Chapter 7 - EricEric came down the stairs slowly.
He saw me.
Then Dad.
Then the open filing cabinet.
His expression changed.
"Rachel."
I held up the deed.
"What is this?"
He stopped.
"Where did you get that?"
"From your cabinet."
He stared at Dad.
"You opened it?"
Dad stepped forward.
"Eric, enough."
"Enough?"
Eric laughed.
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
I held the deed closer.
"Then explain it."
He looked at me.
"It's complicated."
"Everything is complicated until someone gets caught."
His jaw tightened.
"You're making a huge mistake."
"By reading my own documents?"
"By involving police."
I felt something harden inside me.
"You're afraid."
"I'm not afraid of you."
"No."
I smiled bitterly.
"You're afraid of what's in that cabinet."
Eric moved toward me.
Dad stepped between us.
"Don't."
Eric stopped.
Then he looked at me.
"You think you're innocent."
"I am."
"You have no idea how much money was involved."
"I know enough."
"Do you?"
He pointed at me.
"You think you've been helping Mom and Dad for three years."
"I have."
"No."
He laughed.
"You've been paying for a fraction of what you owe."
I stared at him.
"What does that mean?"
He smiled without warmth.
"Exactly what it sounds like."
Dad shouted, "Eric!"
But Eric continued.
"Do you really think the mortgage is the only debt?"
"How much?"
He didn't answer.
"How much?"
"Seven hundred thousand."
My breath caught.
"What?"
"The house isn't worth enough to cover it."
Dad closed his eyes.
Eric looked at me.
"And if they lose the house, everyone loses."
"You included."
"Exactly."
I shook my head.
"You've been borrowing against everything."
He said nothing.
"Why?"
Eric's face finally changed.
For a moment, I saw something underneath the arrogance.
Fear.
Real fear.
"I owed the wrong people."
"Who?"
He looked toward the stairs.
Then back at me.
"You don't want to know."
"Try me."
He shook his head.
"Rachel, stop digging."
"Or what?"
He stepped closer.
"You'll find out why your name was useful."
I felt a chill.
"What does that mean?"
He smiled.
Then he said the sentence that changed the entire story.
"Because you're the only one in this family who has money they can't legally take from me."
I stared at him.
My inheritance.
My savings.
My insurance.
My credit.
My name.
I suddenly understood.
"You weren't trying to save the family."
Eric said nothing.
"You were trying to turn me into the shield."
He looked away.
Dad whispered, "Rachel..."
I turned toward him.
"Did you know?"
Dad's eyes filled with tears.
"Not at first."
"At some point?"
He nodded.
"When?"
"Last year."
Everything went silent.
Last year.
He had watched me make twelve mortgage payments after learning what Eric had done.
I felt something snap.
"You let me keep paying."
Dad said nothing.
"Why?"
He whispered:
"Because Eric said if I told you, they'd come after you."
"Who?"
Dad looked toward the basement window.
Then he said:
"The people he borrowed from."
A knock sounded upstairs.
Three hard knocks.
Eric went pale.
Dad froze.
Another knock.
Then a man's voice came through the front door.
"Eric Whitman."
Nobody moved.
May you like
The voice came again.
"You've had enough time."
