Chapter 8: Uncle Michael
I remembered Uncle Michael as expensive cologne and uncomfortable hugs.
He was twelve years older than Mom.
When I was little, he appeared at Christmas carrying extravagant gifts and left before dessert.
Then Grandpa died.
Something changed.
Mom and Michael stopped speaking.
Whenever I asked why, Mom would say, “Money makes some people forget what family means.””
After her funeral, Michael disappeared completely.
Now I was staring at a photograph of him sitting across from Vanessa before she ever supposedly met my father.
Daniel turned the photograph over.
A date was written on the back.
August 3.
Nearly three months before Mom died.
Dad stared at it.
“Why would Michael know Vanessa?””
Nathan took the photograph.
“I took this.””
Everyone turned toward him.
“You knew?”” I asked.
“I knew Laura asked me to follow Vanessa.””
“That’s not what I asked.””
Nathan swallowed.
“I knew Vanessa met Michael.””
Anger exploded through me.
“You’ve been sitting on this the entire time?””
“I didn’t know what it meant.””
“You were married to her!””
“That’s exactly why Laura came to me.””
Daniel frowned.
“Explain.””
Nathan leaned against the metal cabinet.
“Vanessa and I divorced because she was obsessed with money.””
His voice was flat.
“She lied constantly. Credit cards. Loans.
Fake emergencies. She drained our savings twice.””
Dad stared at him.
“And you still sent her Emily’s money?””
Nathan’s face tightened.
“She told me it came from her salary.””
“You accepted twenty thousand dollars from your ex-wife?””
“My business was failing.””
Dad stepped toward him.
“So you took it.””
Nathan didn’t retreat.
“Yes.””
At least he admitted it.
I asked, “Did you know she was charging me rent?””
“No.””
“Would it have mattered?””
That silenced him.
Daniel picked up another envelope from the box.
“Michael had motive.””
Dad looked at him.
“What motive?””
“Laura inherited the house directly from her parents.””
I frowned.
“I thought Grandpa had other properties.””
“He did.””
Daniel opened a document.
“Most were divided between Laura and Michael. But this house was different.””
“Why?””
“It belonged to your grandmother’s family. She left it specifically to Laura.””
Dad nodded.
“Michael hated that.””
Daniel continued.
“After Thomas Mercer died, Michael challenged parts of the estate.””
“I handled some correspondence.””
He pulled out several photocopied letters.
“Laura refused to sell the house or compensate him for a property he had never inherited.””
I read one sentence from Michael.
You have always gotten special treatment.
Another:
You’ll regret shutting me out.
My skin crawled.
“Did he threaten Mom?””
“Financially, yes. Physically? I never saw evidence.””
Dad picked up his phone.
“I’m calling him.””
Daniel stopped him.
“Not yet.””
“Why?””
“Because we need to understand what Vanessa was doing.””
I pointed toward the recorder.
“Mom said Michael paid her.””
“We haven’t proved that yet.””
Nathan suddenly knelt beside the PRIVATE box.
“There’s a false bottom.””
He pulled up a thin cardboard panel.
Underneath were three bank statements.
Daniel took them.
The first showed a transfer.
$5,000.
Sender: M. Mercer Holdings.
Recipient: V. Hale.
The date was one week before Vanessa approached Dad.
The second transfer was $7,500.
The third was $10,000.
Dad whispered, “Twenty-two thousand five hundred dollars.””
I stared at the dates.
The final payment came two days after Mom died.
My stomach twisted.
“What did Michael pay her to do?””
No one answered.
Then Dad’s phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Vanessa.
Daniel said, “Speaker.””
Dad answered.
“What?””
Vanessa sounded breathless.
“Richard, you need to listen to me.””
“We found Laura’s storage unit.””
Silence.
Then:
“Where’s Emily?””
“Standing beside me.””
“Put me on speaker.””
“You already are.””
Vanessa cursed softly.
“Emily, Nathan is lying to you.””
Nathan shook his head.
Vanessa continued.
“He’s going to pretend he was helping Laura. He wasn’t.””
Nathan stepped closer.
“What are you talking about?””
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.””
Dad cut in.
“We found the payments from Michael Mercer.””
Vanessa stopped breathing for a second.
Then she whispered, “You found those?””
“Yes.””
Another silence.
“Vanessa,” I said, “what did my uncle pay you to do?””
Her voice broke.
“To get close to your father.””
Dad shut his eyes.
“Why?””
“To convince him Laura was making irrational decisions because she was sick.””
I felt nauseated.
Vanessa continued.
“Michael wanted Richard to challenge the trust after Laura died.””
Daniel’s face hardened.
“That would have failed.””
“Michael didn’t know that.””
“What did you tell him?””
“That I could influence Richard.””
Dad looked disgusted.
“But you didn’t.””
“No.””
“Why?””
Vanessa gave a strange laugh.
“Because your father was more loyal to Laura than Michael expected.””
I looked at Dad.
He stared at the floor.
“Then why did you marry him later?””
Vanessa went silent.
“Answer me.””
“Because after Laura died, Michael stopped paying.””
My skin went cold.
“So you switched targets.””
“That’s not how it happened.””
“Then how?””
“I actually fell in love with Richard.””
Dad laughed bitterly.
Vanessa began crying.
“I know how that sounds.””
“Do you?””
“I married him because I loved him.””
“And charged me rent because you loved me too?””
She went quiet.
Then she said something unexpected.
“The rent wasn’t my idea.””
I frowned.
“What?””
“The amount was.””
Her voice dropped.
“But charging you to live there?””
“That came from Michael.””
Dad grabbed the phone.
“You were still talking to him?””
“Not regularly.””
“When?””
“Three years ago.””
Exactly when my payments began.
Vanessa whispered, “He called me after Emily turned twenty-two.””
My heart pounded.
“He said if I could prove Emily was being treated as a tenant instead of a beneficiary…”
Daniel suddenly stood.
“Oh, hell.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
His face had gone pale.
“It could have been groundwork.””
“For what?””
May you like
Daniel stared at the trust documents.
“For another attempt to take the house.””
