The Woman With No Name (Manuela Delgado Book 1) by Kate Bizos

Author:Kate Bizos [Bizos, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kate Bizos
Published: 2022-06-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter twenty-three

“Do you think she’s lying?” Manuela asks after Jake fills her in on the conversation with Julia. No sooner had Jake parted ways with Jessica than Manuela was calling, as if sensing he’d just passed the bar's sliding doors. The crowd in the noisy departure hall hadn’t receded. Jake had contemplated the screen, unsure if he’d answer now or call back later in the quiet of his hotel room after sending his first message to Jessica, if she’d accepted his friend request. Wherever she lives, he'll see her tonight if she’s available. The sooner the better.

As he’d waited too long, voicemail had picked up Manuela’s call. On impulse, he’d rung her. She couldn’t wait to hear his account of the encounter with Theo’s wife.

“No, I don’t think she’s lying,” Jake says, answering Manuela’s question. “She’s lost, destroyed.”

Frightened, he adds to himself. Eying everyone with suspicion, like Jake did in the years following the incident in Miami and like he’d done again after the broadcast of the CNN documentary. And Julia’s case was more heart-wrenching because she’d done nothing wrong. She is innocent. Jake feels sympathy for her.

“Then her husband was lying to her,” Manuela says. “I don’t buy his story. A top-ranking TV journalist with the means to transfer $200,000 to a fake bank account in the blink of an eye to destroy the credibility of a witness? How likely compared to the theory of Theodore November stealing the money—a scheme he’d had years to plan?”

Jake shrugs.

Manuela says, “And Julia doesn't know the name of the journalist? Or that of the mysterious hackers or where they were from or how Elise got in touch with them? How could she not insist her husband reveal the journalist’s identity if he’s so famous? In her shoes, I wouldn’t have let go until he told me.”

Jake has no doubt Manuela would have been relentless until she got a name. He almost smiles at the thought. But Julia isn’t Manuela.

“Think about it, Jake. The only logical explanation to Julia not pressuring her husband for more information is because she doubted his version. She didn’t dig deeper because she dreaded what she’d unearth. Can you imagine her watching the news on different channels and each time, wondering if the anchor was the guy who had sex with children and threatened her husband?”

Manuela has stopped to catch her breath. If Jake can imagine? Oh yeah, he can. But a journalist on TV feels much less threatening than suspecting every anonymous woman he crosses paths with.

Jake says, “Considering his position at the charity, if Theodore November had planned on stealing the money over the course of a few years, my guess is he’d have been clever enough to avoid being caught. And why take so much risk for only $200,000?”

“For only $200,000? Jake, which world are you living in? That’s a lot of money. Maybe he had some debt his wife wasn’t aware of, or he was being blackmailed—who knows? There can be dozens of answers.” Manuela is once again growing impatient, as if she had something else in mind.

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