Chapter 16 - A Pattern
Sloan had made lists.
That was the part I could not stop thinking about.
Names. Ages. Property values. Estimated mortgage balances. Whether the person lived alone.
One was her aunt.
One was Harrison's godmother.
One was a retired neighbor from Sloan's old street.
And me.
I was not an angry mother-in-law in her notes.
I was a number beside a house.
"Did she actually steal from the others?" I asked Detective Larkin.
"We're still determining that."
Harrison sat across from me during the call.
When it ended, he looked sick.
"I brought her into your house."
"Yes."
"I let this happen."
"You helped some of it happen."
He nodded.
I did not soften the sentence.
He had spent months confusing forgiveness with erasure. I was done helping him do that.
Two days later, Harrison sold his SUV.
He used part of the money to recover Daniel's watch.
When the dealer placed it in my hand, I turned it over and saw the engraving.
DANIEL BENNETT — 30 YEARS.
I cried in the parking lot.
Harrison cried too.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"I know."
It was the first time I could say that without immediately adding, It's okay.
Because it was not okay.
Sorry and okay were not the same thing.
He used the remaining money to repay part of the emergency account.
Then he signed a written repayment agreement Rachel prepared.
"You don't have to do this," he told me.
"Yes, I do."
"I'm your son."
"That's why I need the line to be clear."
He signed.
That evening, Rachel emailed me the formal eviction timeline.
Harrison's move-out date was approaching.
Sloan's attorney had responded separately.
She was contesting everything.
Not just the eviction.
May you like
She was claiming I had promised them the house.
And she said she had a recording to prove it.
