Chapter 5
My blood turned to ice.
How had they found me here?
Mr. Harris said the house was supposed to be secure.
I grabbed my phone from the coffee table and called him.
He picked up before the first ring finished.
“They’re here. All three of them. And the police have Tyler in cuffs.”
“I’m three minutes away. Don’t open the door. Don’t talk to them. The security team is already moving in.”
I hung up.
I stayed by the window.
Tyler looked terrible.
His hair was a mess. There was a dark bruise on his jaw. His shirt was untucked and stained. He was staring at the house like he wanted to burn it to the ground.
Mom was still screaming into her phone.
I couldn’t hear the words, but I could see her face.
Red.
Twisted.
Furious.
Dad was standing off to the side, looking smaller than I’d ever seen him.
Then Mom saw me in the window.
She froze.
She slowly lowered the phone.
Our eyes met through the glass.
She didn’t wave.
She didn’t call my name.
She just stared.
And then she smiled.
It was the worst thing I’d ever seen.
Cold.
Empty.
Mean.
She raised one hand and pointed her index finger at me.
Then she turned her hand into a gun.
And pulled the trigger.
Bang.
Mouthed the word.
I stumbled back from the window, heart hammering.
Tires screeched at the end of the driveway.
Mr. Harris’s SUV pulled up fast.
He jumped out before it even stopped moving.
Behind him, two big men in black security uniforms came running from the side of the house.
Mr. Harris walked straight up to Mom.
He didn’t say hello.
“Diane. You’re trespassing on private property. Get in your car and leave. Now.”
Mom laughed. It was a sharp, ugly sound.
“Private property? This is my mother’s house. I have every right to be here.”
“Your mother left the house to Charlotte. It’s legally hers. And she’s filed a formal trespass order against you, Richard, and Tyler. If you don’t leave in the next thirty seconds, my security team will physically remove you. And then I’ll have you arrested.”
Mom stepped toward him.
“You think you’re so smart, Harris? You and that little bitch you’re working for? You think you’ve won? You haven’t seen anything yet.”
She turned and looked at the house again.
Right at the window where I was standing.
“I’m going to take everything from her,” she said, loud enough for me to hear. “Everything she loves. Everything she has. And then I’m going to make her watch while I burn it all to the ground.”
“Diane,” Dad said quietly. “That’s enough.”
She spun on him.
“Shut up! Just shut up, you useless piece of—”
One of the police officers holding Tyler cleared his throat.
“Ma’am? We need to get Mr. Bennett down to the station for booking. If you want to follow us down there, you can. But we’re leaving now.”
Mom took a deep breath.
She smoothed her hair.
She pasted that fake, perfect smile back on her face—the one she used for the PTA and the country club and every time she wanted to manipulate someone into doing what she wanted.
“Of course, officer. I’m right behind you.”
She looked at Mr. Harris one last time.
“Tell Charlotte I’ll be seeing her soon. Real soon.”
She got in her car and peeled out.
Dad stood there for another minute.
He looked up at the window.
Our eyes met.
He opened his mouth like he was going to say something.
Then he closed it.
Got in his truck.
And followed Mom.
The officers led Tyler to their car.
As they passed the front porch, Tyler stopped.
He twisted in their grip until he was facing the house.
Facing me.
“This isn’t over, Charlotte!” he yelled. “You hear me? It’s never over! I’m gonna get out! And when I do, I’m gonna finish what I started!”
They shoved him into the backseat and slammed the door.
Mr. Harris waited until all three cars were gone.
Then he came inside.
He found me sitting on the floor by the couch, arms wrapped around my knees, shaking.
“She mouthed ‘bang’ at me,” I said. “Through the window. She made a gun with her hand.”
Mr. Harris’s face went hard as stone.
“I’m increasing the security detail. Two men inside the house at all times starting tonight. I’m also having the security system upgraded. New cameras. Motion sensors. A panic button in every room. Nobody gets within fifty feet of this house without us knowing.”
He sat down next to me.
“Alvarez called while I was driving over. They formally charged Tyler with attempted first-degree murder. No bail. He stays in jail until trial. Diane’s lawyer called mine. She’s demanding a meeting. Says she has ‘information that will change everything.’ She wants to sit down with us tomorrow at ten.”
“Did you say yes?”
“I did. Whatever she’s got, I want to hear it. People like Diane don’t bluff unless they think they hold a good card. I want to know what that card is.”
He stood up.
“I’ll make some calls. Get the security team in place. Why don’t you try to get some rest? You’ve had a very long day.”
He went into the kitchen.
I sat there on the floor for a long time.
Then I remembered the box from the safety deposit.
Mr. Harris had brought it in and set it on the coffee table.
I reached up and pulled it toward me.
I took out Grandma’s journal.
The leather was cracked and worn.
The first entry was dated two weeks after I was born.
May 26, 2001
She’s perfect. Ten fingers. Ten toes. Gray eyes, just like my mother’s. Diane held her first. She got to name her. Charlotte Marie. I wanted to name her Lily, but I didn’t argue. I’m not in a position to argue about anything anymore. I just held her while Diane slept. And I promised myself that no matter what, no matter how hard it got, I would make sure this little girl had everything she ever needed. Even if I can never be the one to give it to her.
I turned the pages.
Years of entries.
Small things.
