Chapter 8: The Call From My Mother's Past
The first thing Dad did was lock every door.
The second thing he did was call the police.
Richard told him not to report a dead man walking around Richmond.
Not yet.
Instead, Dad reported suspected identity fraud, forged signatures, and attempted financial fraud involving the trust.
That was enough.
An officer took the information and said a detective would contact us.
Dad wasn't satisfied.
Neither was Richard.
"If Marcus is alive," Dad said, "he's been hiding for nineteen years.""
Richard nodded.
"And apparently using dead people's identities.""
Denise sat at the dining table.
She looked smaller now.
I didn't feel sorry for her.
But I believed one thing.
She had not known the man calling himself Daniel Cross was Marcus.
Her reaction to the photograph had been too raw.
Brianna sat on the stairs.
She hadn't spoken since learning the truth about her father.
I wanted to say something.
I didn't know what.
What exactly do you say to the girl who destroyed your mother's photograph hours before discovering that your mother was her aunt?
Sorry your life is falling apart too?
Eventually I walked over.
"Brianna.""
She didn't look at me.
"What?""
"Do you want water?""
"No.""
I started to leave.
"Maya.""
I stopped.
She stared at the floor.
"I didn't know.""
"About Marcus?""
"About any of this.""
I believed her.
That didn't erase what she'd done.
"I know.""
She finally looked at me.
"I'm sorry about the picture.""
I wasn't ready to forgive her.
So I didn't pretend.
"You should be.""
She nodded.
"I know.""
Then Dad's phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone froze.
Dad answered.
"James Carter.""
Silence.
Then a man's voice.
"You're difficult to reach.""
Denise shot to her feet.
I saw recognition in her face.
Dad put the call on speaker.
"Who is this?""
The man laughed softly.
"Ask your wife.""
Denise whispered, "Marcus.""
Brianna stood.
The voice stopped laughing.
"Hello, Denise.""
Richard reached for his phone and quietly started recording.
Dad's jaw tightened.
"Stay away from my family.""
Marcus chuckled.
"Your family?""
His voice sounded calm.
Almost friendly.
That made it worse.
"You married into mine, James.""
"You have no family here.""
"That's not what the law says.""
Richard leaned toward the phone.
"Marcus.""
Silence.
Then:
"Richard Coleman. Still cleaning up Evelyn's messes?""
Richard didn't react.
"You're supposed to be dead.""
"So I've heard.""
"Where are you?""
Marcus laughed.
"You know better than to ask questions you won't get answered.""
Dad stepped closer to the phone.
"What do you want?""
"Maya.""
My blood went cold.
Dad's face changed.
"No.""
"I didn't say I wanted to hurt her.""
"You don't get to say her name.""
"But she has something that belongs to me.""
Richard shook his head at Dad, warning him not to react.
I couldn't stay quiet.
"What?""
Dad looked at me.
Marcus heard me.
"Maya?""
I hated the way he said my name.
Like he knew me.
"Yes.""
A pause.
"You sound like your mother.""
My stomach twisted.
"You don't get to talk about her.""
"Monica and I had our disagreements.""
"She thought you were dangerous.""
Another pause.
Then Marcus laughed.
"She always was dramatic.""
Dad grabbed the phone.
"Listen to me—"
I touched his arm.
I wanted Marcus talking.
"What belongs to you?""
Silence.
Then:
"The contents of the wooden case.""
I looked at Richard.
He looked at me.
Marcus knew about the hidden compartment.
"What contents?""
"Don't play games.""
"The necklace?""
"No.""
"The USB?""
"No.""
His voice became impatient.
"The ledger.""
I looked at Dad.
There had been no ledger.
Richard mouthed, Don't tell him.
I said, "I don't know what you're talking about.""
Marcus went quiet.
Then he spoke slowly.
"Your mother hid a black ledger.""
Denise whispered, "Oh God.""
Dad looked at her.
"You know about it?""
She nodded.
"Marcus used to talk about it.""
Richard asked, "What was in it?""
Denise looked at the phone.
Marcus answered for her.
"Family history.""
Richard almost smiled.
"Financial crimes?""
"Careful.""
"Is that what you're afraid of?""
Marcus's voice hardened.
"I'm not afraid of anything.""
"Then come to my office.""
Marcus laughed.
"I'm not stupid.""
"No. You're just legally dead.""
The call disconnected.
Dad immediately tried calling back.
Nothing.
Richard saved the recording.
Then we all looked at Denise.
"The ledger," Dad said.
She rubbed her forehead.
"Marcus claimed Evelyn kept handwritten records of private investments.""
"Illegal?""
"I don't know.""
Richard did.
"Evelyn kept records of everything.""
"What kind of records?""
"Payments. Property purchases. Loans.""
"Could it prove Marcus stole from her?""
"Possibly.""
