I listened.
For the first five seconds, there was only breathing.
Then Claire said my name.
Not angrily.
Not defensively.
Terrified.
"Nathan, I need you to call me right now. Please. You don't understand. You don't understand what that money was. Please call me before you do anything."
The message ended.
Thirty seconds later, another call came through.
This time I answered.
"Nathan?"
Her voice cracked so hard on my name that I almost did not recognize it.
I said nothing.
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere else."
"Did you talk to Nina?"
I looked at the legal pad in front of me.
"We are not discussing this by phone."
"Oh my God."
I heard movement, then something strike a wall or counter.
"Nathan, listen to me. Nina is lying. She has been trying to destroy me for months. She was angry because I wouldn't approve her promotion. She doesn't understand the program structure."
"I didn't mention Nina in the note."
Silence.
It lasted four seconds.
Maybe five.
Long enough for Claire to understand what she had just told me.
"Nathan..."
"Don't."
"Please."
"I have an attorney. If Harbor House contacts me, I will tell the truth about anything I know from my own finances or conversations. I will not access your work records. I will not destroy anything. I will not lie for you."
Her breathing became ragged.
"You think I stole seventy-four thousand dollars?"
"I think there is an investigation."
"You don't know what happened."
"Then tell the people investigating you."
"You are my husband."
The sentence hit me harder than I expected.
I closed my eyes.
"You told me Thursday night that if I couldn't accept you going to Miami with another man, I should get out of your life."
She began to cry.
"I was angry."
"I believed you."
"Nathan, please come home."
"No."
"Please. I need to talk to you in person."
"Not tonight."
"Adrian says we need to get ahead of this."