Chapter 14: The Last Lie in My Family
I drove home with Richard's words echoing in my head.
Someone who was still living in my house.
Brittany had been staying there under police instructions while Helen arranged temporary accommodation. Daniel had returned that morning to collect his belongings, but he had promised not to confront anyone without calling me first.
Could Richard have meant Brittany?
Or was there someone else?
When I arrived, Helen was already waiting on the porch. Daniel stood beside her, holding a thick envelope.
“Dad,” he said, “we found something in the study.””
He handed me the envelope.
Inside were photocopies of bank statements, account-opening documents, and several pages of correspondence between Michael and an unidentified recipient.
The account had been opened in Daniel's name twelve years earlier.
He had been twenty-five.
“I never opened this account,” Daniel said.
“I was working on a construction site in Tennessee when these papers were supposedly signed.””
Helen examined the documents.
“The signature appears to be forged. We'll need a handwriting expert, but the account activity is suspicious.””
I scanned the statements.
The earliest transactions were small. A few hundred dollars here, a thousand there. Then the amounts increased, eventually reaching tens of thousands.
One transfer had been made six months before Brittany moved into my house.
The recipient was a company registered under a name I recognized.
Cole Development Holdings.
Richard's old business.
“Who owns this company now?”” I asked.
Helen checked her notes.
“The registration lists a corporate agent. The beneficial owner is concealed behind two holding companies.””
“Can we identify them?””
“We're working on it.””
Daniel paced the study.
“Michael must have used my information. But why wait twelve years to use the account?””
“Because he needed you to have a financial history that appeared legitimate,” Helen replied.
“If someone later traced the transfers, he could claim you had been involved for years.””
Daniel stopped pacing.
“And Brittany?””
I looked toward the hallway.
She stood there, listening.
“Brittany,” I said, “come in.””
She entered slowly.
“Richard is alive,” I told her.
Her face changed.
“What?””
“I met him this morning.””
She grabbed the back of a chair.
“Where is he? Is he coming here?””
“He wants to speak with you eventually. But first, we need answers.””
She nodded, looking stunned.
I showed her the documents.
“Did you know Michael had opened an account in Daniel's name?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“Did you know about Cole Development Holdings?””
Her hesitation lasted only a second.
“Yes.””
Daniel stared at her.
“You knew about this company?””
“I knew Michael used it. I didn't know he had opened an account in your name.””
“Then what did you know?””
Brittany sat down.
“Michael told me that my father had created a secret fund before he disappeared. He said the fund was meant to support me if anything happened to him.””
“Did you receive any money?””
She nodded.
“Three payments. I thought they came from my father's estate.””
“How much?””
“About thirty thousand dollars in total.””
Daniel looked sick.
“You never told me.””
“I was afraid you'd ask questions.””
“You keep saying that!””
His voice cracked.
“Every lie you told was because you were afraid. Did you ever stop to think about what your lies were doing to everyone else?””
Brittany covered her face.
“No.””
The admission left the room silent.
Then she lowered her hands.
“There's something I haven't told you. Michael said the money would stop unless I helped him get the property documents. He told me I was entitled to the house because Frank was my biological father.””
I stared at her.
“You knew I might be your father before you staged the assault?””
She nodded.
“How long?””
“Three months.””
The betrayal settled over me like a heavy blanket.
Three months earlier, she had sat across from me at dinner, asked about my childhood, and listened to stories about Eleanor. She had smiled when I showed her photographs of Daniel growing up.
All the while, she had known that I might be her father.
“Why didn't you tell me?”” I asked.
“Because I didn't know if it was true. Michael said he had documents, but he refused to show them unless I cooperated.””
“You could have asked for a DNA test.””
“I know.””
“You could have told Helen.””
“I know.””
“You could have done a hundred things besides tearing your blouse and making my son believe I had assaulted you.””
She began to cry.
“I know.””
Daniel walked toward the door.
“I'm leaving.””
Brittany stood.
“Daniel, please.””
He turned.
“I loved you. I still care about you. But I can't build a life with someone who keeps choosing lies over the truth.””
She reached for him.
He stepped away.
“I need time.””
Then he left.
I watched him go, feeling the weight of everything our family had become.
Helen placed the account statements in a folder.
“We need to establish who controlled the company and where the money went. Richard may have more evidence.””
Before I could answer, the doorbell rang.
A police officer stood on the porch.
“Mr. Hayes? We need to speak with you about Thomas Reed.””
My stomach tightened.
“What happened?””
“Mr. Reed was found dead this morning.””
Brittany gasped.
The officer continued carefully.
“At this stage, we're treating the death as suspicious. We believe someone may have entered his motel room during the night.””
I gripped the doorframe.
“Was anything taken?””
“The room had been searched. His laptop was missing, along with several documents.””
I looked at Helen.
Thomas had been the only person who could explain how the records had moved through the accounts. He had given us enough information to expose Michael, but not enough to understand the entire scheme.
Now he was dead.
“Did he leave anything behind?”” I asked.
The officer hesitated.
“A note was found inside his wallet. It contains your name.””
He handed me a sealed evidence envelope.
Inside was a folded piece of paper.
Thomas had written only one sentence.
*The original records are not in Frank's house. Eleanor hid them where Richard first learned to trust her.*
I read it twice.
Where Richard first learned to trust her.
I thought of the places Eleanor and Richard had known together: the old construction office, the hospital, the cemetery, the lake where our families had once spent summer weekends.
Then I remembered a place neither of them had mentioned in years.
A small church outside Atlanta where Eleanor had volunteered before Daniel was born.
She had told me once that Richard had come to her there after a terrible argument with Michael.
It was the first time he had confessed that he feared for his life.
I looked at Helen.
“I know where the records might be.””
She nodded.
“We'll coordinate with the police.””
But before we could leave, my phone rang.
Richard.
I answered.
“Thomas is dead,” I said.
“I know.””
“How?””
“Because I was supposed to meet him this morning.””
My blood ran cold.
“Richard, who killed him?””
“I don't know. But I know who has the original documents.””
“Who?””
Richard's voice broke.
“Andrew Reed.””
I closed my eyes.
Andrew was supposed to have disappeared years ago. Now Thomas was dead, Michael was under arrest, and the man who had once been married to Brittany had become the last person standing between us and the truth.
Richard continued.
“And Frank, there's something else. Andrew knows Brittany is your daughter. He's been waiting for her to find out.””
“Why?””
“Because the original documents don't just prove the fraud. They prove that someone deliberately arranged the hospital transfer.””
I looked at Brittany.
She stood frozen beside the staircase.
May you like
Richard's final words came through the phone.
“Frank, Andrew didn't just want to destroy my life. He wanted to make sure your daughter never discovered who she really was.””
