Chapter 7 - Raymond Fletcher Comes Back
Raymond had changed.
Amelia realized that when he stepped from the gray sedan outside the safe apartment where Vincent planned to leave Nikki.
Three years earlier, Raymond had been handsome in the polished, effortless way that made strangers trust him.
Now his face was thinner.
His hair cut shorter.
A faint gray line showed at one temple.
But his smile was exactly the same.
Amelia stopped breathing.
“Hello, Millie.”
Nobody had called her that since him.
Vincent stepped in front of her.
Raymond laughed.
“There he is.”
Marco moved toward his jacket.
Raymond raised both hands.
“Relax. Public street.”
Pedestrians passed half a block away.
A delivery truck idled.
Raymond had chosen the location carefully.
“You followed us,” Vincent said.
“No.”
Raymond looked at Amelia.
“I followed her.”
Her body remembered before her mind did.
Shoulders tight.
Hands cold.
Eyes searching for exits.
Raymond saw it.
His smile deepened.
“You still do that.”
Amelia hated herself for understanding.
“Do what?”
“Count doors.”
Vincent glanced toward her.
She ignored him.
Raymond stepped closer.
Vincent blocked him.
“Another step.”
“What?”
“Try one.”
Raymond stopped.
“Anthony taught you intimidation. He was always theatrical.”
Vincent’s expression darkened.
“Careful.”
“There’s that temper.”
Raymond smiled.
“Your brother had it too.”
Vincent moved.
Amelia caught his sleeve.
“Don’t.”
Raymond’s eyes dropped to her hand.
Something ugly entered his expression.
“Oh.”
Amelia immediately released Vincent.
Raymond laughed.
“This is better than I expected.”
“There is no this,” Amelia said.
“Not yet.”
“Why are you here?”
Raymond’s smile faded.
“For my property.”
“I’m not your property.”
“I meant the drive.”
“You said it was yours before.”
“Still dramatic.”
“Still abusive.”
That landed.
Raymond’s jaw tightened.
For the first time, Amelia felt a flicker of power.
“You want the drive?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To save everyone a lot of inconvenience.”
“You killed Anthony Castellano.”
Raymond looked toward Vincent.
“Did she tell you that?”
“The files did.”
For half a second Raymond’s face changed.
Too fast for anyone except Amelia.
Fear.
He had not known what was on the drive.
Good.
Vincent saw it too.
“What else is there, Ray?”
Raymond recovered.
“Enough fiction to keep lawyers rich.”
“And Gabriel?”
This time Raymond did not hide the reaction quickly enough.
Vincent stepped forward.
“My brother.”
Raymond smiled weakly.
“You think I killed everyone now?”
“No.”
Vincent’s voice became quieter.
“I think Salvatore did.”
Silence.
Raymond looked around.
That was the answer.
Amelia realized something.
Raymond was afraid of Salvatore too.
“Your uncle is losing patience,” Raymond said.
“With whom?”
“All of us.”
Vincent almost smiled.
“Then you’re not partners anymore.”
Raymond’s eyes hardened.
“You always were smarter than Gabriel.”
Vincent moved again.
Amelia stepped directly between them.
Raymond looked pleased.
“Still rescuing angry men, Millie?”
She turned toward him.
“No.”
Then she slapped him.
The sound cracked through the street.
Everyone froze.
Amelia’s hand stung.
Raymond stared at her.
Three years ago, she would have apologized before he even raised his voice.
Now she held his gaze.
“That was for the first time you hit me.”
Vincent said nothing.
Raymond touched his cheek.
His mask slipped.
“You think Castellano can protect you?”
Amelia stepped closer.
“No.”
Raymond blinked.
“I think I can finally protect myself.”
His expression became vicious.
“You stole two million dollars.”
“No. You did.”
“The accounts are in your name.”
Her stomach dropped.
“What?”
Raymond smiled.
“There she is.”
Amelia understood.
The shell companies.
The papers he made her sign.
“Three years ago, you were very trusting.”
Vincent looked toward her.
Raymond continued.
“Every payment Salvatore made went through corporations registered to Amelia Hart.”
Her face drained.
“You forged them.”
“Some.”
“Some?”
Raymond’s smile returned.
“Remember the papers you signed because I told you they were for our mortgage application?”
Amelia did.
God.
“You laundered money through me.”
“I gave you a financial education.”
Vincent’s voice became lethal.
“You’re done.”
Raymond looked at him.
“Not remotely.”
He took out his phone.
One tap.
Amelia’s phone rang.
Then Marco’s.
Then Vincent’s.
News alerts.
Amelia opened hers.
BROOKLYN WOMAN SOUGHT IN MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR FINANCIAL FRAUD.
Her photograph filled the screen.
Not the current Amelia.
A three-year-old driver’s license image.
Raymond stepped backward.
“Federal investigators reopened the case this morning.”
“You did this,” Amelia whispered.
“I simply helped them find their missing suspect.”
“You framed her,” Vincent said.
Raymond shrugged.
“I documented her.”
Amelia felt the world narrowing.
Police.
Courts.
Records.
Systems Raymond understood better than she did.
“You want the drive before I can prove it.”
Raymond’s smile faltered.
There.
Truth.
“If I turn it over,” Amelia continued, “everything falls apart.”
“Or you disappear into federal custody before anyone believes you.”
Vincent said, “She has attorneys.”
Raymond laughed.
“And you think your attorneys don’t work with Salvatore?”
Vincent’s face changed.
Again.
Another seed of doubt.
Raymond had come prepared.
Sirens sounded two streets away.
Raymond put his hands in his coat pockets.
“Those might be for you, Millie.”
Marco moved toward the car.
“We need to go.”
Amelia did not.
Vincent looked at her.
“Amelia.”
She stared toward the approaching lights.
Three years ago she ran.
Every decision after that had been shaped by running.
New city.
New name.
New job.
No friendships too deep.
No photographs online.
No bank account large enough to leave a trail.
Raymond expected her to run again.
That was why he looked so confident.
Amelia turned toward Vincent.
“Call your lawyer.”
“Already doing it.”
“I’m not leaving.”
Marco stared.
“Federal warrant—”
“I heard him.”
Amelia looked at Raymond.
His smile disappeared.
“You wanted me afraid enough to disappear.”
“Amelia.”
“No.”
She stepped onto the sidewalk as two unmarked SUVs approached.
“I’m done helping you hide what you did.”
Raymond’s eyes narrowed.
“You have no idea what happens next.”
“Neither do you.”
Federal agents exited.
Vincent stayed beside Amelia but did not touch her.
One agent approached.
“Amelia Hart?”
“Yes.”
“We have questions regarding several financial entities.”
“I’ll answer them with counsel present.”
Raymond watched from across the street.
Amelia saw something she had never seen on his face while they were together.
Uncertainty.
She smiled.
Very slightly.
Vincent leaned toward her.
“You planned this?”
“No.”
“What are you doing?”
“The opposite of what Raymond expects.”
The agent asked her to accompany them.
Vincent’s attorney was already on speakerphone.
Amelia entered the SUV voluntarily.
As the door closed, she looked back.
Vincent stood on the curb.
Raymond farther away.
Two men who frightened half the city.
May you like
And for the first time, neither of them was deciding where she went.
She was.
