Chapter 4 - WHAT NOAH HEARD
Daniel barely slept.
Neither did I.
By morning, he had spoken with the investigator assigned to the case and forwarded copies of the estate documents and photographs from my phone.
The police had not told us whether the financial papers were connected to the assault.
They had simply asked us not to destroy or alter anything.
At nine thirty, Aunt Carol arrived with Noah.
He carried a small backpack and looked exhausted.
Daniel hugged him before he even entered the room.
Noah looked toward me.
“You look better.”
“I feel better.”
That was only partly true.
He climbed into the chair beside the bed.
Daniel sat across from him.
“Buddy, there’s something I need to ask.”
Noah’s shoulders stiffened.
Daniel immediately softened his voice.
“You’re not in trouble.”
“Okay.”
“Before you called me yesterday, what did you hear Mom and Grandpa saying?”
Noah looked down at his sneakers.
“I wasn’t supposed to listen.”
Daniel waited.
Noah picked at a loose thread on his shorts.
“They were in the kitchen.”
“What were they talking about?”
“Auntie.”
I gave him a reassuring smile.
He continued.
“Mom said you weren’t supposed to invite her.”
“Why?”
“She said Auntie was making Grandpa lose his house.”
Daniel glanced at me.
Noah looked worried.
“Is that true?”
“No.”
“Grandpa said it was.”
“He was wrong.”
Noah nodded slowly.
“What else did you hear?”
He hesitated.
“Mom said if Auntie made a scene, everybody would finally understand.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“What kind of scene?”
“I don’t know.”
“She used those words?”
Noah nodded.
“Then Grandpa said she’d sign after she calmed down.”
I felt the room tilt for reasons that had nothing to do with my injury.
Daniel leaned forward.
“Sign what?”
Noah shrugged.
“Papers.”
Aunt Carol covered her mouth.
Daniel became very still.
“Did they say anything else?”
Noah looked toward the backpack beside his feet.
“There’s something in there.”
Daniel frowned.
Noah opened the bag and removed a folded sheet of paper.
“I found it under the kitchen table after everybody left.”
Daniel took it.
I recognized the documents immediately.
It was another page from the loan packet.
Except this one contained handwriting.
My handwriting.
Or something intended to look like it.
A signature appeared at the bottom.
My name.
I had never signed it.
Daniel looked at me.
“Is that yours?”
“No.”
Aunt Carol whispered, “Oh my God.”
Daniel photographed the page before placing it carefully on the bedside table.
“Noah, did you touch anything else?”
“No.”
“You did exactly the right thing by bringing it here.”
Noah’s eyes filled again.
“Is Grandpa going to jail?”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“I don’t know.”
“Is Mom?”
“I don’t know that either.”
Noah wiped his cheek.
“I don’t want her to.”
Daniel moved beside him.
“I know.”
“I just wanted her to stop being mean.”
Daniel pulled him close.
Noah began crying quietly against his father’s shoulder.
I looked away to give them a moment.
That was when Aunt Carol approached my bed.
“There’s something I should have told you.”
I looked at her.
She twisted her purse strap between her fingers.
“Your father has been borrowing money.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“For what?”
“He said investments.”
Daniel looked up.
Carol continued.
“After your mother died, he started spending differently.”
I remembered the new truck.
The expensive weekends.
The renovations he had claimed were gifts from friends.
Carol swallowed.
“Rachel helped him.”
Daniel’s head snapped toward her.
“How?”
“She introduced him to someone.”
“Who?”
“A man named Victor Lane.”
Daniel stood slowly.
I knew the name.
So did he.
May you like
Victor Lane had been at the birthday party.
He had been one of the adults staring silently into his drink while Dad stood over me.