Denise looked toward the ceiling.
"He always believed Monica took it.""
I thought about Mom's hidden compartment.
"But it wasn't there.""
"Maybe there's another compartment.""
Dad looked at me.
I remembered Mom's video.
The bedroom.
Her warning.
Then something clicked.
"The necklace.""
Everyone looked at me.
I pulled Mom's necklace from my pocket.
The heart pendant felt heavier than it should.
I turned it over.
There was a tiny groove along the side.
Dad helped me open it.
Inside wasn't a photograph.
There was a tiny folded strip of paper.
Three numbers.
14 - 8 - 27.
Richard frowned.
"A combination?""
Dad looked around.
"To what?""
Then I remembered Grandma Evelyn's photograph.
She was standing in front of the house.
Her hand rested on the porch railing.
Behind her was an old brick column.
Our front porch didn't look like that anymore.
Dad had renovated it years ago.
"Was there ever a safe downstairs?""
Dad shook his head.
"Not that I know of.""
Richard looked at the numbers.
"Could be a date.""
August 14, 1927?
No.
April 8, 2027?
No.
Then Brianna spoke from the stairs.
"Books.""
We turned.
She pointed toward the ceiling.
"Fourteen, eight, twenty-seven.""
"What about them?""
"The bookshelf.""
My pulse jumped.
Mom had hidden the key behind a photograph.
Maybe she'd hidden something else in her books.
We rushed upstairs.
There were dozens.
I counted.
The fourteenth book was an old hardcover copy of Little Women.
The eighth page looked normal.
But page twenty-seven had a small handwritten circle around one word.
Window.
Dad stared at it.
"The window seat.""
We pulled the cushion away again.
The secret compartment was already open.
We checked underneath.
Nothing.
Then Brianna ran her fingers beneath the wooden ledge.
"Here.""
A small metal latch.
Dad pressed it.
The front panel of the window seat opened.
Inside was a narrow cavity.
And inside that was a black notebook.
The ledger.
I reached for it.
Richard stopped me.
"Photograph everything before moving it.""
Dad took pictures.
Then Richard carefully lifted the notebook.
It was old.
Worn.
Filled with Grandma Evelyn's handwriting.
Names.
Dates.
Dollar amounts.
Property addresses.
Company names.
Then Richard stopped on one page.
"Marcus Holloway.""
Several payments.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Beside the final entry, Grandma had written:
Funds traced. Denise involved. Monica has copies.
Denise staggered backward.
"I didn't take that money.""
Richard turned the page.
There were more entries.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Eric Thompson.
Marcus's alias.
Then another.
Daniel Cross.
Another alias.
Dad stared.
"He was planning this for decades.""
Richard continued turning pages.
Then he stopped.
His face changed.
"What?""
He didn't answer.
"Richard?""
He pointed at an entry dated seventeen years earlier.
A payment.
$75,000.
Recipient:
DENISE HARPER.
Brianna stared at her mother.
Denise shook her head.
"No.""
Richard read the note beside it.
Payment made following birth of B.H. Per agreement with Marcus.
B.H.
Brianna Harper.
Brianna's face went white.
"What agreement?""
Denise began crying.
"Sweetheart—"
"What agreement?""
Richard turned another page.
There was a short handwritten note from Grandma Evelyn.
Marcus demands silence regarding child. Denise accepted payment. Child may have claim if paternity proven.
Nobody breathed.
Brianna looked at me.
Then at the house around us.
"If Marcus is Grandma Evelyn's son...""
Richard nodded slowly.
"Then you may have inherited rights too.""
Brianna stared at her mother.
"You knew.""
Denise shook her head.
"I didn't know about any inheritance.""
"But you took money.""
"I was scared.""
"You took seventy-five thousand dollars to keep me secret?""
"It wasn't like that.""
"What was it like?""
Denise reached for her.
Brianna backed away.
"Don't.""
Her voice cracked.
"Was I ever your daughter, or was I just another way to get money from this family?""
Denise collapsed into tears.
Then my phone rang.
Everyone stopped.
Unknown number.
Dad immediately reached for it.
"Don't answer.""
But something told me to look at the screen.
It wasn't just a call.
A voicemail had arrived seconds earlier.
I played it on speaker.
Marcus's voice filled the room.
"Maya, your grandmother's ledger tells only half the story.""
Dad grabbed the phone.
Marcus continued.
"Ask Richard why Monica changed the trust three days before she died.""
Richard's face went completely still.
The voicemail ended.
I looked at him.
"What is he talking about?""
Richard didn't answer.
Dad stepped toward him.
"Richard.""
He looked at me.
For the first time, the man who seemed to have every answer looked afraid to give one.
"Your mother added a beneficiary.""
My heart started pounding.
"Who?""
Richard glanced at Brianna.
May you like
Then back at me.
"Someone nobody expected.""
