“Why?”
“Because she wanted to see Robert.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because Opal stopped it.”
That sounded wrong.
Everything I had learned about Grandma suggested she would not prevent contact without reason.
“Why?”
Mom’s eyes filled.
“Because Elaine wasn’t trying to reconnect.”
“What did she want?”
“Money.”
Of course.
“She threatened to expose the Wexford fraud.”
“What fraud?”
“Robert’s.”
So Mom knew.
Years earlier than I thought.
“She blackmailed you.”
Mom looked away.
“She said she had documents linking Robert to Elias Lane.”
“Did she?”
“Yes.”
“And Wexford paid her?”
“No.”
Mom swallowed.
“I did.”
“With what money?”
She started crying.
Real crying.
Not delicate tears.
Her shoulders shook.
“I borrowed it.”
“From whom?”
She covered her mouth.
Then whispered:
“Opal.”
I sat back.
Grandma had given my mother millions to pay off the woman who had abandoned my father.
“Why would Wexford records show it as a corporate payment?”
