Chapter 13 - I Did Not Open the Door
I stood on the other side of the door for almost five minutes.
My hand touched the deadbolt twice.
I never turned it.
“Call a hotel.”
Teresa stared at the camera.
“You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
“I lost everything.”
“So almost did we.”
“That was different.”
“No.”
My voice remained calm.
“It wasn’t.”
She started crying harder.
“I made a mistake.”
“A mistake is forgetting to pay a bill.”
“I trusted the wrong man.”
“So did Amy.”
Teresa stopped crying.
I continued.
“She trusted me when I said you were helping.”
Her expression hardened.
There she was.
The tears disappeared faster than they arrived.
“You enjoy punishing me.”
“No.”
“You always loved your father more.”
I almost smiled at how quickly she found the old weapons.
“I’m not discussing Dad.”
“He abandoned me emotionally for years.”
“This is about what you did to Amy.”
“She turned you against me.”
“This is about forged documents.”
“I was protecting our assets.”
“They are not your assets.”
Her face twisted.
“After everything I sacrificed?”
There it was again.
Ownership disguised as sacrifice.
“I didn’t ask you to sacrifice my adult life.”
She stepped closer to the camera.
“One day Frederick will treat you exactly like this.”
My stomach tightened.
Then I realized something.
I hoped she was right.
If I ever humiliated Frederick’s spouse.
If I stole from him.
If I tried to control his home.
I hoped he would lock the door too.
“If I do what you did, he should.”
Teresa stared at me.
For once, she had no answer.
She walked away.
The next morning, Rachel called.
Raymond had disappeared.
Teresa’s own home had two loans against it.
One appeared legitimate.
The other was under investigation.
She had lost almost seventy thousand dollars to him.
But that did not make her innocent.
Then Rachel gave me a deadline.
The county hearing regarding the rejected deed challenge was scheduled for Friday.
Raymond’s attorney had filed documents claiming the Bradley Family Preservation Trust had a valid interest in our property.
It was absurd.
It was also expensive to fight.
“We need Betsy.”
Rachel said.
“She can testify the notarization was improper.”
I called her.
No answer.
We drove to her catering office.
Closed.
Her apartment.
Empty.
Her car was gone.
Then I received a text.
Unknown number.
Tell your lawyer I won’t testify.
I called immediately.
No answer.
A second message appeared.
Please stop looking for me.
Amy called me two minutes later.
“Connor.”
Her voice was shaking.
“What?”
“Someone just left an envelope at my sister’s house.”
My blood went cold.
“What’s inside?”
“A photograph of Frederick.”
I stood.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
My voice disappeared.
Amy began crying.
“It was taken through the backyard fence.”
Underneath the photograph, someone had written five words.
May you like
DROP THE CASE OR LOSE MORE.
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