Mary felt her face flush, as heads turned. Everyone called out to her, thanked her, or grinned at her, which suffused her with happiness and gratitude, just to be here among them. Everybody was standing together behind Simon and Rachel—family, friends, and neighbors alike—which was the essence of South Philly. She knew there were similar communities carved out of cities and towns all across the country, maybe even the world, and she knew how lucky she was to be a member of one.
“So Mary, I wanted you to have this token of appreciation from me and my family.” Simon slipped a hand in his sport jacket and produced a small turquoise box, unmistakably from Tiffany’s, then presented it to Mary. “Please, take this, with thanks from the Pensieras and the Dragottis.”
“Simon, really?” Mary’s hands flew reflexively to her face. “You didn’t have to do that!”
“We’re happy to. You’ve been such a good friend all my life, to my father, Ellen, and Rachel too.” Simon’s eyes glistened, his upper lip trembling, but he kept it together.
“Oh my, you are too sweet.” Mary accepted the gift, tugged at the white satin ribbon, and took the lid off. Inside was a velveteen box nestled in white paper.
“I KNOW WHAT IT IS!” her father said, but her mother backhanded him in the arm. Everyone in the crowd came closer, craning their necks to see.
“HOLD IT UP, MARE!”
“I will!” Mary opened the box to find a small gold locket shaped like a heart, then held it up so the crowd could see it, to oohs and ahhs. “Thank you so much! This is so pretty!”
“It opens.”
“Really?” Mary opened the locket to find a small picture of Rachel on one side and a little lock of her hair on the other. “Oh Simon, this is too much.” Mary almost burst into tears, but she kept it under control.
Anthony didn’t do as well, his eyes welling up. “Thanks, Simon,” he said.
“You’re welcome.” Simon cleared his throat. “I know how much she means to you.”
“Aw, thank you.” Mary hugged him.
“We just want you to know how much we appreciate you doing what you’re doing. You’re helping save her life.” Simon managed a smile. “Here’s how I look at it. I’m doing everything I can do, and you’re doing everything you can do, too. The rest is in God’s hands.”
“I agree, thank you so much for this.” Mary closed up the jewelry case, put it back in the box, and put everything in her purse, including the pretty ribbon. She swore to herself that she’d give the case everything that she had.
She couldn’t lose.
CHAPTER TEN
Bennie faced Todd across the table. “I’m going to give this to you straight. It’s really important that I understand exactly what happened in any conversations you had with Simon Pensiera about his daughter’s medical expenses.”
“I told you, we didn’t have any.” Todd gestured at the closed door behind Bennie. “Why did you throw the others out?”
“Because you and I need to speak more frankly, not in front of your boss or anybody else.”
Todd pursed his lips. “You think I’m lying.”
“I need to know if you’re lying.”
“I’m not. I told you the truth. There’s two sides to every story. You made up your mind before you even came in here.”
Bennie had to admit to herself that it struck a chord, but only because the contemporaneous notes were such strong evidence. “You never once mentioned the daughter’s expenses?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Not even in passing? By way of commiserating? No words to the effect of, ‘well, these medical bills are something, Simon’?”
“Nothing like that.” Todd’s tone remained firm.
“But you must have talked about her illness or her treatments.”
“No, not that I recall.”
“How is that so?” Bennie wasn’t buying. “You’re supposedly friends, and his daughter is very ill? You don’t ever once ask him how she is?”
“Okay, whatever. Once or twice I probably said, ‘I hope Rach gets better.’ It went without saying. I didn’t bring it up because I don’t want him to get upset at work. You don’t need that in your face all the time, I wouldn’t like it. I felt sorry for him.”
Bennie wasn’t buying. “Todd, you need to come clean with me. If you were trying to save the company some money, there’s no shame in that. You were between a rock and a hard place, feeling sorry for Simon but knowing that you were responsible for your bottom line.”
“I never said anything like that to him.”
“Did you ever think anything like that?” Bennie watched him carefully for signs to see if he was lying, but so far, she wasn’t sure. “I mean, you knew that the company was paying those medical expenses out of pocket, since they were under the cap. In accounting, do those losses or expenses come out of your department?”
“Yes,” Todd admitted, after a moment.
“So that can’t be good for your bottom line.”
“It’s not.”
“And it can’t be good for you if your department causes the premiums to go up.”
“No. But I never said anything to him about it.”
“Did anybody ever say anything about that to you? Ray or Bashir?”
“No, never.”
“Was it just understood?”
“No, I mean, I admit, I’ll tell you, I worried about it. But I truly never said anything about that to Simon.” Todd shifted in the seat.
“Just tell me, Todd. If you did, no harm, no foul. We can settle this case. It won’t come back on you.”
Todd shifted again. “You don’t know that. You don’t know anything about this business.”
“True, but you don’t know anything about my business, either. And this is about my business—litigation. If this suit gets filed, goes to court, and we lose, it will cost the company a lot more than if we settle. And the PR will be terrible. We can make it go away now, but only if you tell me the truth.”
“I told you the truth!” Todd said, raising his voice. “Why do you think I’m lying? Why? You don’t even know me!”
“Hold on.” Bennie slipped her hand into her messenger bag and extracted Exhibit A, B, and C, the contemporaneous notes attached to the complaint, which she had photocopied. She turned them facedown on the table, watching Todd, who reacted instantly, shifting again in his chair and eyeing the sheets.
“What’s that? Is this some kind of game?”
“No, I’m just trying to get you to level with me. If you’re really telling the truth, then so be it. But I have to know, and this is what you’re up against.” Bennie turned over the top sheet, which was Exhibit A, showing Pensiera’s careful script on a notebook page:
Wednesday, October 20, 11:45 a.m. Todd said: “I hope this next round works, for her sake and for ours. These expenses are going to mount up, and we met our deductible already. Our premiums are going to go up.”
Bennie slid the piece of paper across the table and turned it around so that it faced Todd the right way. “Do you recognize that handwriting?”
“Yes, it’s Simon’s.”
“Take a moment to read it.” Bennie folded her hands, watching Todd critically. He read the sheet quickly, then raked his hand through his hair, leaving lines in the expensive layers of his haircut.
“I don’t know why he would write this. It’s a total lie.” Todd looked up, his face flushing with new anger. “He’s trying to set me up. He’s framing me. He made this whole thing up.”
Bennie kept her expression impassive. “Just so we’re clear, you’re saying that you never said any of this.”
“I never said any of this!”