Chapter 3 - Flowers for a Betrayal
Tara came to Naomi's office carrying flowers.
Rebecca saw her through the reception glass and almost laughed.
White lilies.
The same flowers Tara had helped select for Rebecca's mother's funeral.
""You don't have to meet her,"" Naomi said.
Rebecca considered the familiar cream coat, the expensive handbag, the face she had trusted since nineteen.
""Five minutes. Here. With you present.""
Tara entered looking exhausted in a carefully arranged way.
""Beck.""
""Rebecca.""
The correction landed between them.
Tara set the flowers down.
""I never wanted you to find out like that.""
""How did you want me to find out?""
""That's not fair.""
Naomi remained silent beside Rebecca.
Tara glanced at her.
""Could we have some privacy?""
""No,"" Rebecca said.
Tara's eyes filled.
Once, those tears would have moved Rebecca across a room.
Now she watched them arrive.
""Cole said your marriage had been over for years.""
""Then why were you helping me choose his anniversary present in June?""
Tara looked down.
""It was complicated.""
""How long?""
""Does that matter now?""
""It matters to me.""
A long silence.
""Three years.""
Rebecca felt the number in her teeth.
Three years included her mother's final hospitalization.
Three years included Tara sleeping in the guest room after the funeral because Rebecca couldn't bear being alone while Cole traveled.
""Were you with him in Philadelphia?""
Tara said nothing.
Rebecca remembered calling Cole from the hospital parking garage. He had told her his flight was delayed.
Her mother died forty minutes later.
She pressed her thumbnail against the seam of her trousers until the room steadied.
""Leave the flowers with someone who wants them.""
Tara's expression sharpened.
""I came here to help you.""
""Then answer a different question. Why did your company receive money from the Family Fund?""
The tears stopped.
Not gradually.
Immediately.
Naomi noticed it, too.
""Cole handled those arrangements,"" Tara said.
""What arrangements?""
""Housing. Events. Business expenses.""
""Whose housing?""
Tara reached for her handbag.
""I'm not discussing finances with your lawyer.""
""That would be wise,"" Naomi said. ""You should obtain your own.""
Tara looked from one woman to the other.
Then she turned back to Rebecca.
""You really think you're innocent? You signed those papers.""
Rebecca went cold.
She remembered teaching Tara how to insert an electronic signature into a proposal. They had laughed when the first attempt appeared upside down. Such a harmless afternoon. Rebecca wondered how many ordinary kindnesses had been quietly turned into tools against her.
Naomi's voice remained calm.
""This meeting is over.""
After Tara left, Rebecca sat without moving.
""She knew about the signatures.""
""Yes,"" Naomi said. ""Write down everything you remember while it's fresh.""
That afternoon, June arrived with the first bank documents obtained through the trust's authorized review.
The transfers had been processed using copied approval pages.
Some dates coincided with days Rebecca had been out of state caring for her mother.
The electronic records needed specialist examination, but the paper trail already contradicted the monthly summaries Ellis supplied.
Worse, fourteen beneficiaries had missed payments.
An injured forklift operator.
A driver's widow with two teenagers.
A warehouse worker receiving treatment after a spinal injury.
People Rebecca knew.
People who had apparently been told she changed the rules.
She bent over the list.
June waited.
""I want to call every one of them,"" Rebecca said.
""We can coordinate that,"" Naomi answered. ""Accurately. Without interfering with the investigation.""
Rebecca looked up.
""I don't want them spending another night thinking they were forgotten.""
For the first time, Naomi's professional expression softened.
""Then that's where we start.""
They worked until evening, separating confirmed facts from questions.
Henry called each trustee meeting properly and documented his own missing reviews. June began reconstructing the trust's actual balance.
Rebecca spoke to beneficiaries with an independent administrator listening and taking notes.
She apologized without making excuses.
At eight fifteen, Cole called Naomi's office.
Rebecca allowed the call on speaker.
""You're embarrassing yourself,"" he said.
She looked at the list of fourteen names.
""No, Cole. I'm finally asking why everybody else had to pay for your secrets.""
He went quiet.
Then he said, ""Ellis wants to speak to you.""
Rebecca met Naomi's eyes.
May you like
""He can speak to my attorney.""
For once, Cole had no order ready.
