Chapter 18 - FRIDAY
Friday morning, Sarah sat beside a federal prosecutor in a title-company conference room.
At 9:03, an electronic filing hit the county system.
The forged quitclaim deed.
An automated filing had been scheduled days earlier.
At 9:15, a second document appeared.
A home-equity loan request for $340,000.
At 9:21, the lender released a fraud hold.
Sarah stared at the screen.
She thought of Rebecca.
How close Sarah had come to disappearing inside somebody else’s story.
By noon, prosecutors announced expanded charges.
Ray faced racketeering, fraud, conspiracy, obstruction, and attempted murder.
Pike faced murder charges related to Rebecca’s death.
Linda faced conspiracy and fraud, plus charges connected to Paul’s false confinement.
Jason accepted a plea agreement requiring full cooperation.
Not as much as Linda.
At the custody hearing, the judge read the text messages in silence.
Jason’s attorney did not contest Sarah’s request for sole custody.
When it was over, Sarah stepped into the hallway.
Jason waited in a holding area behind glass.
“Daddy?”
Sarah’s heart twisted.
Jason knelt on the other side of the glass.
“Hey, buddy.”
“Are you coming home?”
Jason looked at Sarah.
“No,” he said. “Not for a while.”
“Why?”
Jason pressed a hand against the glass.
“Because Daddy made bad choices and hurt Mommy.”
“Grandma made you?”
Jason closed his eyes.
“No.”
Sarah held her breath.
Then Jason said the first completely honest thing she had heard from him in months.
“Grandma told me to. But I chose to.”
Miles leaned against Sarah’s leg.
Sarah did not look away.
As they left the courthouse, Emma called.
“We found something in Rebecca’s storage unit.”
“What?”
“A letter.”
“For who?”
“For you.”
Sarah stopped walking.
“Rebecca died five years before she knew me.”
“I know.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Emma’s voice softened.
“It isn’t addressed to Sarah.”
May you like
Sarah waited.
“It’s addressed to the next wife.”
