Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW MIA’S SHOES
Lucas refused to resume the wedding. Valeria came to his home without Carter and asked for five minutes.
She admitted she had seen Mia before.
Three years earlier, Valeria volunteered at St. Anne’s family shelter under her employer’s charity program. A woman named Anna Reed lived there briefly with a six-year-old girl. The girl called herself Mia and wore red sneakers with silver stars.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know she was your niece then.”
“When did you know?”
Valeria looked down. “Two months ago.”
Carter showed her Mia’s photograph and claimed Elena’s associates planned to use the child to seize the trust. He asked Valeria to report any contact. In exchange, he promised to keep a sealed juvenile arrest from damaging her career.
At seventeen, Valeria had been arrested with her mother during a fraudulent charity collection. Charges against Valeria were dismissed, but Carter retained the file.
“He blackmailed you?” Lucas asked.
“He reminded me what powerful people can make public.”
Valeria had sent Carter the shelter address. By the time he searched it, Anna and Mia were gone.
Lucas’s anger became cold. “You gave him a child’s location.”
“I believed Anna was using her.”
“Did you verify that before choosing the man threatening you?”
Valeria had no answer.
She did provide one useful fact: Mia’s shoes in the current photograph were not red. They were worn gray sneakers. Valeria had bought the red pair herself after the shelter refused a clothing request.
“If she still had them,” Valeria whispered, “I would know the photograph was old.”
May you like
Someone rang the doorbell. A package lay on the step.
Inside were one red sneaker with silver stars and a church program bearing the original wedding date.
