Chapter 3: My Father’s Name
For a moment, the police pounding downstairs seemed impossibly far away.
I could only hear Ryan’s last two words.
“Your father.””
My fingers tightened around the edge of the desk.
“My father has been dead for twelve years.””
Ryan said nothing.
Laura stared at him.
“Ryan, what did you do?””
Another knock shook the house.
“Police! Open the door!””
Ryan stood so quickly that Laura stepped backward.
“Emily, listen to me before you let them upstairs.””
“Why?””
“Because once they see those papers, I can’t fix this.””
I laughed.
It sounded nothing like me.
“Fix it?””
“I can repay everything.””
“With what money?””
His eyes flicked toward the open desk drawer.
That tiny movement was enough.
I reached inside.
Ryan lunged forward.
“Emily, don’t.””
Laura blocked him with both hands.
“Stay away from her.””
I pulled out the remaining folders.
One was black.
Unlike the others, it had no bank logo on the front.
Inside were photocopies of old documents.
The first page contained my father’s full name.
Thomas Bennett.
Below it was an address I recognized immediately.
My childhood home.
My throat closed.
That house had been sold after Dad died.
At least, that was what I had been told.
“What is this?””
Ryan’s shoulders dropped.
“It isn’t what it looks like.””
“Stop saying that.””
I turned another page.
A company name appeared repeatedly.
Bennett Property Holdings LLC.
I had never heard of it.
Laura leaned closer.
“Who owns that?””
“I don’t know.””
Ryan answered too quickly.
Laura looked at him.
“She wasn’t asking you.””
Footsteps sounded downstairs.
The officers had entered.
I heard a male voice call my name.
“Upstairs!””
Ryan grabbed my arm again.
This time Laura didn’t need to intervene.
I tore free.
“Touch me one more time.””
He released me.
Two officers appeared in the doorway seconds later.
The first was a broad-shouldered man in his forties. The second was a younger woman whose eyes immediately moved from Ryan to me.
“Ma’am, are you Emily Carter?””
“Yes.””
“I’m Officer Daniels. This is Officer Ruiz. Is anyone injured?””
“No.””
Laura pointed at Ryan.
“He grabbed her wrist twice.””
Ryan threw up his hands.
“I was trying to stop my wife from making a mistake.””
Officer Ruiz stepped between us.
“Sir, keep your hands where I can see them.””
“This is ridiculous.””
“Hands where I can see them.””
Ryan obeyed.
Officer Daniels looked at my wrist.
Red marks were already forming around it.
His expression hardened.
“Did he cause that?””
“Yes.””
Ryan shook his head.
“She’s exaggerating.””
Laura laughed once.
“I watched him do it.””
Officer Ruiz guided Ryan away from us.
He started protesting.
Then Daniels noticed the documents covering the desk.
“What are these?””
I swallowed.
“I’m not completely sure.””
Laura held up one of the loan papers.
“We found documents with loans against both our properties. Some signatures appear forged.””
Daniels looked from Laura to me.
“Your relationship to Mr. Carter?””
Laura answered before I could.
“I’m his wife.””
Officer Daniels glanced at me.
I said, “So am I.””
Silence.
Even Officer Ruiz looked confused.
Ryan closed his eyes.
Laura reached for the marriage certificate he had crumpled earlier and smoothed it against the desk.
“We discovered today that our divorce was never finalized.””
Daniels studied it.
Then he looked at Ryan.
“Sir, you need to remain quiet.””
Ryan’s jaw clenched.
The officers separated us.
Ruiz stayed with Ryan while Daniels asked Laura and me questions.
Dates.
Addresses.
Marriage records.
Loans.
Every answer seemed to create three more questions.
Then Daniels picked up the black folder.
“What’s Bennett Property Holdings?””
“I don’t know.””
“Your maiden name is Bennett?””
“Yes.””
“And Thomas Bennett?””
“My father.””
Daniels glanced down.
“According to this, he’s associated with this company.””
“That’s impossible.””
“Why?””
“He died twelve years ago.””
Daniels stopped turning pages.
“When did you meet Ryan?””
“Eleven years ago.””
Laura made a small sound behind me.
I turned.
“What?””
She looked pale.
“Emily, I married Ryan fourteen years ago.””
“I know.””
“No.””
Laura shook her head.
“You don’t understand.””
She stepped closer to the desk.
“Ryan started talking about a man named Thomas about a year before he left me.””
The room seemed to tilt.
“What did he say?””
“That Thomas had made a fortune in property but his daughter didn’t understand what she owned.””
I stared at her.
“No.””
Laura’s eyes filled with horror.
“He said the daughter would probably sell everything because she didn’t know what she was doing.””
Ryan shouted from across the room.
“Laura, shut up!””
Officer Ruiz pushed him back.
“Sir!””
Laura flinched but continued.
“He never told me the daughter’s name.””
I looked at Ryan.
“You knew who I was before we met.””
“No.””
“You knew my father.””
“I knew of him.””
“How?””
Ryan said nothing.
Officer Daniels returned to the folder.
He removed several pages.
“These look like transfer records.””
My hands were shaking.
“Transfer of what?””
“Property interests.””
He studied another sheet.
“And possibly company ownership.””
“To whom?””
Daniels didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he placed one document on the desk.
There was my father’s name.
There was mine.
And beneath both was Ryan’s.
A signature beside my name looked almost perfect.
Almost.
But the final curve in my last name bent the wrong way.
I knew because my father had taught me that signature when I was sixteen.
“That isn’t mine.””
Daniels looked at me.
“You’re certain?””
“Absolutely.””
Ryan suddenly moved toward us.
Ruiz caught him.
“That document is meaningless!””
Daniels turned.
“Why?””
Ryan stopped.
Another mistake.
I could see him realizing it.
Daniels walked toward him.
“You recognize it?””
Ryan’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Laura whispered, “He knows exactly what it is.””
Officer Daniels took out his phone and photographed the document.
Then he began placing papers carefully into separate clear evidence sleeves from his kit.
Ryan’s panic became visible.
“No. You can’t take those.””
Daniels looked up.
“Why not?””
“Because they’re private.””
“Sir, you just told me they were meaningless.””
Ryan’s breathing became shallow.
Then he looked at me.
“Emily, please.””
I stared at the man I had slept beside for ten years.
“What did you do to my father?””
His face changed.
Not anger.
Fear.
Real fear.
Before he could answer, Officer Daniels pulled one final sheet from the bottom of the black folder.
He studied it.
Then looked at me.
“Mrs. Carter, I think you need to see this.””
At the top was a date.
Three days after my father’s death.
May you like
At the bottom was Ryan’s signature.
And beside it was a payment authorization for $250,000.
