kitchen doorway thirty seconds later.
She was still holding the television remote.
Her eyes went to my phone on the table.
"Was that Everett?" she asked.
"It was."
"What did he say?"
"He said goodbye." I picked up my tea.
It had gone cold.
"He'll probably call you next.
I'd encourage you to think carefully about what you tell him."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Is that a threat?"
"It's an observation." I stood and carried my cup to the sink.
"The forensic accountant starts Monday.
She'll be looking at everything.
Every account.
Every transfer.
Every document signed in this house." I rinsed the cup and set it on the rack.
"If there's anything you know that you haven't told me, Shirley, now would be the time to decide what side of this you want to be on."
She didn't answer.
May you like
I turned off the kitchen light and went upstairs.
Behind me, I heard the faint sound of her dialing.
