Chapter 4
Helen refused to explain until we were somewhere private.
That made me furious.
“You just told me my grandfather left evidence against Aunt Denise.”
“I did.”
“Then tell me what it is.”
“Not in a bank lobby.”
“Why?”
“Because Tyler just ran after seeing me.”
“So?”
“So whatever Denise planned, it didn’t end with that six-million-dollar transfer.”
Officer Ramirez returned fifteen minutes later.
Tyler was gone.
The SUV was registered to Hayes Family Development.
Denise was still outside.
She had stopped crying.
Now she was angry again.
Two detectives arrived.
Then a representative from child protective services.
That was when I almost ran.
The woman introduced herself as Marissa Green.
She was kind.
I didn’t care.
I had spent three weeks avoiding adults with official badges.
“Am I going back with Denise?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“How sure?”
She paused.
That pause nearly broke me.
Helen stepped beside her.
“I have filed for emergency temporary guardianship according to Walter’s nomination.”
Marissa nodded.
“The court can hear it this afternoon.”
I looked at Helen.
“You want me to live with you?”
“Temporarily.”
“I don’t know you.”
“I know.”
“You hid letters from me.”
“I didn’t hide them. Your grandfather did.”
“You knew.”
She accepted that.
“Yes.”
I looked away.
Marissa crouched slightly so she wasn’t towering over me.
“You can tell the judge you’re uncomfortable.”
“Does anyone care what I want?”
“Yes.”
I almost laughed.
Adults loved saying that right before doing whatever they wanted.
The detectives questioned me.
Then Denise.
They didn’t arrest her.
They took the forged documents.
They took copies of the banking records.
Before she left, Denise demanded to speak to me.
“No,” I said.
Marissa nodded.
“You don’t have to.”
Denise heard.
She pushed toward us.
“You little ungrateful brat.”
One detective blocked her.
Her face twisted.
“I fed you. I gave you a home.”
I stared at her.
“You gave me a mattress in your basement.”
“You ran away.”
“You threw me out.”
“Because you threatened Tyler!”
“That never happened.”
“He was afraid of you.”
Tyler was twenty-three, six-foot-two, and spent five mornings a week in a boxing gym.
The idea that he was afraid of me would have been funny if Denise hadn’t sounded so serious.
Then she said something that made everybody quiet.
“You have no right to Walter’s money.”
Helen stepped forward.
“Denise.”
Her head snapped toward her.
“You stay out of this.”
“I drafted the trust.”
“And poisoned my father against his own daughter.”
“No. You managed that yourself.”
Denise lunged.
Not at me.
At Helen.
The detectives grabbed her.
She screamed.
“My father stole everything from me!”
Helen didn’t move.
“He stopped cleaning up your mistakes.”
“You think that makes him a saint?”
“No.”
“You know what he did.”
Helen’s expression changed.
Denise saw it.
Then she smiled.
A horrible smile.
“Tell the boy.”
Helen stayed silent.
“Tell Evan what his precious grandfather did to his mother.”
My chest tightened.
“What are you talking about?”
Helen said quietly, “Not here.”
Denise laughed.
“There it is.”
“Stop.”
“He thinks Walter was some wonderful old man.”
“Denise.”
“Ask her why your mother was driving alone the night she died.”
The world went quiet.
I heard the bank’s air conditioning.
Someone’s shoes across the tile.
My own breathing.
My mother died in a car accident when I was six.
That was all I knew.
Rain.
A highway.
A truck.
Grandpa never talked about details.
“What does Grandpa have to do with Mom’s accident?”
Denise smiled at me.
Then Detective Lewis tightened his grip on her arm.
“That’s enough.”
“No,” I said.
I looked at Helen.
“What did she mean?”
Helen’s face had gone gray.
“I’ll tell you what I know.”
“Now.”
“Evan—”
“Now!”
Everybody stared.
I didn’t care.
Helen took a slow breath.
“The night your mother died, she had been at Walter’s house.”
“So?”
“They argued.”
“About what?”
“Your father.”
My hands curled into fists.
“Keep going.”
“Your mother wanted to reconcile with Michael after he entered treatment. Walter opposed it.”
I looked at Denise.
She was watching me like she had finally found the knife she wanted.
Helen continued.
“Your grandfather told your mother that if she returned to Michael, he would stop financially supporting her.”
My mouth went dry.
“He threatened her?”
“Yes.”
“Then she drove away.”
“Yes.”
“In a storm?”
“Yes.”
“Did Grandpa make her leave?”
“I don’t know.”
Denise laughed bitterly.
“He threw her out.”
Helen snapped, “You weren’t there.”
“I talked to her ten minutes before she died.”
I turned to Denise.
“What?”
The detectives looked at one another.
Denise’s face changed.
She realized she had said too much.
I stepped closer.
