Chapter 11 - What Henry Heard
I did not ask Henry to explain right away.
Detective Torres did.
Not because she was cold, but because she knew children could retreat if adults filled the room with panic.
“Henry,” she said softly, “what makes you think your mom didn’t crash by herself?”
He pulled the blanket higher.
“I heard Rebecca and Mr. Caleb fighting.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
My pulse quickened.
“Where?”
“In Dad’s office. I was in the hallway.”
“What did they say?”
Henry squeezed my hand.
“Rebecca said, ‘I’m not ending up like Sarah.’ Then Mr. Caleb said, ‘Sarah was an accident because she fought me.’”
Nobody moved.
Torres’s pen stopped above her notebook.
“Are you sure those were the words?”
Henry nodded.
“Then Rebecca said she wanted out. Mr. Caleb told her she already took the money.”
I looked at Torres.
“Money?”
She wrote it down.
“Henry, did they see you?”
“No. But later Rebecca came to my room and asked if I’d been downstairs.”
“What did you say?”
“I said no.”
He swallowed.
“Then she hugged me too hard and told me lying was bad.”
Rage moved through me so fast I had to stand.
Torres gave me a look that said control it.
I walked to the window.
Below us, the hospital parking lot was almost empty.
My phone buzzed.
Martin Vale, my attorney.
He had gone to the family office and found something missing.
“What?” I asked.
“The original trust binder.”
“Who signed it out?”
“No one. It was taken.”
“Can that change anything?”
“Not by itself. But whoever took it has specimen signatures, notary records, account numbers, and the exact language they’d need to create convincing forgeries.”
I glanced at Henry.
“What would they need to make the fraud work?”
“A doctor willing to say you were incapacitated. A notary. Maybe a bank officer who didn’t ask enough questions.”
“And if I died?”
“Then the succession clause activates.”
“To Nathan.”
“Yes, unless they forged an amendment.”
Torres stood.
“We need to find Rebecca before Caleb does.”
“Why?”
“Because if Henry heard them argue, Rebecca may be the only living person who knows what happened to Sarah.”
My phone rang again.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man spoke this time.
“Ethan Cole?”
“Yes.”
“This is Victor Dane.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“You went near my son.”
“I went there to keep someone else from reaching him.”
“Give me one reason not to hand your location to police.”
Victor breathed out.
May you like
“Because Rebecca is with me.”
Then he added, “And Caleb just found us.”
