Chapter 4 - The PaymentHarper waited until Brandon fell asleep.
Or seemed to.
At eleven thirty, the house finally went quiet.
Lily lay beside Harper under the blanket.
Brandon had allowed them to share the bedroom after Naomi’s visit.
Not because he had become kinder.
Because he knew Naomi might return unexpectedly.
“Are you awake?” Lily whispered.
“Yes.”
“I don’t like him.”
“Me neither.”
“Are we going back to Gregory?”
“No.”
Harper said it immediately.
She did not know where they would go.
She knew where they would not.
Lily curled closer.
Harper waited another twenty minutes.
Then slipped from bed.
“What are you doing?”
“Bathroom.”
“That’s the other way.”
Harper looked at her sister.
“You’re too smart.”
Lily almost smiled.
Harper put one finger over her lips.
“I’ll be back.”
She moved down the hallway.
Brandon’s office door stood partly open.
She had noticed him enter twice during the day.
Both times he locked it afterward.
Tonight he had forgotten.
Harper pushed it open.
Moonlight crossed the desk.
She turned on no lights.
Papers covered one side.
Most meant nothing.
Bank letters.
Court filings.
A document with the words HAVENRIDGE TRUST.
Harper recognized one thing.
Her name.
HARPER CLAIRE BENNETT.
Below it:
MINOR BENEFICIARY.
LILY ROSE BENNETT.
MINOR BENEFICIARY.
She heard floorboards creak upstairs.
Harper froze.
Silence returned.
She kept reading.
Estimated trust assets: $2,840,000.
Havenridge House and surrounding acreage: independently appraised at $4,350,000.
Harper stared.
More than seven million dollars.
She did not fully understand trusts.
She understood the names.
Hers.
Lily’s.
Their mother’s name appeared repeatedly.
CLAIRE BENNETT, DECEASED.
Harper’s hands trembled.
Why had Gregory demanded eighty dollars from two children if millions existed somewhere?
Another paper lay beneath the trust summary.
A wire-transfer receipt.
Sender:
BRANDON BENNETT.
Recipient:
GREGORY HALE.
$15,000.
Harper’s breath caught.
Three months earlier.
Another transfer.
$20,000.
Then another.
$10,000.
Forty-five thousand dollars.
All sent from Brandon to Gregory.
Harper photographed them with the old phone she had secretly kept after Claire died. It had no cellular service, but the camera worked.
Then she found a handwritten note.
GREGORY — FINAL PAYMENT AFTER CUSTODY TRANSFER.
Harper’s stomach twisted.
The hallway floor creaked.
Closer.
She shoved the papers back.
The office door moved.
Harper dropped behind the desk.
Brandon entered.
Another man’s voice came through his phone.
Gregory.
“You promised me seventy-five.”
“I’ve paid forty-five.”
“You said the rest after I stepped aside.”
“You didn’t step aside.”
“I let your investigator get photographs.”
Harper covered her mouth.
Brandon paced.
“You also lost control.”
“I did what I had to.”
“You were supposed to keep them compliant, not leave marks.”
Harper felt the room tilt.
Gregory lowered his voice.
“You knew what was happening.”
“I knew you were disciplining them.”
“Don’t give me that.”
“You never said you were hitting them.”
Gregory laughed bitterly.
“You didn’t want details.”
Brandon stopped pacing.
“What does Harper know?”
“Ask her.”
“She saw something.”
“She’s Claire’s kid. She sees everything.”
Brandon’s voice dropped.
“Did Claire ever tell you where she put the original lien papers?”
Harper frowned.
Lien?
Gregory became quiet.
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
“You haven’t paid enough for the truth.”
“The trust hearing is in eleven days.”
“Then I guess you have eleven days to find thirty thousand dollars.”
Brandon disconnected.
Harper stayed hidden.
Her legs had gone numb.
Brandon opened a drawer.
Pulled out a photograph.
Claire.
Gregory.
Brandon.
All three stood in front of a construction trailer.
Years younger.
Smiling.
Harper had never seen the picture.
The men who now acted like enemies had known each other long before Gregory became her stepfather.
Brandon stared at the photograph.
“You should have stayed quiet, Claire.”
Harper felt ice move through her.
Brandon placed it back.
Then left.
She waited until his bedroom door closed.
When Harper returned to Lily, she climbed under the blanket and pulled her sister close.
“Did you find something?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Harper looked toward the locked hallway.
“Gregory didn’t just know Dad.”
“How?”
“They were making a deal.”
Lily looked confused.
“What deal?”
May you like
Harper’s voice cracked.
“Us.”
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