Chapter 6: The Attorney's Secret
For several seconds, nobody moved.
My father stared at the bank statement.
Daniel Reynolds looked down at his briefcase.
Denise stood perfectly still.
And Brianna was crying so hard she could barely breathe.
Finally, Dad spoke.
"You told me you were protecting my daughter's inheritance.""
Daniel looked up.
"I am.""
"Then why did my daughter's money end up in your account?""
The attorney closed his eyes briefly.
"I can explain.""
Dad laughed once, without humor.
"That's what everyone in this house keeps saying.""
Daniel removed his glasses and placed them on the table.
"Marcus, the account listed here is not my personal account. It belongs to a legal escrow arrangement.""
"Then why is your name on it?""
"Because I was the designated custodian.""
Dad pointed at the statement.
"There's a transfer dated three days ago.""
Daniel nodded.
"I know.""
"Who authorized it?""
The attorney didn't answer.
I looked at him.
"Did my mother know about this?""
His expression softened.
"Yes.""
"Then why did she leave a photograph of you with Denise?""
Daniel looked toward the stairs.
"Because she discovered that Denise had been using the trust to move money through accounts connected to a company she controlled.""
Denise immediately interrupted.
"That's a lie.""
Daniel continued.
"Your mother confronted me after she discovered the first unauthorized transfer. She asked me to investigate before taking legal action.""
Dad leaned forward.
"And what did you discover?""
"That the company had been created to receive money from the trust and disguise where it was going.""
I stared at the documents.
"How much?""
Daniel opened the folder.
"The original trust contained considerably more than the current balance.""
Dad took the statement.
His eyes moved down the page.
Then he looked at me.
"Your mother left enough to secure your education and housing for years.""
I felt sick.
"How much is missing?""
Daniel gave him a figure.
Dad sat down.
It was more money than I had ever imagined having.
And most of it was gone.
Denise shook her head.
"You cannot prove I took anything.""
Daniel looked at her.
"The company is registered under your name.""
"That doesn't prove the transfers were illegal.""
"And the documents used to authorize them were forged.""
Denise turned toward my father.
"Marcus, I was going to replace the money.""
Dad stared at her.
"With what?""
She didn't answer.
"How were you going to replace it?""
Her silence said everything.
Brianna slowly sat on the bottom step.
"Mom, you told me the company was Dad's investment.""
Denise closed her eyes.
"Brianna, please.""
"You told me I would have money for college.""
"Stop.""
"You said Maya was getting everything because her mother had arranged it unfairly.""
Denise turned sharply.
"Because she was!""
The words escaped before she could stop them.
I looked at her.
"What did you say?""
Denise's face tightened.
For a moment, she seemed to realize how much she had revealed.
Then she walked toward the kitchen.
Dad stopped her.
"You're not leaving until we finish this conversation.""
She turned around.
"I don't have to stand here and be interrogated.""
"No. But you do have to stop lying.""
Daniel gathered the documents.
"I recommend that we contact the bank immediately and request a freeze on any remaining accounts connected to the trust.""
Dad nodded.
"Do it.""
The attorney reached for his phone.
But before he could make the call, Brianna stood.
"I know something.""
Denise looked at her.
"Go upstairs.""
"No.""
"Brianna.""
"You told me not to tell Dad about the office.""
My father turned.
"What office?""
Brianna began crying again.
"The small office downstairs. The one you said was being renovated.""
Dad frowned.
"I haven't renovated anything.""
Denise's mouth opened.
Then closed.
Brianna continued.
"Mom keeps a second filing cabinet in there. She told me not to touch it.""
I remembered the locked door near the laundry room.
It had always been kept shut.
Denise claimed it contained old household paperwork.
Dad looked at her.
"What is in that office?""
"Nothing important.""
Brianna shook her head.
"There are boxes with Maya's name on them.""
My heart started pounding.
"What?""
