Chapter 12 - Mom Ran With the Ledger
Chloe wiped her face.
“After he caught me the first time.”
I did not sit.
“Explain.”
“Mom gave me the pills. She said Dr. Porter changed his medication.”
“You already told me.”
“I believed her.”
“And then Megan called the doctor.”
“Yes.”
“Then you knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why keep doing it?”
“I didn’t.”
My jaw tightened.
“You just said Dad told you to.”
“To make Mom think I was.”
I stared.
Chloe continued.
“Dad made me switch the pills back.”
“Back to what?”
“His real medication.”
“So Mom thought he was sedated.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted her to keep bringing papers.”
Robert leaned against the wall.
“Thomas was collecting evidence.”
Chloe nodded.
“He had me photograph everything.”
“The tackle box.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her face collapsed.
“Because I was guilty too.”
“Money.”
“Yes.”
“Jason.”
“Yes.”
“The fake will.”
“Yes.”
I looked at her.
“Did Dad forgive you?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
That surprised me.
“He said forgiveness was not the same as trust.”
That sounded exactly like him.
“What did he ask you to do?”
“Help him stop Mom.”
“And after he died?”
“I panicked.”
“So you filed the fake will anyway.”
“Yes.”
I laughed.
“Dad turned you into a witness and you still chose Mom.”
Chloe’s eyes filled.
“I thought he was dead. Mom said the real documents would ruin all of us.”
“Maybe they should.”
She flinched.
Robert opened the authentic trust agreement.
“Thomas anticipated fraud.”
Chloe looked at him.
“What?”
“Any beneficiary who knowingly submits forged estate documents loses distribution rights until judicial review.”
Her mouth opened.
“He wrote that?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Five months ago.”
Chloe sat down.
The consequences finally became real.
Mom had trained her to think inheritance was safety.
Now it was disappearing.
Robert continued.
“Thomas called it the fraud trigger.”
Chloe covered her face.
I should have felt satisfied.
I didn’t.
A detective entered.
“Mrs. Brooks is no longer at the station.”
I turned.
“What?”
“She was not under arrest. We released her pending further investigation.”
Robert swore.
“Where did she go?”
“We don’t know.”
I did.
“The ledger.”
Chloe looked up.
“What?”
“The real evidence ledger from the storage unit.”
Robert checked the evidence list.
Missing.
Someone had removed it before police sealed the unit.
My phone buzzed.
Estate security alert.
Garage entry.
Mom’s code.
I showed Robert.
We raced back.
The house was dark.
Front door open.
Dad’s study light on.
I ran.
Mom stood over the fireplace.
This time the ledger was in her hands.
I stopped.
“Don’t.”
She looked at me.
“You should have left when I told you.”
“Put it down.”
“You have destroyed everything.”
“No. You did.”
She opened the ledger.
Pages marked.
Rebecca.
Jason.
Dr. Porter.
Payments.
Her whole life reduced to ink.
She held it over the flames.
I moved.
She pulled a kitchen knife from her coat.
I stopped.
Robert froze behind me.
Mom’s hand shook.
“Do not come closer.”
I stared at her.
“You drugged Dad.”
“No.”
“You tried to make him look incompetent.”
“I tried to protect this family.”
“You framed me.”
“You had a career. You would survive.”
I laughed.
“That is your defense?”
“You always survived.”
“What about Dad?”
Her face twisted.
“He would not listen.”
“So you sedated him.”
“I never intended to kill him.”
The sentence landed.
She heard it too.
Robert’s eyes sharpened.
“What did you give him?”
Mom looked at the fire.
“Enough to make him sleep.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“You stole Jason’s clonazepam?”
“Chloe brought it.”
“Then what?”
“Dr. Porter told me what could be combined safely.”
My stomach turned.
“Safely.”
“I said I did not kill him.”
“Then why did he die?”
Her face changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
“I don’t know.”
A floorboard creaked upstairs.
Everyone looked.
Mom’s face drained.
“Who is here?”
I heard a door close.
Then a woman’s voice from the hallway behind us.
“Me.”
Rebecca stepped into the study.
Mom whispered:
“No.”
Rebecca held an old hospital file.
May you like
“Hi, Linda.”
CUT.
