Chapter 2
The pounding grew louder.
“Daniel Hart!” a man shouted. “Open the door!”
Mom grabbed my wrist.
“Don’t.”
I looked through the window beside the door.
My father stood on the porch.
Richard Hart had abandoned our family twelve years earlier, two days after my younger brother’s funeral.
I had not seen him since.
I opened the door but kept my body in the doorway.
“What are you doing here?”
Richard looked older, but his eyes had not changed.
They were still cold and sharp.
“Vanessa called me from jail.”
My stomach tightened.
“How did she have your number?”
“She found me months ago.”
Behind me, Mom gasped.
Richard looked past my shoulder and saw her wheelchair.
“So it finally happened,” he said.
Mom’s face hardened.
“Get out.”
“I came to warn Daniel.”
“About what?”
Richard lifted a folder.
“About you.”
I stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind me.
“If Vanessa sent you, I’m not interested.”
“She didn’t steal that money for herself.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to examine the evidence before your mother buries it.”
Richard handed me the folder.
Inside were copies of emails between Vanessa and someone identified only as M.
The messages discussed Mom’s accounts, the forged power of attorney, and a payment schedule.
One line made my blood run cold.
Once Eleanor signs the property transfer, Daniel gets nothing.
“Who is M?” I asked.
Richard gave a bitter laugh.
“You already know.”
The door opened behind me.
Mom rolled onto the porch.
“He is trying to turn you against me.”
“Then tell me the truth,” I said. “Who caused your accident?”
Six months earlier, a car had struck Mom while she was crossing a parking lot. The driver had fled. Her spine had been damaged, leaving her unable to walk without assistance.
Mom looked down at her hands.
“Daniel, this is not the place.”
“That means you know.”
Richard stepped closer.
“Tell him, Eleanor.”
“Stay out of this.”
“You protected her long enough.”
“Protected whom?” I demanded.
Mom closed her eyes.
“Melissa.”
The name hit me harder than Vanessa’s slap.
My sister had driven the car.
Mom explained that Melissa had come to her house after drinking. They argued about money. Mom refused to give her another loan.
Melissa drove away angry.
Minutes later, she struck Mom in the parking lot.
“She panicked,” Mom whispered. “She called me from the car. I told her to go home.”
“You helped her escape?”
“She is my daughter.”
“And you let the police search for a stranger.”
“I thought I was protecting our family.”
Richard shook his head.
“You were protecting your favorite liar.”
Mom’s eyes flashed.
“You disappeared after Michael died. You don’t get to judge anyone.”
My brother’s name filled the space between them.
Michael had died in a car crash at twenty-three.
Richard had blamed Mom.
Mom had blamed Richard.
Neither had ever told me why.
Before I could ask, my phone rang.
It was Detective Elena Ruiz.
“Mr. Hart, your wife posted bail,” she said.
“That’s impossible.”
“Someone paid fifty thousand dollars in cash.”
I looked at Richard.
He raised both hands.
“It wasn’t me.”
Detective Ruiz continued.
“Vanessa has filed an assault complaint against you. She also submitted a video that appears to show you striking her.”
“She had just tried to push my mother down the stairs.”
“The video begins after that.”
I pulled the memory card from my pocket.
“I may have the complete recording.”
There was a pause.
“Bring it to the station immediately.”
I turned toward the door.
Mom blocked my path with her wheelchair.
“There is something else,” she said.
“What?”
“The memory card may show who helped Vanessa enter my study last week.”
“You know who it was?”
Mom stared at Richard.
“I saw Melissa’s car outside.”
Richard’s phone suddenly rang.
He answered, listened, and went pale.
“What happened?” I asked.
He lowered the phone.
“That was the private care facility where Eleanor was supposed to recover next week.”
“I never agreed to a facility,” Mom said.
Richard looked at me.
“Someone used the power of attorney to reserve a room for her.”
My phone buzzed again.
This time, the message contained a photograph.
It showed my nine-year-old daughter, Emma, leaving school with Vanessa.
May you like
Under the photograph were six words.
BRING THE MEMORY CARD. COME ALONE.