Big things.
July 4, 2003
Charlotte said my name today. Clear as day. “Gamma.” Diane got mad. Said she was “confusing the roles.” Told me I shouldn’t encourage her to be so attached. I smiled and nodded. But later, when Diane was in the kitchen, I held Charlotte and whispered it to her a hundred times. Gamma. Gamma. I’ll be whatever you want me to be. Just keep looking at me like that.
June 12, 2008
First grade graduation. Charlotte got the award for best reader. Diane didn’t even clap. She spent the whole ceremony talking to the other moms about Tyler’s upcoming T-ball season. Charlotte kept looking at her, waiting for her to notice. When she finally realized Diane wasn’t going to, she looked right at me. And she smiled. And I clapped so hard my hands hurt. I wanted to stand up and scream “That’s my daughter! That’s my girl!” But I didn’t. I never do.
September 3, 2015
First day of high school. She looked so beautiful. So grown up. Diane told her the dress she picked out made her “look heavy.” Charlotte went upstairs and changed into jeans and a sweatshirt. She wouldn’t let me say anything. Just gave me that sad little smile she’s gotten so good at. I hate Diane in these moments. I hate her more than I ever thought possible. I hate that she gets to be the one to break my daughter’s heart. And I hate myself for letting her.
I kept reading.
Entry after entry.
A mother’s love, trapped in the pages of a book.
Secret.
Silent.
Suffering.
I was on the last entry, dated three days before Grandma died, when the front doorbell rang.
I checked the camera on my phone.
It was Detective Alvarez.
I told the security guy to let her in.
She walked in holding a thick manila folder, her boots thudding on the hardwood floor.
“Nice place,” she said, looking around. “Evelyn had good taste.”
“Thanks. What’s up? Did something happen with Tyler?”
“Tyler’s fine. Still in holding. Screaming for his mommy every five minutes according to the night shift.”
She sat down across from me and opened the folder.
“I came because we found something. When we executed the search warrant at your parents’ house this morning. We were looking for documents related to the embezzlement. Bank statements. Transfer records. That kind of thing.”
She slid a piece of paper across the coffee table.
It was a life insurance policy.
Five million dollars.
On Grandma’s life.
The beneficiary was Diane.
Dated six months before Grandma died.
“She took out a policy on Grandma?”
“Yep. Five million dollars. Premiums were three thousand a month. Diane paid them religiously. Never missed one.”
Detective Alvarez leaned forward.
“The coroner’s report said Evelyn died of natural causes. Heart attack in her sleep. But now… now we’re looking at it again. Because five million dollars is one hell of a motive for murder.”
The air left the room.
“You think Mom killed Grandma?”
“I think it’s worth exhuming the body and running a full toxicology panel. And I think it’s worth looking very closely at the last six months of Evelyn’s life. Who visited her. What medications she was taking. Who had access to her house.”
She tapped the policy.
“Your grandmother was worth more dead than alive to Diane. Almost ten million more when you add the policy to the estate she thought she was going to inherit.”
I stared at the policy.
Five million dollars.
Grandma was sick the last six months of her life.
Tired.
Nauseous.
Forgetful.
The doctors said it was old age.
Said her heart was getting weak.
But Mom had been the one taking her to the appointments.
Mom had been the one dispensing her medications.
Mom had been the one alone with her the night she died.
Oh my God.
Oh my God.
“Detective Alvarez,” I said, my voice shaking. “The night Grandma died… Mom was here. At this house. She said she was ‘staying over to help.’ She was the one who found her in the morning. She wouldn’t let me see the body. Said it was ‘too upsetting.’”
Alvarez was already writing in her notebook.
“Who was Grandma’s doctor?”
“Dr. Henderson. Over at Presbyterian. Mom changed her to him about eight months ago. Said her old doctor was ‘too old-fashioned.’”
Alvarez nodded.
“I’ll talk to him first thing tomorrow. Get all her medical records. In the meantime… you said Evelyn kept a journal?”
I hesitated.
Then I handed it to her.
“Read the last six months. Especially the parts about Mom.”
She took the journal.
She read for twenty minutes.
When she finished, her face was grim.
“Evelyn wrote that she thought Diane was poisoning her. Right here, two weeks before she died. ‘My tea tastes bitter lately. Diane makes it every night. I pretend to drink it, then pour it down the sink when she’s not looking. I’m scared.’”
Alvarez closed the journal.
“I’m calling the medical examiner right now. We’re getting a court order first thing in the morning to exhume the body. And Diane Bennett just moved from person of interest in a fraud case to suspect number one in a murder investigation.”
She stood up to leave.
“One more thing. You said Diane wanted a meeting with you and Harris tomorrow?”
“How did you know?”
“Her lawyer mentioned it to the DA. Told us Diane was ‘prepared to make a statement regarding Evelyn’s death’ if we’d agree to a deal. We told him no deals without full disclosure, but we wanted to know what she says tomorrow anyway.”
She paused at the door.
“Whatever she’s got planned for that meeting… it’s not going to be good. She’s desperate. And desperate people do desperate things. Watch your back tomorrow, Charlotte. Okay?”
She left.
I sat there in the dark, holding the life insurance policy.
Five million dollars.
Murder.
May you like
My whole life had been a lie.
And now I was starting to realize that the lies were only the beginning.
