Chapter 3 - THE NOTE
The handwriting was not Ethan’s.
It was mine.
At least, it was supposed to be.
I stared at the note.
For Ethan. Anything he needs. Love, Mom.
My stomach twisted.
“I never wrote this.”
Mara nodded.
“We know.”
Amber looked confused.
“What is that?”
“A handwriting sample used to support a claim that Patricia authorized transfers to Ethan.”
Ethan laughed nervously.
“This is insane.”
I looked at the note again.
The handwriting was close.
Too close.
Whoever forged it knew how I shaped my capital P.
Knew the way I wrote the word love.
Knew that I usually crossed my t’s high.
That was not information a hacker in another country would have.
That was family.
“How did you get this?” I asked.
“It was uploaded to one of the financial institutions that questioned a transfer.”
Mara turned to Ethan.
“You submitted it.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“The metadata says otherwise.”
He looked around the room like he was searching for somebody to rescue him.
Nobody did.
Amber sank into a chair.
“So all those nights you said you were working late…”
“Amber.”
“Were you with her?”
“This isn’t the time.”
She laughed.
It sounded almost like a sob.
“Really? When is the time? Tomorrow? Next week? Maybe after your mother loses her house?”
“I did not make her lose anything.”
I stepped toward him.
“You took $420,000 from my retirement.”
“You don’t know that.”
“You took $280,000 against my house.”
“That’s what she says.”
He pointed at Mara.
I had finally had enough.
I slapped his hand down.
“Stop pointing at people like you are the victim.”
His eyes widened.
I had almost never raised my voice at my children.
That night, I did.
“You walked into my retirement dinner planning to shame me. You stood beside a cake that said Congratulations, Patricia and told everybody I was a liar.”
He looked away.
I grabbed the bank statement and held it up.
“You brought the evidence of your own crime into my home and tried to put my name on it.”
“Mom—”
“No.”
The word came out so sharp that he stopped.
“You do not call me Mom right now.”
That landed.
His face changed.
For one second, I saw the little boy again.
Then it disappeared.
Mara’s phone vibrated.
She checked it.
“The detectives are outside.”
Ethan’s head snapped toward her.
“What detectives?”
“Financial crimes unit.”
“You called the police?”
Mara looked at him.
“The bank is legally required to report suspected fraud of this magnitude.”
He moved toward the hallway.
Nicole blocked him.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Nicole.”
“You’re not leaving.”
“Get out of my way.”
She folded her arms.
“You want to push me in front of thirty witnesses?”
Ethan looked toward the back door.
Amber stood up.
“Don’t you dare.”
He turned.
“What?”
“Don’t run.”
“I’m not running.”
“You’re looking for an exit.”
“I need air.”
“You need a lawyer.”
The doorbell rang.
Three times.
Mara went to answer it.
Two detectives entered.
One was a broad-shouldered Black man with silver at his temples.
The other was a younger woman with a tight ponytail and a small notebook in her hand.
The older detective introduced himself.
“Detective Marcus Hale.”
Ethan raised both hands.
“I haven’t done anything.”
Hale looked at him.
“I didn’t ask.”
“I know how this works.”
“Apparently not.”
Nicole covered her mouth to hide a smile.
This would have been funny under any other circumstances.
It wasn’t.
Hale looked at me.
“Mrs. Reynolds, may we speak privately?”
“Yes.”
Ethan immediately said, “No.”
Everyone turned.
Hale’s eyebrows rose.
“No?”
Ethan swallowed.
“I mean, she’s upset.”
“I am,” I said. “And I can speak for myself.”
Hale gestured toward my living room.
I started to follow.
Then Ethan said something behind me.
Something so strange that I stopped walking.
“Ask her about Dad’s life insurance.”
I turned slowly.
“What?”
Ethan looked directly at me.
“Ask her where Dad’s insurance money went.”
I stared at him.
My husband had died seven years earlier.
There had been a life insurance policy.
A modest one.
I had used part of it to pay medical bills and invested the rest.
Or at least I thought I had.
Ethan smiled again.
This time there was no warmth in it at all.
“You think I’m the only one with secrets?”
Detective Hale watched him carefully.
“What life insurance money?”
Ethan looked at me.
May you like
And said the one sentence that made my blood turn cold.
“The account was never closed.”
