Chapter 3 - PRUDENCE HAD CALLED THE LAWYER FIRSTNaomi Brooks answered on the first ring.
“Cedric.”
“What did Prudence ask?”
Naomi paused.
“First, are you okay?”
“No.”
“Isaac?”
“He’s safe with me.”
“Good.”
Cedric walked into his office and closed the door.
“Tell me everything.”
“Prudence called my assistant around nine.”
“This morning?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“That you had asked her to coordinate family logistics involving the property transfer.”
Cedric laughed bitterly.
“I did not.”
“I assumed as much.”
“Why didn’t you call me immediately?”
“I did. You were in your meeting.”
Cedric checked.
Three missed calls.
He had silenced his phone.
“What did she know?”
“Enough to concern me.”
“Meaning?”
“She knew there was a trust.”
Cedric’s jaw tightened.
“She knew Isaac was the beneficiary.”
He closed his eyes.
“And she knew the signing date.”
Cedric stopped breathing.
The exact signing date had been chosen two days ago.
Twenty-one days from today.
Only three people besides Cedric should know.
Naomi.
Nolan Price, his financial adviser.
Sandra Bell, trust officer at Dominion Heritage Bank.
“Did you tell her anything?”
“No.”
“What did she ask?”
Naomi sounded reluctant.
“She asked what would happen if Isaac were no longer living in the residence when the deed transferred.”
Cedric stared at the wall.
There it was.
Exactly the sentence Prudence had said to Isaac.
“What did you tell her?”
“That residency had no effect on beneficial ownership.”
“And?”
“She asked whether the transfer could be paused if there were questions about Cedric Carter’s capacity to act.”
Cedric went cold.
“My capacity?”
“Yes.”
“As in mental capacity?”
“Yes.”
Cedric almost laughed.
“I’m forty-four.”
“I know.”
“I run a company.”
“I know.”
“What exactly did she say?”
Naomi checked notes.
“She asked whether a temporary guardian or power-of-attorney holder could stop the transfer.”
Cedric’s stomach turned.
A temporary guardian.
He thought of Isaac.
Of Prudence’s warning.
You won’t be in this house a few weeks from now.
Maybe Isaac wasn’t the only person she planned to remove from the equation.
“Naomi, does Prudence have any legal authority over me?”
“Not currently.”
“Currently?”
“There’s an old limited power of attorney.”
Cedric froze.
“What?”
“You signed it after Hannah died.”
Memory returned.
The weeks after the funeral.
Cedric barely sleeping.
Unable to keep up with school forms, medical appointments, household management.
Naomi had suggested a limited emergency authorization.
He named Prudence.
“It was for Isaac.”
“Primarily.”
“What else?”
“Medical and school decisions. Certain household administration.”
“Property?”
“No.”
“Banking?”
“Very limited.”
Cedric rubbed his face.
“Can she use it now?”
“It was never formally revoked.”
His pulse accelerated.
“I assumed it expired.”
“It does not automatically expire.”
Cedric stood.
“Revoke it.”
“I already prepared the document when she called.”
“Do it now.”
“You need to sign.”
“I’m coming.”
He looked through the glass door.
Prudence was coming downstairs carrying a suitcase.
She walked toward the front entrance.
Cedric opened his office door.
“Prudence.”
She stopped.
He held the phone against his chest.
“Why did you call Naomi?”
Prudence stared.
“I wanted to understand what you were doing.”
“How did you know what I was doing?”
“I live here.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I saw papers.”
“What papers?”
She looked away.
Cedric’s pulse hammered.
“Where?”
“Your office.”
“My office is locked.”
“You gave me access years ago.”
Not recently.
Cedric had changed the keypad code twice.
“Then tell me the code.”
Prudence didn’t answer.
Exactly.
She hadn't entered through normal means.
“Who told you?”
“No one.”
Cedric stepped closer.
“Nolan?”
Her eyes shifted.
Only slightly.
Enough.
Cedric felt sick.
Nolan Price had managed Cedric’s investments for eleven years.
He had attended Hannah’s funeral.
Sent Isaac birthday gifts.
One of the few people Cedric trusted completely.
“Did Nolan tell you?”
Prudence picked up her suitcase.
“You’re paranoid.”
Cedric grabbed the handle before she moved.
She looked at him.
“Answer me.”
“I don’t owe you anything.”
“You abused my son in my house.”
Her face tightened.
“And now I know you’re interfering with his trust.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“No.”
Cedric let go of the suitcase.
“But I’m going to.”
Prudence opened the front door.
Then she turned.
“You always think paperwork makes things permanent.”
Cedric frowned.
“What?”
She smiled coldly.
“Hannah thought the same thing.”
Cedric stopped breathing.
Prudence left.
The door closed.
Cedric stood frozen.
Hannah.
Why bring up his dead wife?
He immediately called Naomi again.
“Did Hannah ever create documents involving this house?”
A pause.
“Not through me.”
“What about Isaac?”
“Cedric, Hannah had a will.”
“I know.”
“She also had a separate letter of wishes.”
Cedric frowned.
“What letter?”
Naomi went quiet.
“You never received it?”
His stomach tightened.
“No.”
“It was supposed to be delivered by the executor.”
“Who?”
Naomi hesitated.
“Your father.”
Cedric closed his eyes.
Their father, Harold Carter, died eleven months after Hannah.
Cedric remembered boxes arriving from the estate.
He had never gone through all of them.
“Naomi, what was in that letter?”
“I never saw the final version.”
“But?”
“Hannah discussed concerns about who would care for Isaac if something happened to both of you.”
Cedric felt cold.
“Who was she concerned about?”
Naomi answered quietly.
“Prudence.”
Cedric looked toward the driveway where his sister’s car had disappeared.
May you like
Hannah had been afraid of Prudence years before Cedric ever asked her to move in.
And somewhere in his house might be a letter explaining why.
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