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I glance at Cristiano. “Have you done an independent check? Because there’s no way in hell I’m taking Jacinto’s word as gospel.”
He nods. “I trust him on this, but I’m a big believer in ‘trust, but verify.’ I dug into her pretty deep. The only thing I found that gave me heartburn is that her neighbor is your Uncle Abel’s therapist.”
Abel.It makes me sick just to hear his name. But I take solace that the bastard is immersed in his own hell. “Therapist?”
“Occupational and physical therapy.”
The stroke left the right side of Abel’s body paralyzed, and he has only partial use of his left arm and leg. He doesn’t speak, and from what we know, he only understands bits and pieces of what goes on around him. “Why the fuck does he need an occupational therapist? Is he planning on staging a coup from his hospital bed?”
“Palliative therapy. It’s not unusual, certainly not for someone like your uncle, who has a lot of resources at his disposal. We’ll know more about what goes on in that house soon.”
Not soon enough. “What’s happening with that?”
“We’ve made contact,” Lucas replies in a clipped tone. He wanted us to sit tight awhile longer, and he’s not happy we activated our guy inside.Too bad.I want someone we trust with eyes on Tomas. And since he’s not leaving the house, we don’t have any other choice.
I turn to Cristiano. “Lara and this therapist, just neighbors?”
He rubs a hand over his chest. “Looks that way. Friendly neighbors—but there’s no indication there’s anything more.”
“Is there anything in his background that should concern us? Because it looks like you still have heartburn.”
He shakes his head. “No surprises. He runs a small business doing private in-home therapy for several well-to-do clients. Married, no kids, no evidence that he steps out on his wife—she’s clean too. He drives a refurbished van, rents his place, no boats or expensive vacations outside the perks of his wife’s job. She’s a flight attendant with TAP. He’s never been in any trouble.”
“What about the wife?”
“Clean, as far as I can tell. She’s gone a lot because of her job. Not a single red flag with either of them. Lara moved there after her husband and son died. It’s another reason I thought Jacinto might be right about her being a good match for Daniela. She understands grief better than most.”
I’d forgotten about the car accident that killed her family. It happened around the same time of myaccident—the one that plunged my car into the raging river and almost killed me.
“Do you want me to interview her, or should we keep looking?”
She has a lot of upside.A lot. But given her proximity to Abel’s therapist, it’s not as clean as I’d like.
“I’ll do it. She’s going to have access to my life. I want to talk to her myself. Set it up for this afternoon. But keep looking in case it doesn’t pan out. If I have a single reservation, she’s not the one.”I don’t give a shit what Jacinto thinks.
26
ANTONIO
“Bom dia,” Victor says brightly, through the phone. I’m sure having another person in the house to fuss over, a child no less, has energized him.
“Good morning. How are things there?”
“Daniela isn’t quite herself, but it’s to be expected after what she’s been through in the last couple of days. She’s putting on a good show in front of Valentina, who, by the way, is a charming little thing. I’ve been making a list of things for her to do so she’s not always thinking about her mother. It’s a tragedy to lose one’s mother at such a tender age.”
I’m sure it’s horrible. It certainly was for Rafa. I’m also sure Victor’s noticed how much the girl looks like Vera, but he’d never ask me, and he certainly would never breathe a word about it to anyone else. While I don’t have the same relationship with Victor that I do with Cristiano and Lucas, he’s no less loyal and discreet.
“How long will Valentina be staying?”
No, he wouldn’t dream of asking directly, but he’ll probe until he strikes gold.
“She’ll be with us for a while.” I’m not showing all my cards, yet. Not even to Victor. “I’ll let you know if anything changes. In the meantime, she should have free rein to decorate her suite—within reason,” I add, remembering the regulation-sized basketball hoop Rafa begged to have installed in his suite, complete with painted lines on the wood floor. That did not happen. Not inside the house, anyway. “Anything over-the-top, run by me first.”
“Decorating the room might make a nice distraction for her.”
“What do you know about Lara Ramos?”
“Gloria and Lorenzo’s daughter?”
