Chapter 10: What Wendy Said When She Had No Options Left
Wendy called me herself three days later.
I was at Claire's office when it came through.
Claire was across the desk.
I put the call on speaker without Wendy knowing.
"Jessi." Her voice was warm.
Practiced.
The same voice that had shrieked with delight at my wedding while frosting covered my face.
"I'm so glad you answered."
"What do you want, Wendy?"
A small pause — she had expected more preamble.
"I want to talk.
Woman to woman, without attorneys.
I think there's been a terrible misunderstanding and I believe we can resolve it quietly.
For everyone's sake."
"The state attorney's office is handling the fraud investigation," I said.
"There's nothing for us to resolve."
"Jessi." Her voice shifted — warmer, more intimate.
"I know this has been painful.
I know Luca hasn't always handled things well.
He's my son and I love him, but I know his faults.
I've always known." A pause.
"But what's being alleged — the forgery, the LLC — that's not what it looks like.
I can explain the structure if you'll let me."
"You can explain it to Detective Marsh."
"I'd rather explain it to you." Her voice dropped.
"Because I think you're a smart woman, Jessi.
Smarter than Luca gave you credit for.
And I think you understand that sometimes families make arrangements that look one way on paper and mean something different in practice."
"You hired a firm to build a psychological profile of me," I said.
"Before Luca ever asked me to dinner."
Silence.
"You identified my father's death, my lack of siblings, my friendship with Phoebe as leverage points," I continued.
"You incorporated Carver-Venn two months after you found my company's valuation.
You assigned Luca to the project." I kept my voice completely level.
"I want you to tell me, Wendy — which part of that is a misunderstanding?"
The warmth was gone.
What replaced it was something harder and more honest.
"You have no idea what it costs to maintain a family like ours," she said quietly.
"The properties.
The reputation.
The expectations.
Luca's father left us with debts that would have destroyed everything we'd built.
I did what I had to do."
"You defrauded four people."
"I protected my family."
"Those are not the same thing."
A long silence.
"What do you want?" Wendy said finally.
The warmth was completely gone now.
Just the hard, flat voice underneath.
"I don't want anything from you," I said.
"The investigation will take what it needs."
"If you push this, Luca goes to prison."
"That's not my decision.
It's the state attorney's."
"He's twenty-nine years old."
"The woman in the northern property case is sixty-three and she's been in litigation for two years because of your brother," I said.
"I'm sorry about Luca.
I am.
But I'm not going to stop this."
Another silence.
Longer this time.
"You'll regret this," Wendy said.
It wasn't a threat.
It was the last thing a person says when they have nothing left.
"Goodbye, Wendy," I said.
I ended the call.
Claire reached over and stopped the recording on her phone.
She looked at me.
"That's going to Marsh this afternoon," she said.
"I know."
She closed her folder.
"How are you doing?"
I thought about it honestly.
"I'm tired," I said.
"But I'm all right."
She nodded.
"Good.
May you like
Because we have three more filings to review before five o'clock."
I picked up my pen.
