Chapter 15 - His Version of the Truth
Dad's statement was released to investigators before we could stop it. He claimed Mom had stolen company records, threatened him, and staged the kitchen incident to force a settlement. He said I had been coached to repeat her story.
The words made my skin crawl. He had turned the night I feared for Mom's life into a story where he was the victim.
A local news site posted a short article about a "family dispute involving a prominent contractor." It didn't name me, but it included a photograph of our old house.
Arthur closed the laptop.
"They're testing whether the public will believe him."
"Will they?" I asked.
"Some people will believe whatever is easiest," he said. "That doesn't make it true."
Investigator Brooks told Mom not to respond publicly. Instead, the team collected the hospital report, the deputy's body-camera footage, the old voicemail, and the security footage from the kitchen. They also obtained the records of Dad's calls to Lang on the night of the assault.
The evidence was beginning to form a pattern.
But then Dad's attorney filed an emergency request for temporary custody of me, arguing that Mom was unstable and had exposed me to danger by involving law enforcement.
I read the notice twice. "He wants me back?"
Mom's face went white.
"No one is taking you anywhere without a hearing," Brooks said. "And we will challenge this."
Arthur stood up. "I want the judge to see the full record."
"Then we need the ledger," Mom replied.
She explained that the last piece of the original records was not hidden in the house or at the warehouse. It was inside a storage unit rented under a name Dad would recognize but never suspect.
Her own maiden name.
May you like
Before we could plan the retrieval, Arthur's phone rang.
The storage company had just reported a forced entry.
