Chapter 5: The Man on the Phone
Nobody breathed.
Gerald held the phone in his palm and looked at it ring.
"Put it on speaker," Daniel said.
Gerald pressed the button and set the phone on the table.
"Gerald." The voice was smooth.
Unhurried.
Like a man calling to confirm a lunch reservation.
"I think we should talk."
"I agree," Gerald said.
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere comfortable.
I wanted to reach out before things got complicated."
"They're already complicated, Raymond."
A pause.
"I heard there was some unpleasantness this afternoon.
With your daughter-in-law." Another pause.
"That wasn't part of my arrangement with Evelyn.
I want you to know that."
Evelyn made a sound.
Daniel put a hand on her arm.
"What was the arrangement?" Gerald asked.
"Asset protection.
Completely legal.
Evelyn was concerned about exposure in the event of a future divorce proceeding.
She wanted certain funds moved into a structure that would be difficult to reach."
"And where are those funds now?"
"Safe."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one I have for you right now, Gerald.
The transfers are in a holding structure.
They take time to unwind.
That's by design."
"By your design."
"By the design of the instrument.
I can walk you through the documentation—"
"You closed your accounts," Gerald said.
"You vacated your address."
A longer pause this time.
"I relocated.
For personal reasons.
Unrelated to your situation."
"Raymond." Gerald's voice was very even.
"My son is sitting here.
My daughter-in-law, who your client dragged across a floor this afternoon, is sitting here.
My sister is here.
I want you to tell me, in front of all of them, that the money is intact and accessible."
Silence.
"Raymond."
"Some of it has been deployed," Raymond said finally.
"Into instruments that require a short holding period.
Thirty to sixty days."
"How much is some."
"Gerald, this isn't a conversation for—"
"How much."
The number Raymond gave was smaller than the number Evelyn had moved.
Significantly smaller.
Daniel stood up from the table.
"You took a cut," he said toward the phone.
"My fee was disclosed in the agreement Evelyn signed—"
"That's not a fee.
That's a third of what she gave you."
"The agreement—"
"Send me the agreement," Gerald said.
"Tonight.
Every page.
Every signature.
Every transfer record."
"I'll have my attorney—"
"Tonight, Raymond.
Or I call the financial crimes unit at eight tomorrow morning and I give them your name, your last known address, and every transfer record I already have." Gerald picked up the phone.
"Do you understand me?"
The line was quiet for four seconds.
"I'll send it," Raymond said.
"Good." Gerald ended the call.
He set the phone face-down on the table.
Patricia was the first to speak.
"Gerald.
You need a lawyer tonight.
Not tomorrow."
"I know."
"I know someone.
I'll call her now." Patricia stood and moved toward the hallway.
Evelyn hadn't moved.
She was looking at the phone on the table like it might ring again.
"He's going to run," she said.
Her voice was different now.
Smaller.
"Isn't he."
"Probably," Gerald said.
"I didn't know." She looked up at her husband.
"Gerald.
I didn't know he would—"
"I know you didn't." He didn't sit down.
He didn't move toward her either.
"But you went behind my back.
You moved money without telling me.
You accused an innocent woman of stealing to protect yourself." He looked at me.
"I'm sorry, Sarah.
For all of it.
For what happened in this room today."
It was the first time anyone had used my name.
I realized I'd been sitting in this house for four years and Gerald had never once called me by my name in front of his wife.
"Thank you," I said.
Daniel reached for my hand again.
This time I held it.
"We should go," he said quietly.
"We'll talk tomorrow, Dad."
Gerald nodded.
We stood.
We moved toward the door.
Behind us, Evelyn said nothing.
But as we reached the hallway, I heard her make a sound I hadn't expected.
Not anger.
Not denial.
She was crying.
Quietly.
Like someone who had just understood the size of what they'd lost.
I didn't turn around.
May you like
But I slowed down for just a moment.
And Daniel, beside me, did too.
