Chapter 6 - Eleanor Was Supposed to Meet a Lawyer at NineEmily was discharged forty-eight hours later.
The contractions had stopped.
Her baby remained where he belonged.
The doctors ordered rest, close monitoring, and immediate return if symptoms resumed.
Ryan drove her home in silence.
When the Carter house came into view, Emily's stomach tightened.
"It's okay," Ryan said.
She looked at him.
"No, it isn't."
He nodded.
"You're right."
Margaret was not there.
Eleanor was.
The seventy-two-year-old woman stood in the foyer wearing the same beige cardigan she'd had on the night of the ambulance.
She hugged Emily carefully.
"I'm so sorry."
Emily felt tears immediately.
"You didn't do anything."
"I should have seen it."
"So should we all."
Ryan closed the door.
"Grandma, sit down."
"I've been sitting for two days."
"Sit anyway."
Eleanor rolled her eyes.
For one second she looked exactly like Ryan.
They gathered at the dining table.
The same table where Emily had eaten the food.
The tray was gone.
The chair remained.
Emily chose another seat.
Eleanor noticed.
She said nothing.
Ryan placed a folder in front of his grandmother.
"Tell us everything."
Eleanor sighed.
"Your mother started helping with my banking after Thomas died."
"My father."
"Yes."
"Did she have access before?"
"Some."
"How much?"
"She paid household bills occasionally."
"Did Dad know?"
"I assumed so."
Ryan looked at Emily.
Assumed.
That word was becoming dangerous.
Eleanor opened the folder.
Statements.
Checks.
Copies of transfer records.
"Six years ago, money started moving from an investment account."
"To Mom?"
"Some."
"How much?"
"I don't know."
"Eleanor," Emily said softly, "we can have a forensic accountant do this."
The older woman nodded.
"I know."
Ryan frowned.
"What happened yesterday? What exactly were you planning to do before Mom made Emily sick?"
Eleanor looked at Emily.
"We had an appointment at nine."
"With who?"
"My estate attorney. Samuel Porter."
Ryan stared.
"You were changing your will?"
"Not primarily."
"Then?"
"My power of attorney."
Eleanor folded her hands.
"I wanted Margaret removed."
Ryan looked toward the empty chair where his mother usually sat.
"Did she know?"
"I told her."
Emily's head snapped toward Eleanor.
"You told her?"
"Not intentionally."
Eleanor sighed.
"She heard me on the phone."
"When?"
"The afternoon before dinner."
Ryan's face hardened.
"What did she say?"
"She asked why."
"And you told her?"
"I told her I'd found withdrawals."
Ryan leaned back.
There it was.
A direct line.
Margaret learns Eleanor intends to revoke access.
Margaret learns Emily is taking Eleanor to the attorney.
Less than twenty-four hours later, Emily is deliberately made ill.
"What did Mom say about Emily?" Ryan asked.
Eleanor hesitated.
Emily noticed.
"What?"
"Margaret said you were putting ideas in my head."
Emily stared.
"She accused me?"
"Yes."
"Of what?"
"Trying to turn me against her."
Ryan shook his head.
"Why?"
"Because Emily was the one who noticed the loan notice."
Ryan turned.
"What loan notice?"
Emily answered.
"It arrived while Eleanor was napping. I put it on the counter."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because we were going to verify it first."
Ryan nodded.
He no longer sounded accusing.
He looked tired.
"What did it say?"
Eleanor answered.
"Payment due on the home equity line."
"And you'd never taken one."
"No."
"Who signed?"
Eleanor pushed a photocopy across the table.
Ryan looked.
Borrower authorization:
Eleanor Carter.
Her signature appeared beneath it.
Eleanor pointed.
"That's not mine."
Ryan stared.
Emily leaned closer.
The signature looked convincing.
Too convincing.
"Who would have samples of your signature?" Emily asked.
Eleanor almost smiled sadly.
"Everyone in this family."
Ryan flipped to the next page.
Witness.
His expression changed.
EMILY CARTER.
Emily stopped breathing.
"What?"
Her name was printed beneath a signature.
A forged signature.
Her forged signature.
Ryan looked at her.
Emily grabbed the page.
"I never signed this."
"I know."
She stared.
The loan had been opened four months earlier.
Emily had supposedly witnessed Eleanor signing.
But on the date listed—
"I wasn't even in Dallas."
Ryan frowned.
"Where were you?"
"Denver."
They had attended Emily's cousin's wedding.
Ryan remembered immediately.
"We both were."
Emily looked at the forged signature again.
Suddenly Margaret's attempt to discredit her made more sense.
If financial fraud surfaced, Emily's name was already on a document.
Margaret hadn't merely wanted to delay the attorney appointment.
She had prepared a way to drag Emily into the crime.
Eleanor whispered:
"Oh, my God."
Ryan looked at his grandmother.
"What?"
She was staring at another page.
Her face had gone white.
"The notary."
Ryan followed her finger.
The document had been notarized by someone named Patricia Wells.
"Who is that?" Emily asked.
Eleanor looked up.
"Margaret's oldest friend."
Ryan leaned back.
The fraud was no longer a private family suspicion.
It had structure.
Paperwork.
Signatures.
People.
Then Emily noticed the loan amount.
$800,000.
She looked at Eleanor.
"Where did the money go?"
Eleanor shook her head.
Ryan checked the disbursement page.
The funds had been wired to a company.
LONE STAR DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS.
Ryan froze.
Emily saw it.
"You know that name."
His eyes stayed on the page.
"Yes."
"Who are they?"
Ryan looked at her.
"They're one of my mother's investments."
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And suddenly the money Margaret had taken wasn't just hidden in a bank account.
It had been used to keep something much larger alive.
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