"Letters. School papers. Bank statements. I saw them when Mom asked me to bring her a charger.""
Dad immediately walked toward the basement.
"Show me.""
Denise rushed after him.
"Marcus, don't.""
He stopped on the stairs.
"Why?""
She didn't answer.
That was enough.
We went downstairs together.
The small office was at the far end of the basement, behind a white door with a new brass lock.
Dad tried the handle.
It wouldn't move.
"Where's the key?""
Denise crossed her arms.
"I don't know.""
Dad turned toward Daniel.
The attorney examined the lock.
"This looks recently installed.""
Brianna whispered, "There's another key in Mom's jewelry box.""
Denise spun around.
"Brianna!""
Dad stared at her.
"Give me the key.""
"I don't have it.""
He took a breath.
"Then call a locksmith.""
Denise looked genuinely panicked.
"You're not breaking into my office.""
Dad stepped closer.
"Your office?""
She said nothing.
He turned toward the stairs.
"Daniel, call the locksmith. And contact the bank.""
Daniel nodded.
As we waited, I noticed something strange near the bottom of the door.
A white envelope had been pushed halfway underneath it.
My name was written across the front.
MAYA CARTER.
I crouched and pulled it out.
The envelope was sealed.
My mother's handwriting appeared in the corner.
I recognized it immediately.
My hands began shaking.
"Dad.""
He turned.
"What's wrong?""
I held up the envelope.
He stared at the handwriting.
"Where did you find that?""
"Under the office door.""
Daniel moved closer.
"Don't open it yet.""
But there was a second line beneath my name.
To be opened only when Maya discovers what happened to her college letters.
I looked at Dad.
He carefully broke the seal.
Inside was a single handwritten page.
I began reading.
My dearest Maya,
If this letter has reached you, then someone has interfered with the plans I made for your future.
There is something I need you to understand. The money was never the most important thing I left you.
I stopped.
Dad continued reading over my shoulder.
Before I became ill, I discovered that someone was trying to gain control of something that belonged to you. I made a decision to protect it, but I couldn't tell your father everything without putting the plan at risk.
The letter ended with one final sentence.
The person you need to be careful of is not the person you think.
I looked at Denise.
She was crying now.
But her tears didn't look like the tears of someone who had been caught stealing.
They looked like the tears of someone who had just realized a much bigger secret was about to come out.
The locksmith arrived.
Dad stepped aside as the man examined the door.
A few minutes later, the lock clicked.
The door opened.
Inside was a small office with a metal filing cabinet, a desk, and several cardboard boxes.
I saw my name on three of them.
Dad opened the first.
It contained copies of my school records, medical documents, and college applications.
The second contained bank statements.
The third contained photographs.
Dozens of photographs.
My mother.
My father.
Denise.
Daniel Reynolds.
And a man I had never seen before.
He appeared in several pictures, sometimes standing outside our house, sometimes meeting Denise in parking lots.
Dad picked up the final photograph.
His hands began to tremble.
"That's impossible.""
I looked at the picture.
It showed the mysterious man standing beside my mother outside a hospital.
On the back, my mother's handwriting contained a name and a date.
Dad read it aloud.
"Anthony Carter.""
Then he looked at Denise.
"Why is my brother in these photographs?""
I turned toward him.
His brother?
Dad had told me his brother Anthony died before I was born.
But the date written on the back of the photograph was only four months before my mother's death.
And beneath the date, my mother had written another sentence.
Anthony knows who really owns the house.
Dad slowly lowered the photograph.
Then the attorney noticed a sealed envelope attached to the back.
It was addressed to him.
Daniel opened it.
He read the first line.
His face went completely pale.
"Marcus," he whispered, "I think we've been investigating the wrong person.""
He turned the letter around.
At the bottom was my mother's signature.
May you like
And beneath it was a name that made my father stagger backward.
*Denise Carter was not the only person involved in the attempted theft of Maya's inheritance.*
