Chapter 9 - MY BROTHER KNEW FIRST
I hadn't called Evan.
Marcus had.
My brother was still listed as my emergency contact. That detail felt painfully useful now.
Evan crossed the room and hugged me carefully.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm okay."
He stepped back and looked toward Diane.
She immediately began speaking.
"Your sister attacked me."
Evan didn't even turn his head.
"I wasn't asking you."
Diane's mouth dropped open.
Evan had never spoken to her that way before.
Neither had I, until tonight.
He looked at Ryan through the open sitting-room door.
"What happened?"
I told him the short version.
The attack.
The camera.
The forged authorization.
The stolen legal folder.
Evan's expression hardened at each sentence.
When I finished, he took a slow breath.
"Claire, I need to tell you something."
I knew immediately I wasn't going to like it.
"What?"
"Ryan called me last month."
My stomach tightened.
"About what?"
"He asked whether Dad's old lake property was still in the family trust."
The lake property had been our father's favorite place, and Evan and I had sworn never to sell it.
"Why would Ryan ask about that?"
"He said you were considering liquidating everything."
"I never said that."
"I know. That's why I called you afterward. You didn't answer. I forgot to bring it up again."
Ryan had told me that night Evan was asking for money. He had intercepted a warning and turned it into resentment before it reached me.
Officer Ortiz asked Evan for the date of the call.
He pulled up his phone records.
Then he found a text Ryan sent afterward.
IF CLAIRE ASKS, DON'T MENTION THE LAKE PLACE YET. I'M TRYING TO SURPRISE HER.
I read it twice.
Evan shook his head.
"I thought maybe he was planning some anniversary thing."
Naomi spoke through my phone.
"Claire, we need to freeze any pending property or trust-related authorizations immediately."
Before I could answer, Ryan suddenly appeared in the doorway.
"No," he said.
May you like
Everyone turned.
And the look on his face told me there was still something worse.
