Chapter 6 - V.M.
There were only two people in the family with those initials.
Victoria Montenegro.
And Victor Montenegro, her late father.
Victor had been dead sixteen years.
The note was dated nine years ago.
Victoria sat down when she saw it.
“That isn’t my handwriting.”
Mr. Bell said, “I didn’t say it was.”
Claudia demanded a handwriting expert.
For once, I agreed with her.
By evening, Mr. Bell had located the original investigative invoice. The page had been copied from a file maintained by Rafael’s private investigator. The note had been added in blue ink.
There was more.
A phone log showed three calls from the investigator to Montenegro Holdings headquarters the week my mother was contacted.
All three had been routed to Victoria’s office.
Victoria looked at me. “I don’t remember them.”
“That is convenient,” Claudia muttered.
Victoria shot her a look.
For the first time, grandmother and granddaughter were not on the same side.
I went back to work that night.
Mr. Bell told me I didn’t have to.
I did anyway.
Not at the estate.
At the restaurant where I picked up weekend shifts.
Halfway through my shift, a man in a navy coat sat alone in my section.
He ordered coffee and didn’t touch it.
When I brought the check, he slid a business card underneath.
Daniel Price. Investigations.
I recognized the name from Rafael’s file.
“You worked for him,” I said.
“For twelve years.”
“Did you find my mother?”
He looked at the other tables.
“Yes.”
My pulse jumped.
“Then why does your report say you didn’t?”
“Because I was told to stop.”
“By Victoria?”
He shook his head.
“Not exactly.”
He reached into his coat and handed me a folded copy of an email.
The sender was a corporate address I recognized from the Montenegro website.
Julian was Victoria’s only son.
Claudia’s father.
He had missed the inheritance dinner because he was supposedly in London.
The email was short.
Close the Alvarez inquiry. My mother has approved it.
I read it twice.
“Did she?”
Daniel Price looked tired.
“I never knew.”
My phone buzzed.
A message from Mr. Bell.
DO NOT GO HOME. CALL ME.
May you like
Then another message appeared from an unknown number.
Withdraw the claim before someone gets hurt.
