Chapter 4
Robert Callahan lived in a retirement community outside Lake Forest.
He agreed to meet Miriam.
Enzo wanted to go.
Miriam refused.
“You are emotionally involved.”
“It’s my wife.”
“Exactly.”
Mara was still legally his wife.
Neither had filed for divorce.
That fact had become increasingly absurd over three years, but Enzo had never pursued it.
He told himself it was because Lily was young.
The truth was uglier.
Part of him wanted Mara to be the one who formally ended it.
She never had.
Callahan remembered the first letter.
Not immediately.
Then Miriam showed him a copy.
His face changed.
“I forwarded this.”
“To Enzo?”
“To Lucinda.”
Miriam stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because Lucinda had been coordinating family communications during the crisis.”
“What crisis?”
Callahan frowned.
“Mara leaving.”
“What did you understand had happened?”
“That Mara and Enzo had separated after a serious dispute. Lucinda said Enzo did not want direct contact while emotions were high.”
“Did Enzo tell you that?”
Callahan went silent.
“No.”
“Did you ever confirm it?”
“No.”
That was difficult for him to admit.
Miriam continued.
“Did you send Mara responses?”
Callahan’s expression sharpened.
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“Absolutely.”
“Did your office?”
“Not without my knowledge.”
He allowed Miriam to review archived correspondence logs.
His firm had received two letters from Mara.
Both had been forwarded to Lucinda’s private family office.
Neither had ever reached Enzo.
But the biggest surprise was in the old billing system.
Three weeks after Mara’s first letter, someone requested a template for a cease-and-desist concerning unwanted personal contact.
The request came from Lucinda’s assistant.
Callahan never approved a final letter.
His office billed fifteen minutes for locating the template.
That was all.
Miriam called Enzo immediately.
“You’re going to be angry.”
“I already am.”
“Different angry.”
She explained.
Enzo sat in his study holding the phone.
“Are you telling me Lucinda used Callahan’s material?”
“I’m telling you she requested it.”
“Not the same thing.”
“No.”
He hated that answer.
Miriam continued.
“We need the copies Mara received.”
That was the problem.
They still had no idea where Mara lived.
The letters contained return addresses, but they changed repeatedly.
Wisconsin.
Michigan.
Indiana.
The newest came from Grand Rapids.
Enzo wanted to send men immediately.
Miriam stopped him.
“You send bodyguards to a woman who believes you threatened her with custody consequences, and what does that look like?”
He knew.
Like confirmation.
So they did something unfamiliar to the Marchetti family.
They asked permission.
Miriam mailed a letter to Mara’s most recent address.
No demands.
No threats.
No request that she return.
Only one sentence mattered.
May you like
Enzo did not receive your letters until yesterday. If you are willing, please contact me directly.
Then they waited.
