Chapter 2 - The Name on the Paper
I pulled away from her.
“What money?”
Mom glanced at the guests.
“Lower your voice.”
“What money?”
Daniel turned toward the DJ.
“Keep playing.”
Rachel grabbed his sleeve.
“Please. We need privacy.”
“You had privacy when you made that recording.”
The video continued.
My sister tapped the document with one red nail.
“Three payments. Same vendor. All approved.”
Mom leaned closer.
“And the account?”
“In Hannah’s name.”
I felt Emma’s fingers digging into my waist.
Around us, people began whispering.
Someone raised a phone.
“Put that down,” Daniel said.
The man hesitated.
“Now.”
The phone disappeared.
On-screen, Rachel slid the papers into a blue folder.
“If anybody asks, Hannah arranged the work. I only passed the invoices along.”
My mother nodded.
That was the part that hurt.
Not the paperwork.
Not the money.
The nod.
My mother had considered the possibility of my going to jail and then nodded.
Daniel looked at me.
“Do you own a company called Harbor Learning Services?”
“No.”
“Have you received payments from Hayes Property Group?”
“No.”
“Ever signed renovation invoices for me?”
“I teach third grade, Daniel. I buy classroom glue with my own money.”
His face changed.
Behind him, Rachel began crying.
“This is edited.”
Emma lifted her head.
“No, it isn’t.”
“Stay out of this,” Rachel snapped.
I stepped between them.
“You don’t speak to her.”
My voice came out steady.
That surprised me more than anyone.
The DJ paused the video when Daniel asked him to.
A venue manager arrived with two security employees.
Daniel pointed toward a small room off the ballroom.
“Could we use that?”
The manager nodded.
Rachel immediately started walking toward it.
Daniel stopped her.
“Not you.”
Her expression hardened.
For one second, the crying vanished.
Then she looked at the guests again and brought it back.
I followed Daniel with Emma pressed against my side.
Inside the room, someone had arranged wedding gifts on a long table.
Silver envelopes.
White ribbons.
A framed photograph of the smiling couple.
Daniel closed the door.
“How did you get the video, Emma?”
She looked at me.
I crouched beside her.
“Tell us exactly what happened.”
She rubbed the edge of her lavender cardigan.
“I left my tablet at Aunt Rachel’s after we practiced my dance.”
“When?”
“Thursday.”
Two days earlier.
“I went back for it yesterday. She said I could get it from the kitchen.”
Emma’s eyes filled.
“I didn’t know it was still recording until I watched it at home.”
Daniel went very still.
May you like
“Do you still have that tablet?”
Before Emma could answer, someone tried the locked door.
