Chapter 11: The Attorney's Secret
Dad reached the storage unit door before either Margaret or I could move.
He yanked it open.
The corridor was empty.
"Hello?"" he shouted.
His voice echoed between the metal walls.
No answer came.
He stepped outside and looked in both directions, then hurried toward the main office. Margaret followed him, while I remained beside the television, staring at the blank screen.
My mother's last sentence kept repeating in my head.
Daniel Brooks was the last person I spoke to before I disappeared.
Daniel was Dad's attorney.
He had handled our family's legal affairs for years. He had attended my middle school graduation, sent birthday cards, and once helped me fill out college scholarship applications.
He knew everything about us.
Or at least, I had thought he did.
Dad returned with the storage facility manager, who checked the security cameras. A delivery driver had accidentally shut a heavy fire door, causing the sound we'd heard.
No intruder had entered the building.
That should have reassured me.
It didn't.
Dad called Daniel immediately.
The attorney answered on the fourth ring.
"Michael, I was just about to call you.""
"Why was Catherine Hayes the last person you spoke to before she disappeared?""
Silence.
Then Daniel said, "Where did you hear that?""
Dad stared at the phone.
"From Catherine herself.""
A long pause followed.
"Michael, I think we need to have this conversation in person.""
"No. You're going to answer me now.""
"I can't explain this over the phone.""
"Then we're coming to your office.""
Daniel exhaled.
"Please don't do anything rash. There are things about Catherine's case you don't understand.""
Dad ended the call.
We spent the next hour photographing the contents of the locker and organizing the papers. Margaret found several bank statements showing withdrawals from an account associated with my mother's estate.
One transfer caught our attention.
Three hundred and eighty thousand dollars had been moved into a private account in 2013.
The beneficiary was listed as Vanessa Carter.
Dad read the document twice.
"She told me the trust never paid out.""
Margaret pointed to the authorization field.
"This transfer required Catherine's signature.""
"Could it have been forged?""
"Absolutely.""
I looked at the accompanying form.
Someone had written a note beneath my mother's name.
Funds released following confirmation of beneficiary's death.
My stomach turned.
"She stole the money after telling everyone Mom was dead.""
Dad's face tightened.
"Apparently.""
Margaret kept searching.
Then she found a letter from my mother addressed to Daniel Brooks.
The envelope had never been sealed.
She unfolded the paper and began reading aloud.
Mr. Brooks,
You promised to help me establish a safe arrangement for Emily. You said Michael would be protected from unnecessary distress, and that Vanessa would temporarily care for my daughter while I resolved the legal dispute.
I agreed because I believed you were acting in my family's best interests.
But I have now discovered that the custody documents were altered without my permission. The agreement I signed was temporary. Someone has filed papers claiming that I am deceased and that my parental rights have ended.
You told me you would correct the record.
If you cannot do so by November 20, I will take the documents directly to the authorities.
The letter was dated November 18, 2012.
Two days before the hospital record.
Margaret lowered the paper.
"Daniel was involved from the beginning.""
Dad looked sick.
"He told me Catherine had died. He helped me settle the estate.""
"Then he may have known the death certificate was false," Margaret replied.
I stared at the letter.
There was one sentence near the bottom, written in a different ink.
If anything happens to me, tell Michael that Emily was never meant to stay with Vanessa permanently.
I read those words aloud.
Dad closed his eyes.
For the first time, I saw the full weight of what he had missed. He hadn't merely lost his wife. He had been deceived into raising his daughter in a house where the woman responsible for keeping her safe may have been part of the conspiracy that separated her from her mother.
"Let's go," he said.
We reached Daniel's office just after three.
He occupied a suite on the twelfth floor of a downtown building overlooking the Savannah River. His receptionist recognized Dad immediately and escorted us into a conference room.
Daniel was standing beside the window.
He turned when we entered.
His face went pale at the sight of the documents in Dad's hands.
"Michael," he began.
Dad dropped the papers onto the table.
"Explain.""
Daniel looked at the photographs, then at Margaret.
He seemed to age in front of us.
"I never wanted this to happen.""
Dad laughed bitterly.
"That's not an explanation.""
Daniel pulled out a chair and sat down.
"Catherine came to me in 2012 because she believed someone had tampered with her family trust. She had evidence of financial fraud, but she was terrified that exposing it would put Emily in danger.""
"Who was she afraid of?"" I asked.
Daniel looked at me.
"Your grandfather.""
Margaret's face tightened.
"Richard?""
Daniel nodded.
"He had discovered that Catherine intended to challenge the trust. He believed she was going to destroy the family business, and he wanted control over her assets.""
Dad paced beside the table.
"Then why did you help Vanessa?""
"I thought it was temporary. Catherine wanted Emily removed from the dispute while she gathered evidence. Vanessa offered to provide a safe home, and I prepared a temporary guardianship agreement.""
"That agreement became a permanent custody arrangement," Margaret said.
Daniel lowered his eyes.
"I learned about the changes later.""
"And you did nothing?"" Dad demanded.
"I was threatened.""
"By whom?""
Daniel swallowed.
"Richard Hayes.""
I stepped closer.
"What happened to my mother?""
Daniel looked at me, and I saw something in his eyes that frightened me more than his silence.
"She found out I had discovered the forged documents. She called me the night she disappeared and told me she was going to the police.""
Dad gripped the back of a chair.
"Did you tell anyone?""
Daniel nodded slowly.
"I contacted Richard because I thought I could persuade him to stop her before she made a mistake.""
Margaret's voice cracked.
"You warned him.""
Daniel covered his face.
"I didn't know what he would do.""
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Dad asked the question we had all been dreading.
"Where is Catherine now?""
Daniel looked at me.
"I don't know where she lives. But I know who has been paying for her storage unit.""
He pulled out a bank statement from his desk drawer.
The account holder's name was printed clearly at the top.
*Madison Carter.*
I stared at the page.
"Madison?""
Daniel nodded.
"Your stepsister has been sending payments to that storage facility for three years.""
May you like
And suddenly, the girl who had destroyed my prom dress was no longer simply Vanessa's accomplice.
She might have been the only person in our family who had been secretly helping my mother survive.
