Chapter 5 - THE TRANSLATOR WHO DISAPPEARED
My mother had not been a secretary.
Not exactly.
Mary Miller had been a junior legal translator.
She had studied German in college, spent two years in Frankfurt, and taken a temporary job with Vale, Hart & Bennett after returning to New York.
I had never known.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I wanted that part of my life gone.”
Her voice trembled.
Twenty-seven years earlier, Charles Vale had assigned her a set of postwar shipping documents.
The Kessler Maritime Accord.
Mary completed the translation accurately.
Three days later, Charles returned it.
One word had been changed.
Trustee became owner.
Custodial control became beneficial ownership.
Several beneficiary references disappeared entirely.
“He told me to initial the revised translation,” Mom said.
“Did you?”
“No.”
I looked at the initials on Dominic’s document.
M.M.
My skin went cold.
“Mom, your initials are on it.”
She stopped breathing for a second.
“What?”
“Someone wrote M.M. on the replaced page.”
“That wasn’t me.”
Victoria suddenly moved toward the door.
One of Dominic’s men blocked her.
She spun around.
“This is insane.”
Dominic ignored her.
I spoke into the phone.
“What happened after you refused?”
Mom answered quietly.
“I was fired.”
“That’s all?”
“No.”
Two nights later, someone broke into her apartment.
Nothing valuable disappeared.
Only her work files.
A week after that, a man followed her from the subway.
She left New York almost immediately.
“Why Ohio?”
“My sister was there.”
“Why never report it?”
“I was twenty-eight, pregnant, scared, and broke. Charles Vale represented people who owned buildings, judges’ campaigns, banks. I thought nobody would believe me.”
Dominic finally spoke.
“Mary.”
Mom went silent.
He introduced himself.
Her response was immediate.
“You’re Enzo Russo’s son.”
Dominic’s face changed.
“Yes.”
Mom gave a bitter laugh.
“Then you should know your father received my original translation.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“What?”
“I mailed it to him.”
“When?”
“1999.”
“Did he respond?”
“Yes.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“What did he say?”
Mom was quiet for several seconds.
Then:
“He said I had just given him proof that Charles Vale had stolen part of the Russo empire.”
Everyone stared at Victoria.
But Mom wasn’t finished.
“And three weeks later, Enzo Russo mailed me something back.”
May you like
“What?”
“The original page forty-six.”
