Mom clutched the blue suitcase to her chest, crying silently.
I looked at her. “You let him bring a gun near your grandchildren?”
Her face twisted. “I never wanted this.”
“That’s your favorite sentence.”
Frank shoved me forward. “Answer him.”
I swallowed hard. “Deputy, don’t come up! He has Dad’s gun!”
Frank cursed and grabbed my arm.
Everything happened at once.
Deputy Harris thundered up the stairs. Brooke screamed from below. Mom dropped the suitcase. Frank swung the gun toward the hallway, but I slammed my suitcase into his knee. He staggered. The gun fired.
The sound split the house open.
A picture frame exploded on the wall.
Deputy Harris tackled Frank into the dresser. The revolver skidded across the carpet and stopped near my foot. I kicked it into the hall as two more officers rushed up the stairs.
Frank fought until they pinned him down and cuffed him.
Mom sat on the floor beside the blue suitcase, whispering, “No… no… no…”
Not because Frank had nearly shot me.
Because the suitcase had opened.
Inside were documents, cash envelopes, old bank cards, forged letters, and a stack of files with my father’s name on them.
Daniel Price came upstairs wearing white gloves.
He opened the first file.
Then the second.
His face changed.
“Emily,” he said quietly, “you need to see this.”
Inside the folder was a letter from my father dated two weeks before his death.
If anything happens to me, do not let Linda control Emily’s inheritance. Frank has been pressuring me to borrow against the house. Linda is helping him. I believe they are preparing to forge my signature.
My hands went numb.
Dad had known.
And then he died of a sudden heart attack.
At least, that was what I had been told.
Daniel pulled another page free. “There are medical records in here.”
Mom made a broken sound. “Stop.”
I looked at her. “What did you do?”
Leave a Comment