Chapter 10 - My Mother’s Box
Angela refused to give police the combination.
Evelyn obtained an emergency preservation order by morning.
The box was opened at the station with all of us watching through glass.
Inside were letters, old photographs, a small recorder, and a yellow legal pad.
The first page was dated eleven years ago.
My mother had written David’s name at the top.
Under it: ASKED ABOUT LAND AGAIN.
My stomach turned.
She had documented six conversations.
David asking when control passed to me.
David asking whether a spouse could borrow against the trust.
David asking what happened if I became incapacitated.
The last entry was written nine days before she died.
ANGELA PRESENT. SHE KNOWS TOO MUCH.
I looked through the glass at Angela.
She was crying now.
Not the delicate tears she used when she wanted sympathy.
Her shoulders shook.
“What happened to my mother?” I asked.
Angela whispered, “Nothing.”
“Wrong answer.”
“She was sick.”
“She had a stroke.”
“Yes.”
“Did you see her before it happened?”
Angela looked at David.
That glance was enough.
Evelyn leaned toward the investigator.
“Separate them.”
David stood.
“This is insane.”
Then the recorder from the box clicked on.
My mother’s voice filled the room.
If Rebecca is hearing this, then I was right not to trust them.
My knees almost gave way.
The recording was short.
My mother said she had caught David photographing trust documents.
She said Angela had claimed she was only helping organize paperwork.
Then came the line that changed everything.
David thinks Mesa Ridge can save his company someday. He is wrong. If he tries, Rebecca needs to know Angela is not helping him because she loves him.
The recording crackled.
She is helping him because he promised her half.
Angela looked up sharply.
May you like
Then my mother’s final sentence played.
And David still doesn’t know who actually owns the controlling mineral rights beneath the land.
