Chapter 15 - FIRE AT THE LAKE HOUSE
Smoke was coming from the chimney when we arrived.
In September.
Detective Chen called the fire department while federal agents moved toward the house.
I stayed behind the line for exactly forty-five seconds.
Then I saw Margaret through a basement window feeding papers into an old cast-iron furnace.
I ran.
Someone shouted my name.
I didn't stop.
The basement door was unlocked.
Heat hit my face.
Margaret spun around holding a folder.
"David!"
"Put it down."
She backed toward the furnace. "You don't understand what I did for this family."
"You stole from Gwen while she had cancer."
"She would have wasted everything on treatment!"
The sentence stunned even her.
Then she recovered.
"You were gone. Somebody had to make decisions."
"You forged my name."
"I protected what you earned."
"By buying yourself a lake house?"
Her eyes hardened.
"After everything I sacrificed raising you, don't stand there and act like I deserved nothing."
She threw the folder toward the furnace.
I caught it against the metal rim.
The corner ignited.
I slapped the flame out with my sleeve.
Agents flooded the room.
Margaret screamed as they pulled her back.
The folder contained original signature cards, medical authorization forms, and a notarized statement supposedly signed by Gwen.
One page was different.
It was a letter on military letterhead stating I had authorized Margaret to cut off Gwen's treatment if expenses threatened family assets.
My signature looked perfect.
Too perfect.
Claire arrived and studied it.
"This could have fooled almost anyone," she said.
Then she pointed to the date.
I knew that date.
I had been on a classified field exercise with no access to email, printers, or civilian communication.
Only one person in my chain had known exactly where I was.
Captain Voss.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
May you like
I answered.
"David," Voss said calmly. "You need to stop before Gwen gets hurt again."
