Chapter 4 - Rosa’s Choice
“Get out.”
Rosa’s voice shook.
Not with cruelty.
Fear.
I nodded.
“You’re right.”
That surprised her.
“I’ll leave before Mia wakes.”
Rosa paced the tiny kitchen.
“You didn’t tell me people were threatening you.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You have an attorney. Missing friends. Secret drives. Now someone knows my daughter’s school.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t protect Mia!”
“No.”
I called Samuel.
“Move Rosa and Mia.”
Rosa stared.
“What?”
“Secure location. Immediately.”
She snatched the phone from me.
“No.”
Samuel heard her.
Rosa continued:
“I don’t know who you people are, but nobody is taking my daughter anywhere.”
I looked at her.
“Then let me leave.”
She froze.
“That removes the threat.”
“You can barely get into bed alone.”
“I survived before you.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.”
Silence filled the kitchen.
Finally Rosa sat across from me.
“Tell me the truth.”
So I told her part of it.
I founded Shaw Meridian.
I had money Adrian did not know existed.
The drive contained evidence.
Thomas was missing.
Adrian might be involved.
Rosa stared.
“You’re rich?”
“Yes.”
“How rich?”
“Enough that the answer causes problems.”
She almost laughed.
Instead she became angry.
“You let me think you couldn’t afford your medicine.”
“I never said that.”
“You let me pay for it!”
“I intended to repay—”
“That isn’t the point!”
She stood.
“You were testing me.”
The accusation landed.
Because she was partly right.
“At first, no.”
“And later?”
I could not lie.
“Yes.”
Rosa’s eyes hardened.
“Rich people really think poverty is some kind of morality exam.”
I had no defense.
She walked into the bedroom.
An hour later she returned carrying my coat.
I thought she was throwing me out.
Instead she placed it over my shoulders.
“We’re going somewhere safer.”
“Why?”
“Because Mia likes you.”
That answer humbled me more than forgiveness would have.
Samuel moved us into an unoccupied apartment owned through a legal trust.
No luxury.
No recognizable connection to me.
Mia believed we were taking a short vacation.
That night, Rosa came into my room.
“I’m not your beneficiary.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“Whatever test you’re running, remove me.”
“How did you know?”
“I didn’t.”
She folded her arms.
“Your face just told me.”
I almost smiled.
Then Rosa said:
“I helped you because you needed help. Don’t turn that into a transaction.”
After she left, I called Samuel.
“Change the trust.”
“From Rosa?”
“Yes.”
“To whom?”
“Nobody.”
Samuel paused.
“Then what happens to the hundred million?”
“We decide later.”
A message suddenly appeared on his secure phone.
Video.
Thomas Bell.
He looked exhausted.
A man stood behind him.
Only the man’s hand was visible.
On it was a Stanford class ring.
Adrian wore the same ring every day.
Thomas looked into the camera.
“Evelyn, don’t give him the drive.”
Someone struck the camera aside.
Before the video ended, Thomas shouted:
May you like
“ORPHEUS ISN’T WHAT YOU REMEMBER!”
Then the screen went black.
