Chapter 4 - THE PAPER TRAIL
The officer picked up the paper.
“Sir, is this yours?”
I stared at it.
It looked like a property transfer document.
Grantor: Connor James Bradley.
Grantee: Teresa Elaine Bradley.
My stomach dropped.
“That’s not my signature.”
My mother pushed through the side gate.
“He gave me permission!”
One officer turned toward her.
“Ma’am, stay where you are.”
“This is ridiculous. He’s my son.”
The officer held up his hand.
“Stay there.”
Teresa kept coming.
He stepped between us.
She shoved him.
Hard.
Everything happened fast after that.
Her wrists were behind her back.
Betsy started screaming.
My uncle pulled out his phone.
Half my family suddenly remembered they had somewhere else to be.
Teresa twisted toward me while the officer cuffed her.
“You selfish bastard!”
Amy appeared in the doorway holding Frederick.
My mother saw her.
Her face turned vicious.
“This is because of you!”
Amy froze.
“You poisoned him against his own family!”
I walked between them.
“Enough.”
Teresa laughed.
“You think she loves you? She loves your paycheck.”
The irony was so ugly I almost couldn’t speak.
The officer holding the folder began sorting through the documents.
“Mr. Bradley?”
“Yes?”
“You may want to see these.”
There was more than the deed.
Copies of my driver’s license.
My Social Security card.
Bank statements.
Pay stubs.
A photocopy of my signature from a mortgage document.
Even an old power-of-attorney form.
“What the hell?”
Mason sat on the curb with another officer standing over him.
He stared at the ground.
I walked closer.
“What were you doing with these?”
“Ask Teresa.”
My mother screamed from behind me.
“Shut your mouth!”
Mason looked up at her.
“You said nobody was supposed to be home!”
The whole yard went silent.
Teresa stopped struggling.
Mason realized what he’d said.
I felt something hard settle in my chest.
“Supposed to be home for what?”
He said nothing.
I stepped toward him.
“What were you doing in my office?”
His jaw tightened.
“Lawyer.”
“What?”
“I want a lawyer.”
One officer nodded.
“That’s probably smart.”
Amy touched my arm.
“Connor.”
I turned.
Frederick’s eyes were half closed.
That pulled me back to what mattered.
I looked at the officer.
“My son needs the ER.”
“Go,” he said. “We have your information.”
I started toward my truck.
Then the officer called me back.
“One more thing.”
He held up a printed email.
It was addressed to a mortgage broker.
Subject line:
TRANSFER COMPLETION — FRIDAY.
Below it was a sentence that made my hands go numb.
Once Connor’s property is transferred, we can proceed with the equity withdrawal Monday morning.
I looked at my mother.
Thirty-three thousand dollars I had sent her.
My missing documents.
A forged signature.
A plan to take equity from my house.
And suddenly I knew.
May you like
The birthday party wasn’t the celebration.
It was the distraction.
