Chapter 8: What Margaret Left Behind
Three days later, Margaret called.
I was in my temporary apartment — a furnished rental two miles from the office, nothing on the walls, one set of dishes, a view of a parking structure.
I had chosen it deliberately.
Nothing in it belonged to the Blackwood world.
I answered on the second ring.
"I wasn't sure you'd pick up," she said.
"I wasn't sure you'd call." I sat down.
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere safe.
I'm not going to say more than that."
"I'm not asking you to." I paused.
"They arrested Grant yesterday.
And Eleanor."
A long silence.
"I heard," Margaret said.
"It was on the news."
"The federal charges were filed this morning.
Wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy.
Richard is cooperating in exchange for reduced exposure.
Thomas —" I stopped.
"Thomas turned himself in voluntarily.
Apparently he's been trying to get out for two years."
Margaret exhaled.
It was a long, shaky sound.
"I should have done what you did," she said.
"Years ago."
"You did it when you could," I said.
"You gave me the drive.
That's what mattered."
"I was scared, Olivia." Her voice cracked slightly.
"I watched what he did to people who got in his way.
I watched what he did to you, and I told myself it wasn't my business, and I —" She stopped.
"I kept the files because I was protecting myself.
I want you to know that.
I wasn't brave.
I was just careful."
"Careful saved me," I said.
"Brave is overrated."
She was quiet for a moment.
"Are you all right?" she said.
"Your head —"
"Healing." I touched my temple.
The bruise had gone yellow at the edges.
"Margaret.
The anonymous message you sent me that night.
*Check the second account.* How did you move the money?"
"I still had one active authorization code," she said.
"Grant forgot to revoke it when he changed the others.
He was so focused on the main transfer that he didn't check the secondary system." A pause.
"I moved it before I left the dinner.
In the car, in the driveway, before I drove away."
"You moved $63.4 million from a car in the Blackwood driveway."
"It took four minutes." Something in her voice shifted — not quite humor, but close to it.
"Grant always said I was efficient."
I laughed.
It surprised me.
I hadn't laughed in days.
"The investigators will need a statement from you," I said.
"When you're ready.
There's no pressure on timing — what you've already provided is enough to move forward.
But your testimony would strengthen the case considerably."
"I know." A pause.
"I'll do it.
I just need a little more time."
"Take what you need."
Another silence.
Longer this time.
"Olivia," she said.
"I'm sorry.
For all of it.
For staying quiet as long as I did.
For watching him treat you the way he did and saying nothing."
I looked at the wall across from me.
Plain white.
Nothing on it.
"You said something when it counted," I said.
"That's enough."
After I hung up, I sat for a while without moving.
The apartment was very quiet.
Outside, a car moved through the parking structure below.
Somewhere down the hall, a door closed.
My phone lit up on the table.
A name I didn't expect.
Thomas Blackwood.
I stared at it for three rings.
Then I answered.
"I'm not calling to ask for anything," he said immediately.
"I just —" He stopped.
"I wanted to say I'm sorry.
I know that doesn't mean anything.
I know I should have —" Another stop.
"I watched him treat you badly for years and I told myself it wasn't my place.
That's not an excuse.
I know it isn't."
"No," I said.
"It isn't."
"I know." His voice was quiet.
Tired.
"I just needed to say it to you directly.
Not through a lawyer.
Not in a statement." A pause.
"You deserved better than all of us."
I didn't answer right away.
"Thank you for turning yourself in," I said finally.
"That took something."
"Not enough," he said.
"Not nearly enough."
He hung up before I could respond.
I set the phone down.
Outside, the sky had gone the pale orange of early evening.
I had not eaten since morning.
I got up, found the one pan in the kitchen, and made eggs.
Simple.
Quiet.
Mine.
May you like
I ate standing at the counter, looking out at the parking structure, and I thought about nothing in particular.
It was the first time in eight years I had eaten a meal without calculating what someone else needed from me.
