Мэри Эндрюс - The Newcomer

At the time, she’d been instantly intimidated by Sammi, so sleek in her Lululemons, her glossy dark hair totally unmussed, even after an hour of what Tanya described as “excruciating” hot yoga. Letty hadn’t known that she was a lawyer.

Letty paced around the living area, debating the pros and cons. She went back out to the patio, watched the sun sink lower toward the horizon, watched Joe DeCurtis, patiently casting and recasting his line again and again. He was a man who didn’t give up, she concluded.

It was nearly dusk when she picked up her phone. First, she tapped *67, to hide her own number. Then she called the number on Samiya Chritesh’s business card. She’d expected the call to go directly to voice mail, had even practiced the message she’d leave, but was startled to hear a voice at the other end of the line.

“Hello. This is Samiya. Who’s calling please?”

Letty was momentarily stunned into silence. “Um, this is Letty Carnahan. Tanya’s sister.”

“Oh! Oh my goodness. Letty. I didn’t think you’d call.”

“I didn’t think so either,” Letty admitted. “My friend texted that you need to talk? What’s so urgent?”

“Where are you? Is Maya with you? Is she all right?”

“Maya’s fine. You don’t need to know where we are. Have you talked to Evan?”

“I’ve talked to his lawyer. Very unpleasant man. But I don’t represent Evan. I represent your sister Tanya, or your sister’s estate.”

“What does that even mean?” Letty asked. “Are you telling me Tanya actually had a will? Because I find that hard to believe.”

“Yes, of course she did,” Sammi said. She paused. “Oh, I see what you’re getting at. You’re right. Tanya was a free spirit, wasn’t she? But when she found out the kind of law I practice, she asked me if she should have a will. And I told her, as the parent of a small child, especially because she was not married to that child’s father, she should definitely do some estate planning.”

“And Tanya did as you suggested?” Letty was still unconvinced.

There was a long silence at the other end of the phone.

“Did Tanya ever tell you anything about me?” Sammi asked.

“Not really. I know that you met at yoga.”

“We didn’t meet at yoga,” Sammi said finally. “We met at AA. I mentioned one night that yoga really helped, when I was trying to become sober, and afterward, your sister asked me about yoga. She joined the studio I attend. That’s where we became friendly.”

“Is that allowed?”

Sammi’s laugh was low and throaty. “Of course. When we met, we were both struggling. Tanya helped me as much as I helped her. I was grateful, so I agreed to assist with some legal matters.”

“I just…” Letty was at a loss for words. “Did she talk to you about Evan, about her fears, for herself and for Maya?”

“She did,” Sammi said. “I’m sorry, Letty. Sorry for your loss. And even sorrier that I couldn’t do something to save your sister.”

“You know Evan did this, right?”

“From what Tanya told me, yes, it seems he must bear some responsibility. I know Tanya was desperate because she did not want him to have custody of the child. And she was insistent that he wanted to harm her. I thought, well, to be honest, I suspected she was overreacting. Your sister was very … theatrical in that respect.”

“‘Theatrical.’ That’s a good word to describe Tanya. She was that in almost all respects,” Letty said bitterly. “But this one awful time, she was right to be worried.”

“I still can’t believe she’s gone,” Sammi said. “We’d meet for coffee—well, I had coffee, she had that vile herbal tea—about once a week, at the same place where you and I met that time. I still go, after yoga. And every time I walk in, I expect to see her waving at me from the corner table, calling ‘Yoo-hoo! Sammi!’”

“You said you needed to talk about Tanya’s estate,” Letty said, interrupting. She was still paranoid about using this phone, paranoid about talking to anyone at all about her sister.

“All right. I see your point. Tanya did have a will. She named you as a secondary beneficiary, and Maya’s legal guardian. The will is very specific on that point. All of her assets are to be put into a trust for Maya, until she reaches the age of twenty-one.”

“What assets are we talking about?” Letty asked. “I mean, Evan owned the brownstone she was living in, and supported her. She had some nice clothes and jewelry, but that’s it. Right?”

“Not quite,” Sammi said with a slight chuckle. “She had quite a large life insurance policy. Three million dollars. Again, Maya is the primary beneficiary, but those funds will be held in a trust. As it turns out, there were other assets too. A large ring? Do you know about that?”

“Yes.” Letty left it at that.

“The ring is to be sold, and the funds distributed to you,” Sammi said. “And then, of course, there’s the real estate.”

“Excuse me?”

“Your late sister holds title to several parcels of extremely valuable residential real estate properties in Tribeca, the East Village, and Brooklyn.”

“You mean, Evan owns them,” Letty said.

“Actually, there are seven apartments, including the one where Tanya resided, that were purchased over the past three years, by an LLC controlled by Evan Wingfield. It appears that he then transferred title of the entities to your sister, while they were still domestic partners,” Sammi said. “Strictly a tax dodge on his part.”

Another long pause.

“Letty? Are you still there?”

“I’m here,” Letty said finally. “I’m just floored. I knew about the ring, of course, because she showed it to me when Evan gave it to her, after Maya was born, but did Tanya know about the real estate? She never mentioned it to me, and we talked all the time.”

“As far as I know, she wasn’t aware of the real estate,” Sammi said. “I only discovered it myself after I began the process of probate. All of this is complicated, as you might guess, by the nature of Tanya’s death.”

“You mean her murder,” Letty said. “Evan murdered Tanya.”

Letty couldn’t stop thinking about Declan Rooney, the con man whose deep blue eyes were the same distinctive shade as Maya’s. “Did Tanya ever hint to you that Evan wasn’t the father of her child?” she asked.

“No!” Sammi said sharply. “Are you telling me that Evan isn’t Maya’s father?”

“I’m not telling you anything,” Letty said. “As you’ve already noted, Tanya was complicated. She liked secrets and she was really good at keeping them.”

Sammi exhaled loudly. “Let’s set that aside for a moment, please. Evan’s attorney has notified me that he’ll fight any attempt by the estate to claim those real estate assets. What I need from you…”

“No,” Letty said. All this talk about Evan Wingfield was making her feel panicky and cornered. “I can’t talk about this, Sammi. You do what you have to do. But you can’t tell anyone that we talked. Especially Evan. You have no idea what he’s capable of. This isn’t just about me. It’s about Maya. If something happens to me, Evan will get custody of Maya.”

“Wait,” Sammi said.

She heard voices approaching outside, from the breezeway. Maya burst in, holding a foil-lined shoebox in both hands, followed by Isabelle.

“Lookit, Letty,” Maya crowed. “Cookies!”

Letty disconnected the call.

26

“GOOD NEWS,” AVA SAID, AS Letty settled herself behind the registration desk on Wednesday. “I’ve booked your old room.”

“Already? That was fast.” Letty sat Maya down at her table, and unpacked her crayons and markers and the new reading workbook Isabelle had bought for her, and the child went right to work.