“So meek. What’s on your mind?”
“That I don’t want to wake up from this dream.”
Chapter 43
About five minutes ago, Melissa announced Levi’s arrival.
Now, everyone is gathered around the table in the adjoining room, which I use for meetings. Joaquín tried to come, but a trial he was involved in ran longer than expected. So it’s just me, Olívia, and our lawyer, along with Kathleen and Charlotte with their respective legal representatives.
“Can we begin?” Levi asks, but without waiting for an answer, he continues, “Well, I’ll take that silence as a yes. Miss Charlotte, please recount what happened on the day of the incident with Miss Freitas.”
Olívia’s hand, held in mine, is cold.
“Well, actually, it all started a few days before,” says Charlotte. “Miss Taylor approached me, saying she had a task for me.”
Five seconds into her statement and I’m already boiling.
I look at Kathleen, and she stands there with her head held high, proud, as if none of this concerns her.
Sensing my mood, Olívia tightens her grip on my hand, intertwining our fingers even tighter under the table.
“And what did this task consist of?”
“She asked me to put my wallet in Miss Freitas’s bag.”
“This young woman sitting across from you?”
She briefly lifts her eyes to look at Olívia. “Yes, her.”
At least the woman has the decency to look ashamed.
In fact, her testimony is just a repetition of what she already told the police, but Levi needs Kathleen’s dismissal to leave no room for doubt.
Kathleen’s lawyer interrupts. “There’s no proof of what she’s saying.” Much like his client, he seems almost bored.
“We’ll get there,” Levi warns. “Your colleague should be aware that we’re meeting here before proper police action is taken, purely out of courtesy. It’s only out of consideration for the many years of service provided by your client that we haven’t brought detectives into our little meeting.” As he speaks, his face shows no emotion. The man is chillingly cold. “Continue, Miss Charlotte. What was Miss Taylor’s intent in asking you to do this?”
“I’m not sure. Probably . . . um . . . to get Miss Freitas fired.”
“Not arrested?”
“Maybe.”
“And why did you agree to such a vile plan?”
Unlike her other answers, she doesn’t hesitate with this one. “Because until then, we all thought Kathleen would be the next Mrs. Caldwell-Oviedo.”
What? Why the hell would anyone believe that? It’s hard to catch me off-guard, but this time I’m completely shocked. Olívia turns her face to look at me, and I can see the doubt in her eyes.
“What led you to think such nonsense, given that there was never any evidence of a relationship between me and Miss Taylor?” I ask, because I’ve held my temper in check for too long.
“Miss Taylor threatened us. She said you were having a secret relationship because of your recent widowhood, and that Olívia, I mean, Miss Freitas, was trying to steal you from her. That she needed to get her out of the way.”
From my peripheral vision, I see Olívia cover her mouth with her hand.
“You’re dismissed,” Levi says, addressing Charlotte.
She doesn’t work for me anymore anyway, and her presence was only necessary in order to confront Kathleen.
