Chapter 4 - THE SIGNATURE
Taylor grabbed the paper.
“That isn’t my signature.”
“It looks exactly like it,” I said.
“I know what my signature looks like.”
Detective Park took the document back.
“We’ll have it examined.”
Taylor paced across the office.
“My mother has copies of my signature.”
“Why?”
“Tax documents. Medical forms. School paperwork.”
I stared at her.
“You gave Evelyn access to Lily’s school paperwork?”
“She helped with pickups.”
“She helped herself to our daughter.”
Taylor flinched.
I hated myself for saying it.
But I didn’t take it back.
Park studied the petition.
“There’s another issue.”
“What?”
“The filing date is tomorrow.”
I looked at her.
“They were going to file this?”
“It appears so.”
Taylor sat down.
“Why?”
I already knew.
Money.
Control.
Evelyn had spent her entire life controlling Taylor.
Where she went to college.
Who she dated.
What job she accepted.
She hated me because I was the first person Taylor chose without permission.
Then Lily was born.
And Evelyn found a new person to control.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then breathing.
“Who is this?”
A man spoke.
“You should stop digging.”
My body went cold.
“Jason?”
The call ended.
Park immediately looked at me.
“What happened?”
I showed her the number.
She called an officer over.
“Trace what you can.”
Taylor whispered, “That sounded like Jason?”
“I think so.”
Then my phone buzzed again.
This time it was a text.
NO ONE WILL BELIEVE A MAN WITH YOUR HISTORY.
Below it was a photograph.
Me.
Standing outside a bar.
My fist raised.
Another man falling backward.
The picture was six years old.
Taylor stared at it.
“Where did they get that?”
I knew exactly where.
The incident happened before Lily was born.
A drunk man had attacked my younger brother.
I stepped in.
Charges were filed.
Then dropped after security footage showed self-defense.
But a photograph without context told a different story.
An angry man.
A violent man.
An unsafe father.
“They’re building a case against me,” I said.
Park nodded slowly.
“And they’ve been doing it for a while.”
Then Taylor’s phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
“Jason.”
“Answer it.”
She put it on speaker.
“Jason?”
Her brother sounded breathless.
“Taylor, listen to me.”
“Did you forge my signature?”
Silence.
“Jason?”
“You need to get away from Mark.”
I stepped closer.
“Why?”
Jason heard me.
“Because this is bigger than you think.”
“Where are you?”
He ignored me.
“Taylor, Mom didn’t start this.”
Taylor froze.
“What does that mean?”
Jason’s breathing became heavier.
“Someone else told her what to do.”
“Who?”
A crash sounded through the phone.
Jason cursed.
Then we heard a door slam.
“Jason?”
His voice dropped to a whisper.
“They’re here.”
“Who is there?”
The line went dead.
Taylor immediately called back.
No answer.
Park radioed officers.
I looked at the guardianship petition again.
Evelyn’s name was printed across the top.
But suddenly I understood something.
Maybe Evelyn wasn’t trying to become Lily’s guardian.
Maybe someone needed her to become guardian first.
May you like
And if that was true…
The freezer was only the beginning.
