Chapter 3 - The Boxes No One Was Supposed to Find
Daniel called the family doctor before anyone called the police.
Rebecca insisted she was fine, but Daniel wasn’t willing to guess.
A paramedic unit arrived, checked her oxygen level, blood pressure, wrist, and breathing, then cleared her to remain at the house.
Vanessa sat in the living room under the watch of Daniel’s cousin Mark, who had arrived after Daniel called him.
She did not leave.
Daniel had told her not to.
He wasn’t sure whether that request carried any authority anymore.
Back in the storage room, Daniel and Rebecca stood beside the open metal door.
Lily had been taken upstairs with the housekeeper.
“What happened?” Daniel asked.
Rebecca rubbed her wrist.
“I came over because I found something weird in the company archives.”
“What?”
“A property transfer.”
Daniel frowned.
Carter Development Group had been founded by their father, Walter Carter, and now operated mostly under professional management. Daniel remained chairman. Rebecca owned twenty-eight percent.
Their relationship had never been simple, but the business was stable.
At least Daniel thought it was.
Rebecca continued.
“Dad owned fourteen acres near Lake Forest through a separate holding company.”
“I know.”
“No. You know about twelve.”
Daniel stared at her.
Rebecca opened a file box.
Inside were original deeds, survey maps, tax records, handwritten ledgers, and closing statements.
“Two acres were split off eight years ago.”
“Eight?”
“Yes.”
That was three years after their father died.
“Who authorized it?”
Rebecca looked toward the hallway.
“According to the county copy, you and I did.”
Daniel felt cold.
“I didn’t.”
“Neither did I.”
She handed him a photocopy.
Daniel’s name appeared beneath a notarized signature.
Rebecca’s did too.
The signatures looked convincing.
But Daniel knew immediately his was wrong.
He had changed how he signed his last name after injuring his hand in college. The document used the older version.
Someone had copied it from an old record.
“What happened to the land?”
“It was sold to a private development entity.”
“For how much?”
Rebecca gave him the number.
Just under $1.8 million.
Daniel stared at her.
“Where did the money go?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to find out.”
He looked toward the hidden room.
“And Vanessa knew?”
Rebecca nodded.
“I asked her this morning because she oversaw the mansion renovation when this room was remodeled. She knew these records were here.”
Daniel remembered Vanessa spending nearly a year coordinating contractors after they bought the house.
She had handled every detail.
Including this storage room.
Rebecca continued.
“When I told her I was going inside, she tried to stop me.”
“And then?”
“She closed the metal door.”
Vanessa had claimed she panicked.
But Rebecca had heard something after the door shut.
Furniture scraping.
The wardrobe.
Daniel looked at the boxes.
“You think Vanessa sold the land?”
“I don’t know.”
May you like
Rebecca met his eyes.
“But I know she was willing to lock me behind a wall to keep us from looking.”
