Chapter 10 - What My Mother Knew
Police found Peter Sloan that night.
He had the blue notebook.
The missing page Grant took from my driveway was gone.
Peter claimed Grant gave it to him.
Grant claimed nothing because nobody could find him.
The notebook was returned to me in an evidence bag.
I read it at David's office.
Then one sentence circled twice:
WALTER SAYS GREG KELLER HAS NOT BEEN TOLD HIS MONEY WAS RETURNED.
Greg Keller.
Melissa's father.
According to the ledger, my mother repaid his investment in full through a private settlement.
But Walter never recorded it correctly.
The money went through an escrow account controlled by Walter.
David found the transfer.
Two million dollars entered the account.
Only eight hundred thousand reached Greg Keller.
Walter had stolen the rest.
Then blamed my family.
Melissa read the proof at my dining table.
Her face went blank.
"My dad died thinking your family ruined him."
"I know."
"Grant built his whole life around that."
"I know."
She pressed both hands over her mouth.
For one second, I saw grief.
Then I remembered Owen asking for bread.
David turned to the notebook's final pages.
My mother had suspected Walter.
She planned to confront the bank.
Then she had a stroke.
She never recovered enough to finish.
At the very back was a sealed envelope addressed to me.
JACK - IF YOU FIND THIS, TRUST THE CHILD WHO TELLS YOU SOMETHING FEELS WRONG.
I read it twice.
Owen had been telling me.
Not in dramatic speeches.
In unanswered texts.
Quiet questions.
A changed appetite.
A child trying not to cause trouble.
I had missed it.
Then David's assistant rushed into the room.
"We found Grant."
"Where?"
She swallowed.
"At the county clerk's office."
"Doing what?"
"Trying to file a custody affidavit."
"For Owen?"
"No."
May you like
She looked at Melissa.
"For Emma and Theo."
