Chapter 5: The Will Nobody Was Supposed to Find
Marcus didn't speak for nearly a minute.
The kitchen suddenly felt too small. The envelope lay open beneath the bright overhead lights, its contents scattered across the island like pieces of a life he hadn't realized he was living.
His father's name appeared on the papers.
His father's old property address appeared beneath it.
And Vanessa's signature appeared beside his own forged one.
Marcus finally looked up.
“Explain the will.””
Vanessa wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand.
“I didn't know about it until after your father died.””
“Darius just said it was changed three days before his death.””
“I said I didn't know until afterward.””
“Then why did he say you knew?””
Vanessa stared at him.
“I didn't say I knew about the change. I said I knew about the will.””
Caleb's eyebrows drew together.
“Mom, what does that even mean?””
Vanessa turned toward him.
“This is an adult matter.””
“I'm seventeen,” Caleb replied.
“And you've got Dad's signature on a document he never signed. I think it's my business, too.””
For once, Vanessa had no immediate answer.
Marcus picked up the financial agreement again.
The paper identified a company registered in Georgia. Beneath the company name were details about a property transaction and a transfer authorization. He recognized the last four digits of his savings account.
His hands tightened around the document.
“You used our emergency savings to pay this man.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“Not all of it.””
“How much?””
“Marcus—”
“How much?””
“Thirty-two thousand dollars.””
Nia sucked in a breath.
Caleb stared at his mother.
“Thirty-two thousand?””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I was going to replace it.””
“With what?”” Marcus demanded.
“You told me the car needed repairs. You told me our insurance premiums went up. Every time I asked why our savings were shrinking, you had another explanation.””
“I thought I could fix everything before you noticed.””
“You had months to tell me.””
“I was afraid!””
Marcus lowered his voice.
“Of what? Losing money? Losing this house? Or losing whatever secret you're protecting?””
Vanessa looked toward the front door.
That movement told him there was more.
Marcus placed the document on the island.
“Who is Darius Cole?””
Vanessa sat down heavily.
“He worked with my brother years ago.””
“Your brother died before I met you.””
“He didn't die.””
The words came out so softly that Marcus almost missed them.
He stared at her.
“What?””
Vanessa looked toward Caleb, then Nia.
“My brother, Andre, disappeared when I was twenty-four. Everyone believed he had left Georgia. My mother told people he was gone for good.””
Marcus had met Vanessa's mother. He had attended family gatherings where nobody mentioned a brother. He had never questioned the absence because Vanessa always described her childhood as complicated.
“Where does Darius fit into that?”” he asked.
“Darius was Andre's business partner. They bought properties together. Small houses, mostly. They would renovate them and sell them.””
“And my father's house?””
Vanessa pressed her fingers to her forehead.
“Your father agreed to let Andre help him with some repairs. After your father died, Darius claimed Andre had invested money in the property. He said the estate owed him.””
“Was that true?””
“I don't know.””
Marcus stared at her in disbelief.
“You gave him thirty-two thousand dollars because you didn't know?””
“He showed me paperwork!””
“Paperwork with my forged signature?””
Vanessa flinched.
“I didn't forge it at first. Darius told me there was a document your father had signed, and he needed me to confirm certain details. Then he showed me copies of things from your father's files. I thought the whole matter would be settled.””
“But it wasn't.””
“No.””
“What happened next?””
Vanessa's eyes filled again.
“He told me the property was worth much more than anyone realized. He said your father had left something there, something valuable enough to settle every debt.””
Marcus felt a memory surface.
His father had once taken him into the Savannah house and shown him a loose panel beneath a built-in bookcase. Marcus had been fourteen. His father had told him that some things were safer when kept out of sight.
At the time, Marcus had thought it was a lesson about family photographs and old letters.
He had never seen the house again.
“What did my father leave there?”” Marcus asked.
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don't know.””
“Then why are you paying Darius?””
“Because he said he knew where it was. He said if I helped him access the property, he would stop asking for money.””
Marcus looked at the photograph of Vanessa and Darius outside the house.
“How long have you been seeing him?””
Her head snapped up.
“Not like that.””
“You expect me to believe you met him secretly, transferred thousands of dollars, and forged my signature, but nothing else happened?””
“I never loved him, Marcus.””
“That's not what I asked.””
Vanessa pressed her hands together.
“He contacted me because he knew I was married to you. At first, he wanted information about the estate. Then he began threatening to tell you I had helped him.””
“Helped him do what?””
She hesitated.
Marcus stepped closer.
“What did you help him do?””
“I gave him copies of some family documents.””
“Which documents?””
“Your father's old papers. A few estate records. Things I found in the filing cabinet.””
Marcus stared at her.
Those records had been in his home office. Only he and Vanessa had access to the cabinet.
“You stole my father's papers.””
“I thought I was preventing something worse.””
“What could possibly be worse than this?””
Vanessa looked at him, her expression suddenly desperate.
“Darius told me Andre wasn't the only person who disappeared after the property deal.””
Caleb slowly lowered his phone.
Nia moved closer to her brother.
Marcus felt a chill travel down his back.
“Who else disappeared?””
Vanessa opened her mouth.
Then stopped.
A faint sound came from the hallway.
Three soft knocks.
Not from the front door.
From the door leading to Marcus's home office.
Everyone turned.
Marcus knew he had locked that door before dinner.
“Stay here,” he told the children.
He moved toward the hallway, keeping his phone in his hand. Vanessa rose from her chair.
“Don't open it,” she whispered.
Marcus stopped.
“Why?””
“Because I heard someone in there earlier.””
His heart slammed against his ribs.
“When?””
“Before dinner.””
“And you didn't tell me?””
“I thought it was the house settling.””
Another knock sounded from inside the office.
Caleb whispered, “Dad, there's nobody supposed to be in there.””
Marcus reached the door.
He tried the handle.
Locked.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number appeared on the screen.
The person you're looking for is closer than you think.
Marcus slowly turned toward Vanessa.
She was staring at the office door with an expression that made his blood run cold.
“Vanessa,” he whispered, “who is inside my office?””
She shook her head.
But before she could answer, a voice came from the other side of the door.
“Marcus?””
It was a man's voice.
Older. Hoarse. Familiar.
Marcus stopped breathing.
He knew that voice.
He had heard it in childhood memories, old home videos, and the last voicemail his father had left him three years earlier.
The voice spoke again.
“Son, don't let her tell you what happened.””
Marcus stepped backward.
May you like
His father was dead.
So who was speaking from behind the locked door?