“You talked to Mom?”
She said nothing.
“You told me you were asleep when the accident happened.”
“I—”
“You said Grandpa called you.”
Denise looked toward the doors.
I suddenly understood why Helen had used the word evidence.
“What did Grandpa find?”
Denise went pale.
Helen put a hand on my shoulder.
I shook it off.
“What did he find?”
She looked at me for a long moment.
“Your mother called Denise from the car.”
Denise shouted, “Shut up!”
Helen kept going.
“Walter discovered the call several years later.”
“How?”
“He obtained old phone records during a civil insurance dispute.”
“What happened during the call?”
“We don’t know.”
Denise screamed, “Because nothing happened!”
The entire lobby turned.
Helen stared at her.
“Walter didn’t believe that.”
Denise fought against the detective holding her.
“My sister was upset! She called me! That isn’t a crime!”
“No one said it was.”
“You’re making it sound like I killed her!”
Silence.
Denise’s face collapsed.
Nobody had accused her of that.
Not until she said it herself.
Detective Lewis spoke carefully.
“Ms. Hayes, I think it would be best if you stopped talking.”
She did.
Finally.
An hour later, Helen and I were inside a courthouse.
Everything moved too fast.
A judge asked where I had been sleeping.
I told him.
He asked whether Denise had expelled me from the house.
I said yes.
Denise’s attorney said I was lying.
Then Richard from the bank appeared by video and confirmed the fraud investigation.
The judge’s face hardened.
Helen received temporary guardianship for fourteen days.
Denise was ordered not to contact me.
The account stayed frozen except for expenses approved through the trust attorney and court.
I thought that would make me feel safe.
It didn’t.
When we left the courthouse, Helen drove me to her townhouse near Lincoln Park.
The guest room had clean sheets.
A desk.
A bathroom.
Food in the kitchen.
I stood in the doorway without moving.
“You can lock the bedroom door,” she said.
I looked at her.
“Why would I need to?”
“You’ve been sleeping in public places. I imagine feeling secure might take time.”
She left the key on the dresser.
Then walked away.
That one small thing almost made me cry.
Almost.
I showered for thirty minutes.
The water turned gray near my feet.
I put on clothes Helen had bought on the way home.
Nothing expensive.
Jeans.
A sweatshirt.
Socks.
When I came downstairs, there was pizza on the table.
I ate four slices.
Helen pretended not to notice how fast.
Afterward, she placed Grandpa’s folder between us.
“Are you ready?”
“No.”
She waited.
I stared at it.
“Open it.”
Inside were trust documents.
Property lists.
Business records.
Then a sealed envelope.
My name was written in Grandpa’s handwriting.
FOR EVAN ONLY.
My hands trembled.
“When did he write this?”
“Six months before he died.”
“Did you read it?”
“No.”
I opened it.
There was a letter.
Evan,
If you are reading this, then I failed to explain things before I left.
For that, I am sorry.
Money makes people reveal themselves.
Sometimes love does too.
I have made mistakes with both.
There are things about our family you deserve to know, but I was afraid the truth would take away the last good memories you had.
That was cowardly.
Do not trust anyone simply because they share your blood.
Do not trust anyone simply because they say they loved me.
Do not even trust this letter without asking questions.
Especially ask questions about Denise.
And ask Helen to show you the Lake Geneva file.
I stopped.
“What is the Lake Geneva file?”
Helen’s face went blank.
“I was hoping he wouldn’t mention that.”
My anger came back instantly.
“Why?”
She stood.
“Because the original is hidden in your grandfather’s house.”
“The house Denise was emptying?”
“Yes.”
“Then Tyler went there.”
Helen grabbed her phone.
“What?”
“He ran from the bank when he saw you.”
I stood too.
“Grandpa’s house.”
She was already dialing.
The call went to voicemail.
She tried someone else.
Nothing.
Then my phone rang.
A number I didn’t recognize.
Helen looked at me.
“Don’t answer.”
I did.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then Tyler’s voice.
“Hey, little cousin.”
Helen’s eyes widened.
I put it on speaker.
“Where are you?”
He laughed.
“You really think you won today?”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to tell your lawyer to stop digging.”
Helen leaned toward the phone.
“Tyler, where are you?”
He ignored her.
“Evan, Grandpa wasn’t protecting you.”
My chest tightened.
“He was protecting himself.”
I heard a crackling sound in the background.
Then another.
Helen whispered, “Fire.”
Tyler laughed again.
“You wanted the truth?”
Something crashed.
“Come get it.”
The call ended.
Helen stared at me.
I already knew.
We ran outside.
Twenty-five minutes later, we saw smoke above Grandpa’s neighborhood.
Fire trucks blocked the street.
May you like
Neighbors stood on sidewalks.
And the house where I had grown up was burning.
