Chapter 2 - THE LETTER SOMEONE DIDN’T WANT HIM TO READ
Grant read the letter standing in the same room where Tessa had been hit.
It came from Armitage Fiduciary Services, the independent administrator overseeing a trust established after his wife Lila’s death.
Grant knew the trust well.
He just had not known about this letter.
The first paragraph was routine.
The second was not.
Ms. Vivienne Cross has requested information regarding the procedure for replacing a parent-trustee when concerns exist regarding household stability, caregiver conduct, or the protection of a minor beneficiary.
Grant read it twice.
Vivienne was Lila’s older sister.
Noah’s aunt.
After Lila died eight months earlier, Grant had tried to preserve that relationship for Noah’s sake.
Vivienne came to dinner.
Bought Noah clothes.
Attended pediatric appointments when Grant worked late.
Repeatedly told Grant that Lila would have wanted the Cross side of the family involved.
Grant believed her.
The letter was dated three weeks earlier.
Vivienne had never mentioned it.
The following morning he called the trust administrator.
A woman named Helen Park answered.
“Did my sister-in-law ask to remove me as trustee?”
“Not formally.”
“What did she ask?”
Helen chose her words carefully.
“She requested information about what circumstances might justify an independent review.”
“Such as?”
“Substance problems. Extended absence. Financial mismanagement. Unsafe caregivers.”
Grant looked toward the empty sofa.
“Unsafe caregivers.”
“Yes.”
“Did she name Tessa Monroe?”
A pause.
“She expressed concerns about a caregiver becoming emotionally reactive.”
Grant closed his eyes.
“Before yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“How long before?”
“Almost six weeks.”
That changed the entire shape of what had happened.
Vivienne had been building a story about Tessa before Tessa ever slapped her.
Grant called Tessa.
She answered from her apartment, voice tired.
“I need to ask you something.”
“Okay.”
“Why didn’t you tell me Vivienne had been targeting you?”
Silence.
Then Tessa said:
“I tried.”
Grant’s stomach tightened.
“When?”
“Three times.”
He remembered one complaint about Vivienne interfering with Noah’s naps.
Another about Vivienne dismissing Tessa in front of household staff.
Grant had called it grief.
Sister-in-law tension.
Different personalities.
Tessa continued.
“The last time I told you she was opening your mail.”
Grant sat down.
“I don’t remember that.”
“You were boarding a flight to Boston.”
He remembered now.
Tessa had called.
Grant said he would deal with it later.
He never did.
“What mail?”
“I didn’t know. Burgundy seal. Trust-company return address.”
Grant looked at the opened envelope in his hand.
Tessa added:
“She caught me putting it back on your desk.”
“What happened?”
“She told me I’d be gone before you ever read it.”
Grant looked toward the disconnected camera.
May you like
For the first time, he stopped thinking of yesterday as a sudden explosion.
Something had been moving toward that room for weeks.
