Chapter 2 - The Brother at the Door
Daniel called Marcus back six times.
Six times, the call went straight to voicemail.
By the time Officer Ramirez arrived, Emily had swept a clear path through the glass and wrapped Noah in a blanket at the kitchen table. He was eating crackers like nothing unusual had happened, except every few seconds he glanced toward the living room.
Ramirez photographed the brick and the note.
"Any reason your brother would threaten you over this property?"
Daniel rubbed the back of his neck.
"My father owned the house. He left it to me. Marcus never accepted that."
Emily turned slowly.
"You told me Marcus was angry about the will. You didn't tell me he was still fighting it."
"Because until tonight, it was just talk."
"That sounds like something I should've known."
Daniel had no answer for that.
Noah raised his hand.
Ramirez blinked. "You have a question, buddy?"
"If bad guys throw bricks, do police throw them back?"
Emily closed her eyes.
Ramirez smiled despite himself. "No. We use paperwork."
Noah considered this. "That's not scary."
"You'd be surprised."
A knock hit the front door.
Daniel stiffened.
Ramirez stepped beside him and nodded once.
Daniel opened the door.
Marcus stood on the porch in a charcoal jacket, rain beginning to bead on his shoulders. He was five years older than Daniel, taller by an inch, and wore the same sharp blue eyes their father had possessed.
"I heard about the window," Marcus said.
Daniel laughed once. There was no humor in it.
"Fast news."
Marcus looked past him and noticed the officer.
"You called the cops on me?"
"I got a phone call from you thirty seconds after a brick came through my window."
"I called because I heard tires outside your place."
Emily stepped into the hall. "How would you know that?"
Marcus's eyes moved to her.
"Because I was driving by."
Daniel took one step forward.
"Why?"
Marcus didn't move.
"I came to give you one last chance before my attorney files."
"Files what?"
Marcus reached inside his jacket.
Ramirez immediately said, "Slowly."
Marcus pulled out a folded legal envelope and held it up.
"A challenge to Dad's will."
Daniel's jaw tightened. "You already challenged it. You lost."
"That was before I found the second will."
The hallway went silent.
Emily looked at Daniel.
"Second will?"
Marcus handed him a photocopy.
Daniel scanned the first page.
His face drained of color.
The document was dated six days before their father died.
It split the house equally between both sons.
And at the bottom was a signature that looked exactly like their father's.
Marcus leaned close enough that only Daniel and Emily could hear him.
"Friday," he said. "Sell willingly, or the court sells it for you."
Then he walked back into the rain.
Daniel stared at the signature.
Emily touched his arm.
"Is it real?"
Daniel swallowed.
"It can't be."
"Why?"
He looked up.
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"Because six days before Dad died, he couldn't hold a pen."
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