Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN AT THE BUS STOP
Maria Navarro lived in a modest duplex near Oak Cliff, twenty minutes from the Sterling mansion and a lifetime away from its marble hallways. Arthur went without his driver, wearing jeans and carrying no gift. No gift could soften his father's crimes.
Maria opened the door on its chain. “I know who you are.”
“I'm not here to defend Victor Sterling.”
“Good. Because I buried my husband while your family was still hosting garden parties.”
Arthur swallowed. “May I ask about your settlement?”
The door closed. A moment later, the chain slid free.
Maria laid out folders across her kitchen table: bank notices, eviction paperwork, hospital bills, copies of letters she'd sent to Evelyn. “Your grandmother answered every one. She paid what she could from her own savings. Then, eleven years ago, the checks stopped.”
“Why?”
“She said the escrow was frozen.” Maria tapped a form. “Her lawyer told me I'd been paid in full. That's a lie.”
Arthur looked at the signature near the bottom. MARIA NAVARRO, in blue ink. Maria produced her driver's license. The two signatures barely resembled each other.
“My son Daniel was fifteen when we lost our home,” she said. “He went to school hungry. Your grandmother found him working nights at a gas station and paid his tuition at community college. She wasn't a saint, but she didn't forget us.”
“Diana told me Grandmother harmed him.”
Maria's jaw tightened. “Daniel was helping her find out where the money went. He went missing for twelve hours last month. He came home with a broken phone and refused to tell me why.”
Arthur took down Daniel's number. Outside, a blue sedan idled across the street. When Arthur stepped onto the sidewalk, it rolled away.
He drove directly to the police station with Maria's consent to share copies of her documents. Before he reached the desk, an unknown number sent him a photograph of a man bound to a chair in a warehouse.
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The caption said: Ask your grandmother what Daniel Navarro found. Come alone if you want him alive.
