Page 89 of Love Is an Art
It’s Pamela.Pamela is the one asking for kickbacks.
But then his face closes down.“Tengo que ir.”He stands abruptly.
“Gracias,” Tessa says. “Do you have a card in case we get funding?”
He shakes his head and backs up into his restaurant, but then he turns and asks, “Do you have a card?”
Does she?I glance at her.
“I’m out, but we’ll come back here if we get funding,” Tessa says.
Smooth.
We move to the next restaurant, an old-fashioned taqueria, and the next. The scenario repeats over and over again. All of these restaurant vendors—except one—have been asked by Pamela for kickbacks in order to join the app. The one exception appears to be the most popular café.
At the last one, we order lunch and sit at the tables outside. The spices in my taco are so good. I scoop up some bits that fell out.
“I didn’t expect it to be Pamela,” she admits. “Maybe I should have, since they couldn’t call the hotline. Even though we have the restaurant vendors saying it’s happening, I don’t know how we prove it is Pamela. It’s not like we can bring in all these shop owners. Especially if they don’t want to be on record admitting it.”
“Why would Pamela even do this?” I ask. “What’s the motivation?”
She leans forward. “Would the motivation excuse it?”
“No. It would help to understand it.” Like it helped me to understand why you lied to me.
She sighs. “I’m a lawyer, not a mind reader. Let’s finish up our lunch. We need to get back to the office within a reasonable amount of time. Let’s go through the rest of the documents, and then we can discuss it back at the hotel.”
We spend the afternoon working on the disclosure, and we finish reviewing all the documentation. Tessa leaves to linger around the bathroom and canteen, but neither Ana nor Valeria ever appear. It’s probably too risky in the office. She calls the number again for the interior design service, but no one answers. It’s definitely suspicious.
We order dinner in so we can keep working. I definitely want to minimize our time in her bedroom. Last night, that black tank top with her bare shoulders and then her long, shapely legs …
Focus on work.
At eight, we wrap up and leave the office. Frankly, we still don’t have much solid evidence. We may need to provoke Pamela to admit it but also not anger her because we are in a business relationship—especially given that I have to continue working with this company.
And don’t share an elevator alone with Tessa again.
Chapter twenty-eight
Tessa
Zekemuttershehasto talk to the hotel receptionist at the front desk, and I go up in the elevator alone.
Investigations are not easy, especially when conclusive proof is needed. I shift my backpack and wave my card at the door sensor. The green light flashes.
The door slides over a manila envelope addressed to me. A little early for my checkout receipt. I pick up the envelope and throw it on the desk. I slip off my heels. Finally. Then I collapse on the bed and close my eyes.
What can we still do? Ask to speak to Valeria alone? Confront Pamela and pretend we have more solid proof than we do about the kickbacks at the restaurants? That seems too risky. Tomorrow, we can show Roberto the fraudulent invoices and explain the kickback requests we discovered at the restaurants. That’s all we have so far.
I should change before Zeke comes over.
Dressed in comfy pants and a T-shirt, I pick up the envelope. It’s taped tight, like it’s a secret missive.
Like it’s a secret missive.
I pull off the duct tape. Out slides a printed sheet of what was obviously an email exchange.
To: Cameron Stone
