Chapter 11 - THE WILL THEY BURIED
Nathan opened the file.
The document was dated eleven years earlier.
Thomas Hale’s signature sat at the bottom.
Evan stared at it.
“That’s Dad’s handwriting.”
Tessa began crying before she even read it.
Nathan handed the pages to my father.
Dad scanned them.
Then looked at Margaret.
“You hid this.”
She said nothing.
Thomas had created trusts for all three children.
He had also written a letter.
Evan read it aloud.
“If you are reading this, then Margaret may have attempted to take control of assets intended for the children.”
His voice cracked.
Tessa covered her mouth.
Evan continued.
“I have loved my wife, but over the years I have become deeply concerned about her need to control the lives of those around her.”
Margaret shouted:
“He was sick!”
Nobody listened.
Thomas had named Nathan as temporary executor.
He had instructed an attorney to release copies after his death.
That attorney died two years later.
Margaret apparently found the original first.
Nathan looked at her.
“You told everyone I stole from Dad.”
“You did!”
“I took thirty thousand dollars.”
“You stole!”
“Yes.”
Nathan didn’t flinch.
“And you used that to bury three hundred thousand dollars that belonged to each of us.”
Evan whispered:
“Why?”
Margaret looked at him.
“Because people leave.”
“What?”
“People leave when they have money.”
The rage disappeared from her face.
For a moment, she looked old.
Small.
“Your father wanted to leave me.”
Tessa whispered:
“So you trapped us instead?”
“I kept my family together.”
“You destroyed it.”
Margaret’s face hardened again.
“You’ll come back.”
Nobody answered.
“You always do.”
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Margaret looked toward the road.
Then at me.
“You called them?”
“Yes.”
“You stupid girl.”
“No.”
I held up the recorders.
“I finally stopped being afraid of you.”
Police arrived minutes later.
This time Margaret didn’t smile.
Officer Ramirez was among them.
She listened to part of the recording.
Then looked at Margaret.
“You need to come with us.”
Margaret screamed as they took her away.
Not cried.
Screamed.
She shouted at Evan.
Promised he’d regret this.
Called Tessa a traitor.
Called Nathan a thief.
Then she looked at me.
“You think you won?”
I held Maisie tighter.
“This isn’t about winning.”
She laughed bitterly.
“It always is.”
The police car pulled away.
For the first time all night, the storage yard was quiet.
Then Evan’s phone rang.
He checked the screen.
His face changed.
“What?”
He looked at me.
“It’s our bank.”
May you like
My stomach dropped.
“They said our checking account was just emptied.”
