Chapter 9 - THE HAMMER
“Put it down.”
Melissa looked at the flash drive in my laptop.
Her face was white.
“You had no right to open that box.”
I almost laughed.
“You broke into the house.”
“I still live here.”
“Not tonight.”
She tightened her grip on the hammer.
I slowly stood.
“What are you planning to do with that?”
She looked at it as if noticing it for the first time.
“I needed to open the box.”
“It’s already open.”
She didn’t move.
“Give me the drive.”
“No.”
“Rachel.”
“Step back.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
And suddenly, she looked less like the arrogant woman from dinner and more like someone unraveling.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
“Derek did this.”
“All of it?”
“Most of it.”
“You hit my mother.”
She flinched.
“I know.”
“You called her the maid.”
“I know!”
“Why?”
She screamed,
“Because I hated her!”
The room went silent.
Melissa started crying.
“Do you know what it was like living here?”
I stared at her.
“In a free nine-hundred-thousand-dollar house?”
“She judged me.”
“My mother?”
“She never said anything, but I could feel it.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“She cooked for you.”
“Because Derek made her.”
“No. You made her.”
Melissa wiped her face.
“You think Derek is some weak husband who just followed me around?”
My attention sharpened.
“What are you saying?”
“He controlled everything.”
“Did he make you open the credit card?”
Silence.
“Did he?”
“He told me Mom had agreed.”
“She didn’t even know the card existed.”
Melissa looked down.
“I figured that out later.”
“And kept using it.”
“I was angry.”
“At who?”
“Everybody.”
I shook my head.
“That’s not an excuse.”
“I know.”
“Then put the hammer down.”
She finally placed it on the desk.
I didn’t relax.
“Why did you come back?”
“The flash drive.”
“What’s on it?”
“Everything.”
She swallowed.
“Derek’s accounts. Messages. Transfers.”
“Why did you know about it?”
“Because I helped him with some of it.”
There it was.
“How much?”
“The credit card. Some signatures. The bank visits.”
My stomach twisted.
“So you participated.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know he forged the deed?”
“Not at first.”
“But later?”
She nodded.
“When?”
“Eight months ago.”
“And you stayed.”
“I thought he could fix it.”
“You thought you’d get the house.”
She didn’t answer.
That answer was yes.
Then she whispered,
“Kane knows the deed is fake.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Derek told him.”
“When?”
“Before the loan.”
“Why would Kane lend money against a forged deed?”
Melissa’s lips trembled.
“Because the foreclosure was the plan.”
I stared at her.
She continued.
“Kane didn’t care about the loan payments.”
“What did he want?”
“The property.”
A chill moved through me.
Melissa pointed at the computer.
“There are emails.”
I opened the KANE folder.
Messages.
Derek and Victor Kane.
The language was coded but clear enough.
Kane knew ownership was disputed.
He expected default.
He expected to acquire the house far below market value.
Derek would receive an additional payment after the sale.
I looked at Melissa.
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
“So Derek was selling my house for a payoff.”
She nodded.
“And Mom?”
Melissa’s eyes fell.
“He wanted her out before you came home.”
My stomach turned.
“How?”
“He tried to make her apply for senior housing.”
The note in her Bible.
Maybe they won’t be angry if I leave.
I wanted to smash something.
Instead, I copied the entire flash drive.
Then I called Samuel.
Melissa grabbed my arm.
“No.”
I pulled away.
“You want to help yourself? Start telling the truth.”
“If Derek finds out I gave you this—”
“He’s in custody.”
“He may get out.”
“Then you’d better decide what scares you more. Derek or prison.”
Her face collapsed.
I dialed Samuel.
Before he answered, headlights swept across the office window.
A car pulled into the driveway.
Melissa looked outside.
Her breath caught.
“Oh God.”
“What?”
She backed away from the window.
“That’s Derek’s car.”
I stared.
“He was arrested.”
“He must’ve made bail.”
The front door opened downstairs.
Then Derek shouted,
“Melissa!”
She looked at me in terror.
May you like
And whispered,
“He knows.”
