Chapter 8 - Eighteen Million Reasons To LieForensic accountants followed the money through shell companies in Delaware, Nevada, and Washington.
Some funds purchased hospital equipment.
Others funded legitimate expansion.
But millions had moved into companies connected to Luca personally.
The condo Mariana occupied was one.
A luxury property near Lake Washington was another.
Luca had been building a second life.
Mariana claimed she knew nothing about the stolen money.
I believed her cautiously.
She had betrayed me.
But betrayal did not automatically make her part of Luca’s financial crimes.
Meanwhile, the hospital board suspended Luca as medical director.
Local reporters gathered outside Vance Harbor.
The physician once celebrated on Seattle television now entered through underground parking garages to avoid cameras.
Luca called me repeatedly.
I blocked him.
Then he sent flowers.
I returned them.
Finally, he sent a handwritten letter.
I did not open it.
Noah did.
The final sentence read:
YOU ARE MAKING A MISTAKE THAT CANNOT BE UNDONE.
Rachel photographed it.
“Threat?”
“Maybe.”
I looked through the window at Seattle’s skyline.
“No.”
May you like
I had finally learned Luca’s language.
“It’s fear.”
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