Chapter 6 - The Number Behind the ThreatI showed the message to Naomi, not Vanessa. Naomi told me to save it, photograph the screen, and forward the original without deleting anything. "A threat isn't proof of who sent it," she said. "But it's evidence somebody is scared of what you have."
Ava agreed to provide her original video. Her mother, a postal worker named Jackie, sat with us while Naomi recorded when and how the footage had been made. They were both frightened. They helped anyway.
Dad finally watched the video in Naomi's office. He replayed the moment Vanessa pushed the tree, then stared at the frozen image of her smile. "She looked right at the camera," he said.
"She knew someone might be watching," I answered. "She just thought nobody would challenge her."
The second document arrived that afternoon. It purported to transfer Grandma's bungalow to a holding company as security for the workshop roof loan. The signature looked like hers, but the date was December fifth, when she had been at her weekly cardiac appointment.
Naomi pointed to the lender's name: CEDAR BRIDGE CAPITAL. "Not a bank. It's connected to Cedar Bend Development."
"How much money?" Dad asked.
"A supposed loan of a hundred and eighty thousand dollars. Not a dollar in the account you gave me."
Dad sat down. "Vanessa told me she had saved us."
"Saved you from what?" Grandma asked him.
He stared at his boots. "My business had a bad year. I owed suppliers. She knew. I was ashamed to tell you."
I understood his fear. I didn't understand why he'd let it put Grandma's house on the table.
That evening I returned to collect the surviving ornaments. Vanessa stood in the doorway, blocking my path.
"You've embarrassed me enough," she said. "Now choose. Your mother's old building or Pearl's house. You can't keep both."
"Who told you I was at Naomi's office?"
Vanessa smiled. "People talk in small towns."
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Behind her, Dad called my name. When she turned, I saw an unfamiliar key ring hanging from her handbag: three brass keys labeled WILLOW HOUSE, STORAGE, and FILES.
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