Chapter 6: The Wife Who Knew Too Much
"Don't open that door.""
Walter's voice was barely audible.
I slipped the agreement and my father's letter into my jacket.
"Is there another way out?""
Walter nodded toward the loft.
"There's a ladder on the far side. It leads to the old equipment shed. But if Richard has brought his men, they'll probably be watching the road.""
A fist struck the barn door.
"Daniel!"" Richard called.
"We need to talk.""
I looked at Walter.
"Do you have a phone?""
"Mine's in the farmhouse.""
I took out mine.
"No signal.""
The screen showed one weak bar, then none.
Richard knocked again.
"Daniel, I know you're in there. Open the door, and we can settle this like adults.""
Walter shook his head.
"He's never settled anything like an adult in his life.""
I almost smiled.
Then Richard spoke again.
"Mr. Miller, this is your final opportunity to avoid unnecessary legal complications. You are not in a condition to manage your affairs, and we have documents proving that.""
Walter's face tightened.
"I'd like to see those documents.""
Richard laughed.
"You will. In court.""
I moved toward the door.
Walter caught my sleeve.
"Your father made a mistake once. He thought confronting Richard without witnesses would force him to behave honestly.""
He looked me in the eyes.
"Don't make the same mistake.""
I stepped back.
Richard's voice sharpened.
"Daniel, your mother has already made things difficult enough. Don't make them worse.""
I shouted through the door.
"Stop threatening my family!""
"I'm trying to protect you from a serious legal problem.""
"By forging my mother's signature?""
A pause.
Then Richard said, "Your mother signed a property agreement years ago. If she has forgotten what she agreed to, that's hardly my fault.""
Walter looked at me in alarm.
I pulled the photocopy from my jacket and examined the transfer agreement again.
My mother's signature appeared on the last page.
But the date beside it was impossible.
It was dated two days after my father's death.
Mom had told me she never visited the Miller farm after the funeral.
Someone had copied her signature onto a document she couldn't possibly have signed.
I took a photograph of every page with my phone, hoping it might catch enough signal to upload later.
Then I called through the door.
"Richard, why does this agreement contain my mother's signature from a date when she wasn't even here?""
He didn't answer immediately.
When he did, his voice had lost its pleasant tone.
"Because she was involved in the original arrangement.""
"Then why is the signature dated after Dad died?""
"You're reading a document you don't understand.""
"Explain it.""
"The agreement is confidential.""
"Then stop asking me to trust you.""
I heard Richard mutter something to Porter.
A moment later, the doorknob rattled.
Walter backed away.
"He's going to force the lock.""
I glanced around the room.
The filing cabinet was heavy enough to block the door, but the wood around the frame looked old and splintered.
If Richard's men were determined to enter, the cabinet wouldn't hold for long.
I helped Walter toward the stairs.
"We're leaving.""
We climbed into the loft, where dust and the smell of hay filled the narrow space. I found the ladder and pushed open the hatch above it.
The equipment shed was cold and dark.
We descended carefully, then slipped through a side door into a patch of tall weeds behind the barn.
From there, I could see Richard standing near the entrance, speaking to Porter.
A third person had arrived.
Vanessa.
She stepped out of a white SUV and hurried toward her father.
"What are you doing?"" she demanded.
Richard caught her arm.
"Not now.""
"You said you would handle this quietly.""
"I am handling it.""
"By breaking into a barn?""
Richard's face hardened.
"Watch your mouth.""
Vanessa pulled away.
For the first time, she seemed less like the spoiled bride I'd married and more like a frightened child who had just discovered that her father could hurt her too.
"Where's Daniel?"" she asked.
Richard glanced toward the barn.
"Inside.""
Vanessa looked at the building.
Then she turned toward the equipment shed.
Her eyes met mine through a gap in the weeds.
She froze.
I raised one finger to my lips.
For a second, I thought she might point us out.
Instead, she turned back to her father.
"Someone called the county inspector," she said loudly.
"You need to leave.""
Richard stared at her.
"What?""
"The inspector is on the way. If you want to keep this from becoming a public scandal, get back in your car.""
Porter stepped closer.
"Mr. Hale, we should go.""
Richard's gaze swept across the property.
Then he looked at Vanessa.
"This isn't over.""
"No," she replied.
"It isn't.""
He climbed into the SUV.
Porter followed.
The vehicle drove toward the road, and the white SUV remained parked beside the barn.
I waited until the sound of the engine faded before emerging from the weeds with Walter.
Vanessa stood beside her car, rubbing her hands together.
When she saw us, she exhaled shakily.
"Daniel.""
I stopped several feet away.
"Why did you tell your father about the trust?""
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I didn't know what it was.""
"You knew enough to betray us.""
"I knew Dad was looking for documents. I didn't know you would find the original agreement.""
"How did you know about it?""
She looked toward Walter.
"Can we please talk somewhere private?""
Walter shook his head.
"I have nothing to say to you.""
Vanessa flinched.
I had never seen anyone look at her that way before.
Not with anger.
With disappointment.
"Daniel," she whispered, "please. I can explain.""
"Then explain.""
She drew a breath.
"My father told me that Walter was mentally unfit and that your mother was trying to take advantage of him. He said Eleanor had stolen confidential documents and was using them to manipulate the estate.""
