Chapter 4 - The Man in the SUVSomeone Was Watching My House
I didn't move.
The SUV remained across the street for eleven minutes.
Eleven minutes of absolute stillness.
Then the driver's window lowered.
A man leaned out.
He looked directly at my front door.
My heart started hammering.
I reached for my phone and zoomed in on the camera feed.
Mid-thirties.
Gray jacket.
Baseball cap.
No visible company markings.
He wasn't looking around like someone lost.
He was studying the property.
Finally, he drove away.
I screenshot everything.
Then I called the non-emergency police line.
An officer came twenty-five minutes later.
He watched the footage.
"Do you know him?"
"No."
"Any reason someone would be interested in the house?"
I almost laughed.
"Apparently."
He looked at me.
"That's not a normal answer."
I told him about the fraudulent documents.
He took notes.
"Keep copies of everything."
"I am."
"Don't confront anyone alone."
I nodded.
After he left, I stood at the window.
Henry, the oak tree, moved gently in the wind.
This was supposed to be my safe place.
The first place I'd ever owned.
Now I was checking locks before bed.
At 11:48 p.m., I heard footsteps outside.
I froze.
The doorbell camera showed nothing.
Then the motion light came on.
I watched the screen.
Nothing.
I waited.
Thirty seconds.
A minute.
Then a small envelope slid underneath my front door.
I stared at it.
I hadn't heard anyone approach.
I picked it up using a dish towel.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
No name.
No signature.
Only seven words.
Ask your father what happened to Grandma.
My chest tightened.
My grandmother had died six years earlier.
A stroke.
At least, that's what we'd been told.
I sat down.
The family never talked about her death.
Not really.
There had been a funeral.
Flowers.
Food.
Polite condolences.
But my father had always shut down whenever I asked about the last weeks of her life.
I hadn't thought about it in years.
Now I couldn't stop.
I opened my old laptop.
Searched through photographs.
There was Grandma's kitchen.
Grandma in her garden.
Grandma beside the oak tree when it was still young.
Then I found something.
A photograph I had never noticed before.
Grandma was sitting at the dining table.
She had a document in front of her.
Beside her stood my father.
And on the other side was my mother.
The photo had been taken three weeks before Grandma died.
I enlarged it.
The document had a logo.
Carter Holdings.
My pulse jumped.
Why would my grandmother have documents from a company I was told didn't exist until recently?
I called my mother.
She answered on the fourth ring.
"Madison?"
"Mom, why did Grandma have paperwork from Carter Holdings?"
Silence.
Then:
"What are you talking about?"
"I have a photograph."
Another silence.
"Where did you get it?"
"It was in my old files."
"Delete it."
I almost laughed.
"You and Dad both told me to delete documents."
"Madison, listen to me."
"No."
"Please."
"What happened to Grandma?"
My mother began to cry.
Not loudly.
Just enough to tell me she had been waiting years for someone to ask.
"Your grandmother knew about Kevin."
"What about Kevin?"
"She knew your father was covering his debts."
I felt numb.
"How long?"
"Years."
"And the house?"
My mother didn't answer.
"Mom."
She whispered:
"That house was supposed to save the family."
I looked around my living room.
"What does that mean?"
"I can't say."
"Why?"
"Because your father will know I told you."
"Then let him know."
My mother's breathing became uneven.
"Madison, there are things in this family you don't understand."
"Explain them."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because your grandmother didn't die believing she was sick."
I stopped breathing.
"What?"
My mother whispered:
"She died believing she had been betrayed."
The line went dead.
I sat in the dark.
Then I noticed the photograph again.
Grandma's hand rested on the document.
Under her fingers, barely visible, was a line of handwriting.
I zoomed in.
May you like
Three words.
Madison gets everything.
Related Stories
