Chapter 13 - The LawyerThe Man Protecting Me May Have Been Protecting ThemI didn't sleep.
I couldn't.
I kept staring at the photograph.
Martin stood behind Robert and Victor.
He wasn't smiling.
He looked older.
Harder.
Different.
Helen studied the image.
"Are you certain?"
"I've known him for years."
"Could someone have altered it?"
"Perhaps."
"But?"
I looked at the photograph again.
"But I don't think so."
David said nothing.
Sarah sat in the corner.
She looked sick.
"How long has Martin been involved?"
"I don't know."
Helen examined the metadata on the photograph.
The image was recent.
But the meeting was older.
Possibly six years.
Arthur had hired Martin during that period.
I remembered something Arthur once said.
"Choose your lawyer carefully."
I had laughed.
He hadn't.
I called Martin.
He answered immediately.
"Priscilla?"
"I have a question."
"Of course."
"Were you ever associated with Robert Bell?"
Silence.
A long one.
"Where did you get that?"
I closed my eyes.
That was enough.
"You were."
"Priscilla, there are things you don't understand."
"Then explain."
"I represented multiple clients in complex financial matters."
"Was Robert one of them?"
"Yes."
"Victor?"
Another pause.
"Yes."
My stomach turned.
"And Arthur knew?"
"Yes."
"Did Arthur know you were involved with them?"
"Yes."
I sat down.
"Then why did he keep you?"
"Because I was useful."
"To whom?"
He didn't answer.
I knew.
To Arthur.
To Robert.
To Victor.
Maybe to all of them.
Martin finally said:
"Arthur used me to monitor what they were doing."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Arthur instructed me not to."
That sounded exactly like him.
But I no longer knew whom to trust.
"Martin, send me every document Arthur left."
"I already did."
"No."
I looked at the photograph.
"You didn't."
Silence.
Then he said:
"There is one document I never sent."
"What?"
"Arthur's succession memorandum."
"Where is it?"
"At my office."
"I want it."
"You shouldn't read it alone."
"Send it."
He hesitated.
Then:
"All right."
An hour later, an encrypted file arrived.
I opened it.
Arthur's final legal memorandum appeared.
The first page made my hands go numb.
It stated that if any member of the family attempted to pressure me into surrendering control of the house, the trust would trigger a secondary provision.
A provision I had never known existed.
Emergency Independent Trustee Transfer.
The house could be transferred out of the family trust entirely.
To a charitable foundation.
David stared at the screen.
"Mom."
I looked at him.
"This house could be gone."
"Yes."
"If you trigger it?"
"Yes."
"You'd give it away?"
I looked toward the living room.
Arthur's chair.
The fireplace.
The photographs.
"My husband built this home for us."
I smiled faintly.
"He also built an escape hatch."
Sarah started crying.
"I'm sorry."
I turned to her.
"Sorry isn't enough."
"I know."
She walked toward me.
"I have something else."
She placed a phone on the table.
"It's a recording."
She pressed play.
Robert's voice.
"We don't need the whole house. We need control."
Victor replied:
"Control is the same as ownership once the paperwork is right."
Then Sarah's voice.
"What about Priscilla?"
Robert said:
"She'll break."
Then another voice.
Martin.
"We have seventy-two hours."
I froze.
The same phrase from the text.
The same seventy-two hours.
I looked at Sarah.
"Why did you record this?"
"Because I knew they would eventually blame me."
The recording continued.
Martin's voice became clear.
"Once the filing is accepted, we force a settlement."
Then Victor spoke.
"And the son?"
Robert laughed.
"David is easy."
My stomach tightened.
They had never needed David to be malicious.
They had only needed him to be weak.
The recording ended.
I sat in silence.
Then my phone rang.
The caller ID showed Martin.
I answered.
His voice was strangely calm.
"Priscilla."
"Yes?"
"I know you've heard the recording."
I looked at the others.
"Yes."
He sighed.
"Then you know what comes next."
"What?"
"Someone will try to take the house tomorrow morning."
I stood.
"Who?"
Martin replied:
May you like
"Your bank."
The call ended.
