Chapter 10: The Man in the Rain
I pulled Lauren inside and slammed the door.
The chain rattled as I locked it.
Outside, David stopped halfway up the walkway.
“Michael,” Detective Mills said through the speaker, “do not open that door again.””
“I won’t.””
Hannah stood beside me, staring through the narrow window.
David looked nothing like the monster I had imagined.
Mid-forties.
Expensive dark coat.
Neatly cut hair.
The kind of man who probably shook hands firmly and remembered everyone’s name.
He raised both hands.
“Hannah!””
She didn’t answer.
“Hannah, I just want to talk!””
Her face had gone pale.
“When did you last see him?”” I whispered.
“This afternoon.””
David stepped closer.
“Lauren! I know you’re in there.””
Lauren backed away from the door.
Mom stood near the fireplace.
“Should we go upstairs?””
“No,” I said.
“Stay away from the windows.””
Detective Mills spoke again.
“Officers are on the way.””
David knocked.
Not violently.
Three calm knocks.
That somehow frightened me more.
“Michael, I’m not here to hurt anyone.””
I said nothing.
“I know you can hear me.””
Hannah suddenly stepped toward the door.
I caught her arm.
“Don’t.””
“That’s my husband.””
“Exactly.””
She looked at me.
There was pain in her eyes, but no argument.
David knocked again.
“Hannah, Gregory is setting us up.””
Her body stiffened.
Lauren whispered, “Don’t believe him.””
David must have heard her.
“You should be the last person giving advice, Lauren.””
She closed her eyes.
He continued.
“Tell Michael who first suggested using Evelyn’s signature.””
I turned toward Lauren.
She shook her head.
“No.””
“Hannah,” David called, “ask Lauren about the first draft.””
Lauren rushed toward the door.
“You liar!””
I blocked her.
“What first draft?””
“There wasn’t one.””
David laughed outside.
Hannah looked at Lauren.
“You told me Gregory forged it.””
“He did.””
“Then what is David talking about?””
Lauren’s mouth trembled.
“I don’t know.””
The lies were exhausting.
Every answer opened another door.
Every door led somewhere worse.
Then David said something that silenced everyone.
“Lauren created the first authorization herself.””
Mom gripped the back of a chair.
I stared at my wife.
“Is that true?””
“No.””
“Lauren.””
“I made a template.””
My stomach sank.
“A template?””
“I was trying to understand what paperwork would be required.””
Hannah laughed in disbelief.
“You drafted a document transferring Evelyn’s property?””
“It wasn’t real!””
“Until someone used it.””
Lauren turned toward me.
“I never forged Evelyn’s signature.””
“But you created the document.””
“Yes.””
Mom whispered, “Why?””
Lauren looked at her.
“Because at that point I thought Michael would eventually inherit everything anyway.””
I felt something inside me go cold.
“My mother is alive.””
“I know.””
“Apparently you forgot.””
“That isn’t what I meant.””
“What did you mean?””
Lauren couldn’t answer.
Sirens sounded faintly in the distance.
David looked toward the street.
His calm expression disappeared.
He stepped closer to the door.
“Hannah, come outside.””
“No,” she called.
His eyes found her through the glass.
“This is your last chance.””
“To do what?””
“To stop Gregory from destroying both of us.””
Hannah’s voice shook.
“You transferred Evelyn’s land into your company.””
“I was protecting your claim.””
“By stealing the whole property?””
“It was temporary.””
Mom actually laughed.
It was a tired, astonished laugh.
“Everyone keeps stealing my property to protect someone.””
David looked toward her.
“Mrs. Carter, I can explain.””
“No, thank you.””
Her voice was suddenly stronger than I had heard all night.
“I have heard enough explanations.””
Blue lights appeared at the end of the street.
David turned.
For one second, I thought he would run.
Instead, he reached inside his coat.
Hannah gasped.
I pulled her backward.
But David only removed a large envelope.
He dropped it onto the porch.
Then he raised his hands.
Two police vehicles stopped outside.
Officers moved toward him.
David didn’t resist.
He kept looking at Hannah.
“Check the envelope!””
An officer ordered him to turn around.
“Hannah!””
His hands were pulled behind his back.
“Gregory already took the money!””
That caught everyone’s attention.
“What money?”” I shouted through the door.
David looked at me as the officers led him toward the street.
“The advance!””
“What advance?””
“Two million!””
Mom grabbed my arm.
The SUV door closed behind David.
Detective Mills said, “Nobody touch the envelope until officers clear it.””
Minutes later, an officer brought it inside wearing gloves.
Samuel was still working remotely, pulling records.
Detective Mills arrived shortly afterward.
He opened the envelope at our dining table.
Inside were transaction summaries.
Emails.
A handwritten timeline.
And a copy of a bank transfer.
Two million dollars.
Paid by a private investment company to Mercer Strategic Holdings.
Hannah stared at it.
“David’s company.””
Mills nodded.
Lauren leaned closer.
“That doesn’t make sense.””
“What?””
“The buyer.””
She pointed at the investment company’s name.
“I’ve seen that before.””
“Where?””
“In Gregory’s files.””
Detective Mills looked at her.
“What was it?””
Lauren swallowed.
“It wasn’t Gregory’s company.””
“Whose was it?””
She looked toward my mother.
“Thomas Carter’s.””
I almost stopped breathing.
“My father?””
Mom shook her head.
“Thomas never had an investment company.””
Lauren pointed at the page.
“Then somebody has been using one registered in his name.””
Detective Mills immediately started making calls.
Hannah stared at the transfer.
Then she whispered, “Wait.””
“What?””
She pointed to the date the company had been formed.
Mom leaned closer.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
The company wasn’t new.
It had been registered nineteen years ago.
While my father was still alive.
And beside Thomas Carter’s name was a second owner.
May you like
Rebecca Bell.
Hannah’s mother.
