Chapter 16 - What Jamie Finally Said
I went to the hospital with Veronica.
Jamie was pale, furious, and frightened.
The doctors told us only what Jamie authorized them to share.
She had been treated and was stable.
I expected her to insult me the moment I entered.
Instead, she whispered, "I thought he was helping us."
"Who?"
"Adrian."
She stared at her hands.
"He told Mom the letter would prove your family owed ours everything."
"Did you read it?"
"Not all of it."
Jamie said the woman who had attempted to impersonate me was a paid intermediary introduced by Adrian.
She admitted she had accompanied her to the records facility.
She said the plan had been to retrieve a document they could use in settlement negotiations.
"Where is the original letter?" Veronica asked.
Jamie shook her head.
"Adrian took it."
"How did he get it if you couldn't enter the facility?"
"It wasn't there. Mom had an old copy hidden in her house. Adrian made us think we needed the original too."
Her story was inconsistent in places.
Veronica did not pretend otherwise.
She asked Jamie to speak with independent counsel and give any evidence through proper channels.
Jamie nodded.
Then she looked at me.
"You hated me," she said.
"I hated what you did."
"That's not the same thing?"
"Not always."
For a second, she looked like a woman who might have been kind in another life.
Then she pulled the blanket to her chin.
"I didn't know they were going to blame you for the missing money."
"You sent me twenty insulting messages."
"I know."
"You helped them take my card."
"I know."
"You tried to use my identity."
She began crying.
"I know."
I stayed only a little longer.
I did not promise forgiveness.
I did promise to tell the truth about what she chose to disclose.
Outside the hospital, Veronica's phone rang.
The caller was Arthur Bellamy.
He had found a duplicate of my grandfather's letter in his archived files.
"You should read it here," he said.
"Not through a photograph."
We drove directly to his office.
Arthur opened a worn folder and handed me four pages.
My grandfather's words were clear and carefully dated.
He had paid Edwin to settle a dispute, but he had also agreed to keep a separate allegation confidential to protect someone who had not caused the harm.
I turned the page.
The protected person was not Edwin.
It was a child.
May you like
And according to the letter, that child was Mauro.
