Chapter 7
Daniel shut the bedroom door behind the deputy and me.
"It wasn't like that."
I pointed at the label.
"Then tell me what it was like."
He sat on the edge of the bed.
"Mom said you were making things harder."
"By existing?"
"By asking about the business. The refinance. Dad. Everything."
I stared at him.
"So the plan was to pack my clothes, get me out, and put a forged loan against my house?"
"I didn't forge anything."
"You just made sure I signed papers without reading them."
He covered his face.
For one second I saw the man I had loved.
Then I remembered him holding a fork while I burned on the floor.
"Why were you afraid of her?" I asked.
He looked up.
"You don't understand how she is."
"I understand perfectly. I just didn't understand that you were willing to feed me to her so she wouldn't eat you."
He flinched.
I packed only what I needed.
Before leaving, I paused outside the sewing room.
The door was locked.
Margaret watched from the stairs.
"That room is private."
Nora's warning echoed in my head.
Do not search.
So I didn't.
But as I walked past, something white stuck out from beneath the door.
A torn envelope.
My name was printed on it.
I bent down and picked it up.
Margaret moved fast.
"Give me that."
The deputy stepped between us.
"Ma'am, back up."
I pulled the paper free.
It was from a company called M&R Consulting.
I had never heard of it.
But the amount printed on the remittance stub was impossible to ignore.
$86,400.
Paid from Brooks Catering.
Authorized by Daniel Brooks.
May you like
And underneath the company name was a mailing address I knew.
It was Lisa's house.
