Chapter 15 - MARCO'S SECRET
Marco went still.
That hurt more than Lucinda's smile.
"What does she mean?"
He looked at Francesca.
Then at me.
"Boss... the day Ruby fell, I was at the school."
My voice changed.
"Why?"
He had been investigating a threat against me without telling me.
A man had been watching Ruby's school entrance for three days.
Marco followed him inside.
The security shutdown was part of Marco's operation.
"You turned off the camera?"
"Yes."
My fists clenched.
"You gave Lucinda the blind spot."
His face broke.
"I didn't know she was there."
He chased the watcher down a rear stairwell.
During those eleven minutes, Lucinda entered through the front.
Ruby fell.
Marco kept the security shutdown secret because he was ashamed.
"Who was the watcher?"
"A private investigator hired by Raymond."
"Why watch Ruby?"
"To build a pattern. They wanted photos of her limping, crying, being carried."
Evidence for the guardianship story.
Marco handed me his resignation.
I did not take it.
"You're suspended. You cooperate with police. After that, we decide."
He nodded.
Consequences were not the same as revenge.
I was learning that slowly.
Then Francesca gave me the Geneva codicil.
Isabella had done more than block the Vales.
She created an automatic disclosure clause.
If anyone attempted to manipulate Ruby's medical status for control of her shares, the trust would release a sealed evidence packet to regulators.
Daniel stared at the date.
"The trigger already happened."
"When?"
"When Lucinda filed the guardianship petition."
My phone rang.
Federal investigators had just received Isabella's packet.
May you like
Inside were nine years of Bellandi-Vale financial records.
And one document bearing my father's signature.
