Chapter 3 - The Signature That Wasn't Ethan's
Ethan returned shortly before midnight.
He did not walk into the mansion like a relieved father.
He stormed through the front door furious and frightened.
“Where is he?”
Henry came out of the library.
“Upstairs.”
“Is he hurt?”
“Not badly.”
Ethan exhaled.
Then his expression changed.
“Where's Claudia?”
“At her attorney's office, as far as I know.”
The police had released Claudia pending further investigation after hours of questioning. A temporary protective order prohibited her from contacting Oliver or returning to the estate for seventy-two hours while prosecutors reviewed the evidence.
Ethan stared at his father.
“You had her arrested?”
Henry's face hardened.
“She put your son in an SUV trunk.”
“She says she was taking him to an emergency behavioral program.”
“She restrained him.”
“She said he was hitting her.”
Henry stepped closer.
“Oliver weighs sixty pounds.”
Ethan looked away.
That hesitation told Henry something.
“What has she been telling you?”
Ethan rubbed both hands over his face.
“That Oliver has been getting worse.”
“Worse how?”
“Angry. Defiant. Violent.”
Henry stared at him.
“Have you ever seen him violent?”
“No.”
“Then why did you believe her?”
“Because she's my wife.”
“And he's your son.”
Ethan flinched.
The words hit harder than Henry intended.
A small voice came from the staircase.
“Dad?”
Ethan turned.
Oliver stood halfway down the stairs wearing blue pajamas.
His eyes were swollen from crying.
Ethan crossed the foyer quickly.
Oliver hesitated.
That tiny hesitation broke something in Ethan.
He stopped three feet away rather than grabbing him.
“Can I hug you?”
Oliver nodded.
Ethan dropped to his knees.
Oliver walked into his arms.
For nearly a minute neither spoke.
Then Oliver whispered, “I didn't hit her.”
“I know.”
“You believe me?”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
But Henry heard guilt in the answer.
Later, after Oliver returned upstairs with Nora nearby, Detective Brooks came back to the estate.
She carried photographs.
“We located something in the SUV.”
Ethan looked at her.
“The red folder?”
“No.”
She placed a photograph on the table.
It showed a folded document wedged beneath the front passenger seat.
Claudia's lawyer had ended the voluntary search before officers moved the seats, but police obtained a warrant after Oliver's statement.
The document was labeled:
TEMPORARY PARENTAL AUTHORIZATION FOR RESIDENTIAL PLACEMENT.
Ethan read silently.
Then his face changed.
“What is Cedar Ridge Center?”
Brooks answered.
“A private youth behavioral facility in Arizona.”
Henry looked at Ethan.
“Did you authorize Oliver's admission?”
“No.”
Brooks pointed to the bottom.
“Is that your signature?”
Ethan stared.
It looked close.
Very close.
But the long upward stroke of the E was missing.
Oliver had noticed.
His father noticed now.
“No.”
Brooks folded her hands.
“The facility confirmed someone identifying herself as Oliver's mother arranged an intake appointment for tomorrow morning.”
Ethan went pale.
“Tomorrow?”
“They expected Oliver tonight.”
Henry leaned forward.
“How?”
“There was a charter reservation.”
Silence.
Brooks continued.
“A private aircraft was booked to leave a small Connecticut airport at six forty-five this evening.”
Ethan stopped breathing for a moment.
“Claudia was taking my son out of the state?”
“It appears she intended to.”
“She told me she was going to her sister's house.”
Henry looked at him.
“She doesn't have a sister.”
Ethan turned slowly.
“What?”
Henry had disliked Claudia from the beginning, but he had made himself learn about her family because Ethan had married her.
“She has one brother in Oregon. No sister.”
Ethan sat down.
Brooks slid another photograph toward him.
“A second document was found with the authorization.”
It was a statement describing Oliver as a danger to himself and others.
The signature beneath the statement appeared to belong to a therapist.
Dr. Rebecca Sloan.
Ethan stared at it.
“That's Oliver's therapist.”
Brooks nodded.
“We contacted her.”
Ethan's eyes lifted.
“She signed it?”
“No.”
The room went silent again.
Brooks continued.
“Dr. Sloan says Oliver has never displayed violent behavior in therapy. She says Claudia repeatedly pressured her to recommend residential placement, and she refused.”
Ethan covered his mouth.
Henry watched his son understand, piece by piece, that the marriage he had trusted was collapsing around him.
“There is more,” Brooks said.
She placed one final photograph on the table.
The heading contained Henry's name.
PETITION FOR DETERMINATION OF INCAPACITY.
Henry read it twice.
“What the hell is this?”
Brooks looked at him.
“We haven't found a filed petition.”
“Then why does Claudia have one?”
Ethan whispered, “Dad…”
Henry turned.
Ethan's face had lost all color.
“What?”
“I've seen that document before.”
Henry stared at him.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“And you didn't tell me?”
“I didn't know Claudia had it.”
“Who showed it to you?”
Ethan's answer came slowly.
“Victor Hale.”
Henry sat completely still.
May you like
Victor Hale was the investor trying to buy controlling interest in Langford Development Group.
And three weeks earlier, Henry had refused to approve the deal.