"And you believed him?""
"I wanted to.""
The admission stunned me.
"Why?""
"Because if he was right, then everything he had told me about your mother was true. I wouldn't have to question anything.""
I stared at her.
She wiped her eyes.
"I know what I said at the wedding was cruel. I know I hurt her. But I was angry, Daniel. I thought she was deliberately embarrassing me.""
"She was trying to hug you.""
"I know.""
"You called her disgusting.""
"I know.""
"And now you want me to believe you were only confused?""
Vanessa shook her head.
"No. I want you to know that I was wrong.""
I waited.
She looked at the ground.
"My father has spent my entire life telling me that people who have less than us are always trying to get something from us. When I met you, he said your mother would become a problem. He said she would never accept that you were building a different life.""
I thought of Mom's little house, the worn kitchen table, and the photograph of Dad beside the television.
"She never asked me for a single thing.""
"I know that now.""
"Because you finally bothered to look?""
Vanessa didn't answer.
Walter leaned on his cane.
"Young woman, you should leave.""
She looked at him.
"Mr. Miller, I am sorry.""
"You're sorry because your father might lose the property.""
"No. I'm sorry because I helped him hurt people who never did anything to me.""
Walter studied her for a moment.
Then he turned away.
I looked at Vanessa.
"Tell me everything you know about the agreement.""
She nodded.
"My father believes the land is worth more than forty million dollars. His company has already borrowed money against the expected development profits. If the transfer fails, several investors could sue him.""
"That doesn't explain the forged signature.""
"I don't know who forged it.""
"But you knew about the trust.""
She hesitated.
"My father found an old letter in Walter's office. It mentioned a beneficiary, but the name had been removed from the copy. He suspected the beneficiary was connected to your family.""
"Why did you tell him about the barn?""
"Because he promised me he would stop targeting your mother if I helped him find the documents.""
I let out a bitter laugh.
"And you believed that?""
She looked at me.
"Yes.""
"After what you saw him do to her?""
Vanessa lowered her head.
"I didn't want to believe he was capable of something worse.""
I pulled the wedding ring from my finger and held it in my palm.
Her face changed.
"Daniel, don't.""
"I don't know who I married.""
"You married me.""
"I married the woman I thought you were.""
She reached for my hand, but I stepped away.
"Tell me one thing, Vanessa. Did you know my father died three days after he confronted Richard?""
Her eyes widened.
"No.""
"Did your father ever mention him?""
She swallowed.
"Only once. He said your father had been a good mechanic, but he got involved in things he didn't understand.""
Walter made a quiet, angry sound.
Vanessa looked at him.
"What?""
Walter took a step closer.
"Your father knew exactly what he was doing. He found proof that Richard was falsifying property records. He was going to take that proof to the authorities.""
Vanessa shook her head.
"No.""
"Your father knew that if those records became public, his entire scheme would collapse.""
"No," she repeated, louder this time.
"My father wouldn't do that.""
Walter's voice softened.
"Then you should ask him why he paid your family's lawyer to obtain a copy of the accident report before the police had even completed their investigation.""
Vanessa went completely still.
I looked at Walter.
"How do you know that?""
"Because I saw the payment record in your father's accounts.""
Vanessa stepped backward.
"That's impossible.""
"Ask him," Walter said.
She stared at us, her face pale.
Then she hurried to her car.
Before she got inside, she turned toward me.
"Daniel, I need to talk to my father.""
"Go ahead.""
"If what Walter says is true—"
"Then you should have asked questions before you humiliated my mother.""
She had no answer.
She drove away.
Walter watched the SUV disappear down the road.
Then he turned to me.
"There's something else you need to know.""
I put the ring in my pocket.
"What now?""
"Your father didn't leave the original agreement in the barn. He left a copy there to lead Richard away from the real document.""
I stared at him.
"Where's the original?""
Walter reached into his coat and removed a small folded note.
"Your mother knows.""
He handed it to me.
The handwriting was my father's.
*If the farm becomes unsafe, take the original to Eleanor. She will know where to hide it.*
I read the note twice.
"Why didn't Mom tell me?""
"Because she was afraid Richard would discover what she had.""
I looked toward the road.
"Then we need to find her.""
Walter nodded.
"And we need to find her before Richard does.""
My phone vibrated.
A text from Mom.
*Daniel, don't come home yet. Someone has been inside my house. They left something on the kitchen table.*
A second message followed.
It was a photograph.
On the table sat an old family photograph of my father, my mother, and me as a little boy.
Someone had drawn a red circle around my father's face.
Beneath the picture was a handwritten note.
*Return the original agreement by tonight, or your son will learn what really happened to his father.*
I stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
This one came from an unknown number.
*Ask Eleanor why she was the last person to see your father alive.*
My hands went cold.
Walter looked at my face.
"What is it?""
I showed him the message.
He read it silently.
When he looked up, the fear in his eyes was unmistakable.
"Daniel," he said, "there's one part of your father's death that your mother has never told you.""
I swallowed.
"What part?""
Walter glanced toward the empty road.
"Your father didn't die on the night of the accident.""
May you like
He paused.
"He was alive when Eleanor found him.""
