Chapter 2 - THE FIRST PAGE UNDER THE STAIRSCharles did not chase Denise.
Every part of him wanted to.
Instead, he called 911.
Then he stayed with Evelyn.
His mother mattered more than the secret.
Paramedics arrived within minutes.
They found bruising around one shoulder and wrist.
Her blood pressure was dangerously high from stress.
But she had no serious injuries.
Charles stayed close while police searched the mansion.
Denise’s car remained in the garage.
Her bedroom was partly emptied.
Two suitcases were gone.
So were her passport and laptop.
“She planned to leave,” Detective Leah Romero said.
Charles looked at the wet hallway.
“Or she planned for the option.”
Leah nodded.
That distinction mattered.
Evelyn was taken to the hospital for observation.
Charles went with her.
He carried the ruined page in an evidence sleeve.
“Mom.”
Evelyn looked exhausted.
“What happened before the bathroom?”
She closed her eyes.
“I went into Henry’s study.”
“For what?”
“The property-tax folder.”
“Why?”
“Your father’s old accountant called.”
Charles waited.
“I opened the bottom drawer.”
“And found the red folder.”
“Yes.”
“Was it hidden?”
“Under insurance documents.”
“What was inside?”
Evelyn swallowed.
“A photograph.”
“Of who?”
“Marlene Brooks.”
Charles felt the surname land.
“Denise Brooks.”
“Yes.”
“Her mother?”
“Yes.”
Charles stared.
“How did you know Marlene?”
Evelyn looked toward the hospital window.
“Because your father knew her.”
“Before you?”
“No.”
Charles said nothing.
Evelyn finally looked at him.
“During our marriage.”
His jaw tightened.
“How long?”
“A few months.”
“Did you know?”
“Eventually.”
“And Denise?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Marlene had a baby.”
Charles felt cold.
“Denise.”
“Yes.”
“Dad was the father?”
“He said he wasn’t.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“I don’t know.”
“You suspected.”
“Yes.”
Charles stood.
His father had been dead for three years.
Still, the room suddenly felt full of Henry.
“What else was in the folder?”
“A legal document.”
“The deed?”
“I think so.”
“What did it say?”
“I saw our names.”
“Mine?”
“Yes.”
“Yours?”
“Yes.”
“Denise’s?”
“Yes.”
Charles rubbed his face.
“Why would Denise prepare a deed?”
“I don’t know.”
“She attacked you because you found it.”
“Yes.”
“What happened next?”
Evelyn explained.
Denise entered the study.
Saw the folder open.
Her expression changed instantly.
At first she demanded the papers.
Then she locked the study door.
Evelyn tried to leave.
Denise blocked her.
They argued.
Evelyn threatened to call Charles.
Denise grabbed the folder and told her to keep quiet.
Evelyn ran toward the bathroom because it had another door into the hallway.
Denise followed.
The tub had already been running.
Charles frowned.
“Why?”
“She turned it on earlier.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“She said the sound would cover us arguing.”
Charles felt sick.
The flooding had not been some elaborate plan.
It had been panic.
Then Evelyn tried to scream.
Denise grabbed her.
The struggle escalated.
And Charles came home.
A police officer called.
They had found another page.
Water had carried it down the staircase.
It became trapped beneath the bottom step.
Charles opened the photograph.
A legal document.
FAMILY SETTLEMENT AND PROPERTY TRANSFER AGREEMENT
Parties:
Evelyn Mercer
Charles Mercer
Denise Brooks
Charles’s stomach tightened.
He scrolled.
Property:
The Mercer mansion.
Fourteen acres.
Outbuildings.
All transferred into:
MERCER-BROOKS FAMILY HOLDINGS LLC
He stared.
His signature appeared at the bottom.
So did Evelyn’s.
Both looked convincing.
Both were fake.
“You signed this?”
Charles asked.
Evelyn’s face hardened.
“No.”
“Neither did I.”
Then Charles saw handwritten words near the bottom.
Only four.
Before he learns why.
Charles stared at the screen.
The first question from the bathroom had already changed.
It was no longer simply:
What did Denise see in Henry’s past?
Now it was:
Why had Denise forged a transfer of the mansion before Charles learned who she really was?
Detective Leah called again ten minutes later.
“There’s another thing.”
“What?”
“We found a company filing for Mercer-Brooks Family Holdings.”
Charles’s pulse increased.
“When was it created?”
“Four months ago.”
“By who?”
“Denise.”
“Anyone else?”
“No.”
Charles looked at Evelyn.
Four months.
Not a spontaneous reaction.
Not a document made after Evelyn found the folder.
Denise had been preparing something.
Then Leah added:
“We also found practice pages.”
“What practice pages?”
“Your signature.”
Charles went still.
“How many?”
“Dozens.”
There was his first undeniable piece of proof.
Denise had not merely discovered an old family secret.
May you like
She had been preparing to use it.
And she had been preparing for months.
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