Chapter 9 - The Man in the Gray Suit

Maria had dates.

That surprised me.

"After the second time, it felt wrong," she explained. "So I wrote down the license plate."

Dana traced the plate through a licensed investigator.

The man in the gray suit was named Russell Pike.

Private investigator.

Former police officer.

And, according to Dana, very expensive.

Mom had hired him four months before our wedding.

His job had not ended after the ceremony.

He had followed Savannah to medical appointments, counseling, the grocery store, and once to lunch with her college friend.

He had also followed me.

I sat in Dana's office looking at a report that described my life in cold little lines.

Christopher Reed arrived at 7:42 p.m.

Christopher Reed met male colleague at bar.

Christopher Reed purchased jewelry at Westfield Mall.

The jewelry had been Savannah's anniversary necklace.

Mom knew about it before Savannah did.

"Why follow me?" I asked.

Dana flipped a page. "Control works better with information."

The investigator's invoices had been paid through a company account.

My company account.

Or rather, an account belonging to Reed Development, the business Dad had started and Mom still partially owned.

I was president. Mom controlled forty percent of the voting shares through a trust.

Suddenly this wasn't only about our house.

She had used the company to spy on my wife.

"There are board implications," Dana said. "Potentially serious ones."

My phone rang from an unknown number.

I ignored it.

It rang again.

Then a voicemail appeared.

Elaine Mercer.

Mom's paralegal.

Her voice shook.

"Christopher, I need to talk to you. Not Bernice. Not the family lawyer. You. I can't carry this anymore."

Dana looked at me. "Call her from here."

Elaine answered on the first ring.

"I'm sorry," she said immediately.

"For what?"

She started crying.

"The signature wasn't the first thing she had me fake."

Every muscle in my body went still.

"What else did she forge?"

Elaine whispered, "Your father's final trust amendment."

I couldn't breathe.

"My father never signed it?"

"Not the version Bernice filed."

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Then Elaine said the words that changed my entire understanding of the last six years.

"Christopher, your mother may not own forty percent of the company at all."