Chapter 13 - GORDON PIERCE
Rebecca did not want me anywhere near Gordon Pierce.
That was fine with me.
For once, I did not want confrontation.
I wanted answers that could survive a courtroom.
The storage footage went to the police detective assigned to the identity-theft report.
His name was Detective Aaron Bell.
Until then, he had treated my case as financial fraud between relatives.
The moment Rebecca showed him the account documents and Gordon on the storage footage, his posture changed.
"This goes back six years?"
"At least," Rebecca said.
He looked at me.
"Why didn't you report earlier?"
I almost laughed.
"Because I didn't know I was being robbed."
He nodded once.
Fair answer.
The police could not simply arrest people because my family history looked ugly.
They needed records.
Signatures.
Money trails.
Statements.
The process was slow.
Teresa was not.
The next morning, she posted again.
This time she did not use my name.
She did not need to.
Some adult children become obsessed with money after a parent dies.
Grief can make people cruel.
I read the first line and closed the app.
Growth.
At noon, my supervisor called.
"Ethan, I need to tell you something before you hear it from somebody else."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
"Someone called HR."
"Who?"
"Wouldn't give a name."
"What did they say?"
Dale hesitated.
"They said you're under investigation for elder financial abuse."
I laughed.
I could not help it.
"Of course they did."
"Is there anything I need to know?"
I told him the shortest possible version.
Forged loan.
Identity theft.
Family dispute.
Attorney involved.
Dale listened.
"HR isn't taking anonymous allegations as fact."
"Thank you."
"But document everything."
I smiled bitterly.
"That's become my full-time job."
After the call, Emily said, "She's trying every door."
"Work. Apartment. Family services. Online."
"Because the front door is locked."
I looked at her.
That was exactly it.
For years, Teresa never needed tactics.
She called.
I answered.
She asked.
I paid.
She criticized.
I apologized.
Now that direct access was gone, she was circling the house looking for windows.
That afternoon, Lily asked to meet with Rebecca.
Not me.
Rebecca agreed.
Two hours later, she called.
"Lily gave a statement."
"About what?"
"The fake family loan agreement."
My stomach tightened.
"She signed it too?"
"No. Her name wasn't on it."
"Then what does she know?"
"She was present when Teresa prepared it."
I sat down.
"Prepared it how?"
"Using an old signed tax document of yours as a model."
My hand clenched.
"Brittany copied my signature?"
"According to Lily, Brittany practiced it."
I closed my eyes.
"Practiced."
"Yes."
"How many times?"
"Lily saw a page filled with versions of your name."
I felt nauseated.
Forgery sounded abstract until I imagined my sister sitting at a kitchen table writing Ethan Carter over and over.
Trying to become me.
"Why did Lily talk?"
"She says she wants out."
"Out of what?"
"The family system."
I was quiet.
Rebecca continued.
"She also confirmed that Gordon Pierce visited Teresa's house several times after your father's death."
"Why?"
"She doesn't know."
"Did Dad know him personally?"
"We're still investigating."
Then Rebecca said something unexpected.
"Lily thinks Teresa and Gordon were romantically involved."
I stood.
"What?"
"After your father's death. Possibly before."
"No."
The word came too quickly.
Rebecca waited.
"No," I repeated.
"Mom wouldn't—"
I stopped.
Wouldn't what?
Lie?
Forge?
Steal?
Harass?
My list of impossible things had gotten embarrassingly short.
"What makes Lily think that?"
"She saw them kissing in the garage about four months after your father's death."
I stared at the wall.
"That could have started later."
"Yes."
"It doesn't mean anything about the bank."
"Correct."
I appreciated Rebecca's refusal to dramatize.
My life was doing enough of that by itself.
That evening, Detective Bell called.
He had spoken with Gordon.
"He denies wrongdoing."
"Of course."
"He says the bank processed documents presented as valid."
"Dad wrote that the signature wasn't his."
"I know."
"The bank had notice the power of attorney was revoked."
"I know."
"So what does Gordon say?"
"That record retention and system migration may have caused confusion."
I almost laughed.
"One hundred twenty-six thousand dollars of confusion."
"That's why we're getting records."
Bell paused.
"He also says your mother contacted him recently because she was worried you were making false accusations."
"At a storage facility?"
"He says she asked him to help identify documents that might be misinterpreted."
"Outside a locked building at night."
"I asked him that too."
"And?"
"He stopped answering questions without counsel."
Good.
Not because it proved guilt.
But because the story was finally becoming uncomfortable for people other than us.
That night, Noah would not sleep.
Emily walked the apartment with him for nearly an hour.
I took over at two.
He stared up at me with dark newborn eyes.
"You picked an interesting family," I whispered.
His face scrunched.
"Yeah, I know."
I held him against my chest.
"Your grandfather tried to leave you something before you existed."
Noah yawned.
"Your grandmother spent it on countertops."
Emily spoke from the bedroom doorway.
"Maybe don't make that his bedtime story."
I smiled.
"Too dark?"
"A little."
She sat beside me.
"What happens if we get the money back?"
I looked at her.
I had not let myself think that far.
"I don't know."
"Would you quit overtime?"
The question hurt.
"Some of it."
"Would you be home for dinner?"
"Yes."
"Would you stop paying adults to avoid their disappointment?"
I looked at her.
"Definitely."
She leaned her head against my shoulder.
"Then maybe whatever happens with the money, we already got part of it back."
"What?"
"Your life."
I swallowed.
Noah fell asleep between us.
For ten quiet minutes, the war disappeared.
Then Rebecca texted.
We received archived bank images.
I opened the attachment.
One page.
A withdrawal authorization for $126,418.63.
Beneficiary: Teresa Carter.
Approved by Gordon Pierce.
Supporting document: beneficiary change form.
At the bottom was Dad's supposed signature.
Beside it was something I had not expected.
A witness signature.
Brittany Carter.
My sister had not merely known about the transfer.
May you like
She had signed the document that made it happen.
