Chapter 7: What Gareth Said to Her Face
Emma told Patricia she would go.
Patricia told her she would not go alone.
They agreed on a compromise: Emma would meet Gareth at the restaurant he had named, at the time he had specified.
Patricia would be at a table nearby.
Richard would wait in the car outside with his phone on and the line open.
"He'll know," Emma said.
"Let him," Patricia said.
"Knowing you're not alone and being able to prove it are two different things."
The restaurant was the kind of place that had white tablecloths and no prices on the menu.
Gareth was already seated when Emma arrived.
He was in his early sixties, silver-haired, with a face that had probably been charming once and had since settled into something more careful.
He stood when she approached.
He even smiled.
"Emma." He said her name like he'd known her for years.
"Thank you for coming."
She sat down across from him.
She did not return the smile.
"You know who I am," she said.
"I've known who you were for a long time." He sat.
Signaled the waiter without looking at him.
"Your father talked about you constantly.
Even near the end."
"You saw him near the end?"
A small pause.
"We stayed in touch.
Loosely."
"He never mentioned you."
Gareth looked at her with something that was almost pity.
"Leo protected the people he loved from things he thought would upset them.
You know that better than anyone."
Emma said nothing.
"I'm not here to fight with you," Gareth said.
"I want to be very clear about that.
What I'm asking for is simple.
There is a document in that safety deposit box — or was — that references an agreement between your father and me.
A private arrangement, made years ago, before things became complicated."
"There was no such document."
"Emma—"
"I opened the box this morning.
I read everything in it.
There was no agreement.
There was no arrangement." She looked at him steadily.
"There was a letter my father wrote to me.
A ring that belonged to my mother.
A deed to a house.
And a photograph of you and my father that he kept because he wanted to remember that you weren't always the man you became."
Gareth's smile did not disappear.
But it changed.
The warmth went out of it and something flatter took its place.
"The deed," he said.
"Is mine."
"Your father made a promise to me.
It predates that deed."
"Then show me the paperwork."
"It was a verbal agreement."
"With no witnesses."
"With one witness." He leaned forward slightly.
"A man who is prepared to testify that Leo Cole agreed, in exchange for certain favors over the years, to ensure that I would be compensated from his estate."
Emma looked at him.
"What favors?"
"Leo needed help, Emma.
More than once.
When he first applied to adopt you, there were complications.
I had connections.
I made calls." He let that sit for a moment.
"I helped make you his daughter."
The table was very still.
Emma's hands were in her lap, out of sight.
One of them had closed into a fist.
"You're saying," she said carefully, "that my adoption was only possible because of you."
"I'm saying Leo knew what he owed me.
And he intended to honor it."
"And your witness will say that."
"Yes."
"And you're telling me this now — tonight, alone — because you want me to agree to something before this goes to court."
Gareth sat back.
The flat smile returned.
"I want to resolve this quietly.
For Leo's sake.
He wouldn't have wanted his daughter dragged through a legal process."
"What are you asking for?"
"Sign the property over.
I'll cover all transfer costs.
You'll walk away with nothing owed, no legal fees, no drawn-out process." He paused.
"And I'll make sure the story about how Leo Cole came to adopt you — the full story, including the parts that might raise questions about the original paperwork — stays private."
Emma looked at him for a long moment.
"You just threatened me," she said.
"I gave you options."
"You told me that if I don't give you the house, you'll make claims about my adoption that could cause me problems."
"I told you—"
"I heard exactly what you told me." Emma placed both hands flat on the table.
"My father kept a notarized account of what you said to him on that riverbank.
Word for word.
Witnessed.
Dated.
Stored with a lawyer who has held it for eight years." She watched his face.
"He also kept a private investigator's report documenting two other people you silenced the same way you tried to silence him."
Gareth did not move.
"The witness you mentioned," Emma continued.
"I'd be very careful about who you're asking to lie under oath.
Patricia Wren has already contacted the court.
The notarized document will be filed tomorrow morning."
Gareth's hand moved toward his phone on the table.
"I wouldn't," Emma said.
"Your lawyer already knows.
He stopped returning your calls forty minutes ago.
Patricia spoke with him this afternoon."
The hand stopped.
For the first time since she had sat down, Gareth Soll looked like a man who had run out of moves.
The careful face went slack.
Just for a moment.
Just long enough.
"Leo chose me over you," Emma said quietly.
"He stayed silent to protect me.
You used that silence for twelve years." She stood.
"He was worth ten of you.
And you knew it.
That's why you needed him."
She picked up her bag.
"My lawyer will be in touch," she said.
"Don't contact me again."
She walked out of the restaurant without looking back.
Through the window she could see Richard's car idling at the curb.
The door opened before she reached it.
She got in.
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
Then Richard said: "Patricia texted.
Gareth's lawyer withdrew from the case eleven minutes ago."
Emma looked straight ahead.
"It's not over yet," she said.
"He'll find another lawyer."
"Maybe." Richard pulled away from the curb.
"But tonight he lost the only thing that was keeping him dangerous."
May you like
"What's that?"
"The belief that you didn't know what your father had left you."
