Chapter 3 - The Empty Safe
I called Jason before Daniel could stop me.
He answered on the first ring.
"Finally."
His voice sounded smug.
Too smug.
"Where is the ledger?"
I asked.
"What ledger?"
"Don't play stupid."
"Mom says you always get dramatic when you think you've won something."
I gripped the edge of the table.
"You broke into Dad's study."
Jason laughed.
"Dad?"
He stretched the word.
"He wasn't my dad, remember?"
That was true.
My father had married Marlene when Jason was sixteen.
He paid Jason's college tuition anyway.
He gave him a job anyway.
He covered his debts anyway.
Jason repaid him by sneering at his memory.
"What do you want?"
I asked.
The laughter stopped.
"Come home."
"No."
"Then you don't get what's in the safe."
Daniel shook his head sharply.
I ignored him.
"You sent me a picture of an empty safe."
"Maybe I removed something before I took the picture."
"Or maybe Marlene did."
Jason's silence told me more than his words.
He did not know what had been inside.
Marlene had used him.
Again.
"Put her on the phone."
"She's busy."
"Doing what?"
"Talking to a lawyer."
I smiled without humor.
"She'll need one."
He lowered his voice.
"Clara, listen to me."
For the first time, he sounded less arrogant.
"Whatever you think you found, you don't understand what it means."
"You sound exactly like her."
"Because for once she's right."
"Then explain it."
Another pause.
"Come to the house."
"No."
"Come alone."
"Definitely no."
He swore under his breath.
Then I heard Marlene in the background.
"Give me the phone."
Jason resisted.
"Mom, wait."
"Give it to me."
There was a rustle.
Then her voice came through.
"Clara."
The sweetness was gone.
"Midnight has passed."
I said.
"Yes."
"So you know the house is mine."
"A piece of paper doesn't make a home yours."
"No."
I looked at the Northstar ownership screen.
"Sixty-one percent of the company that owns it does."
Silence.
Deep, stunned silence.
Daniel looked at me sharply.
I had just revealed more than he wanted.
I didn't care.
"Northstar," Marlene whispered.
Her voice changed.
Not anger.
Recognition.
"So he really did it."
I felt a chill.
"You knew."
"I knew your father liked hiding things."
"Like the ledger?"
She breathed out slowly.
"Come home."
"No."
"Then your father's secrets become Jason's problem."
"What does that mean?"
She hung up.
I stared at the phone.
Daniel immediately called a private security company and the police non-emergency line.
Because the property had legally transferred, we could request an officer to accompany us to inspect the house.
Priya printed certified copies of the trust transfer and the Northstar ownership records.
By one fifteen in the morning, two security officers and one patrol unit met us outside the property.
The house looked exactly the same.
That made me angrier than if it had been burning.
The porch lights glowed warm.
The curtains were open.
Someone had left a lamp on beside the sofa.
This place had been my father's pride.
Tonight it felt like a crime scene wearing expensive furniture.
Marlene opened the door before we knocked.
She had changed clothes.
A cream silk blouse replaced the sweater she had worn when she slapped me.
Her hair was brushed.
Her makeup was perfect.
She looked like a woman preparing for court instead of a woman who had thrown a diaper at her stepdaughter two hours earlier.
"This is unnecessary."
She glanced at the officer.
I held up the certified transfer.
"I'm entering my property."
Her mouth tightened.
"You are entering my residence."
"Temporarily."
The word hit.
Jason appeared behind her.
He looked at the security officers and lost some color.
"Seriously?"
"You broke into Dad's study."
"It's not breaking in when you live here."
"You don't live in his study."
The patrol officer raised a hand.
"Everyone stays calm."
I walked past Marlene.
She did not move until the last second.
The dirty diaper was gone.
My broken laptop was gone too.
I turned.
"Where is my laptop?"
Marlene folded her arms.
"Trash."
"You destroyed my property and then disposed of it?"
"It was broken."
"Because you broke it."
Jason muttered.
"You always have to make everything a federal case."
I ignored him and went toward the study.
The door stood open.
For four years, Marlene had kept it locked.
Now the room looked torn apart.
Books covered the floor.
Drawers hung open.
The third shelf had been ripped away.
Behind it was the empty steel safe.
Daniel crouched near the broken plaster.
"This was done recently."
Jason leaned against the doorframe.
"Obviously."
Daniel ignored him.
"Where is the ledger?"
Marlene spoke from behind us.
"There was no ledger."
I turned.
"How do you know?"
Her face barely moved.
Then she realized the mistake.
"Because I opened the safe."
The patrol officer looked at her.
"When?"
"Tonight."
"Why?"
"Because Clara threatened me."
I laughed once.
"I told you the house would transfer at midnight."
"You threatened to put me on the street."
"After you assaulted me and smashed my laptop."
The officer began taking notes.
Marlene's expression shifted.
She had forgotten there was a witness with a badge.
"What did you find in the safe?"
Daniel asked again.
"Nothing."
"Then why did you remove the shelf?"
"I wanted to see what Robert had hidden from me."
My father's name sounded wrong in her mouth.
I stepped closer to the safe.
There were scrape marks along the lower edge.
Something had been dragged out.
Not paper.
Something heavier.
I pointed them out.
Daniel examined them.
"A metal box, maybe."
Marlene's jaw tightened.
Jason looked at her.
That look mattered.
He hadn't known about the box.
"Mom?"
She did not answer.
Then a baby cried upstairs.
Jason's attention snapped toward the ceiling.
His wife, Nicole, appeared at the top of the stairs holding their son.
Her face was pale.
She looked from the police officer to me.
"What's happening?"
Jason hurried toward her.
"Nothing."
Nicole looked at my cheek.
The swelling had darkened.
"Did someone hit you?"
Before I could answer, Marlene said sharply.
"Clara caused a scene."
Nicole's eyes narrowed.
"That wasn't my question."
Jason touched her arm.
"Go upstairs."
She pulled away.
"No."
Something passed between them.
Fear.
Not marital irritation.
Fear.
Nicole looked at me again.
Then at Marlene.
"Did you tell her about the storage unit?"
Every person in the room stopped moving.
Marlene's face drained white.
Jason whispered.
"Nicole."
She covered her mouth.
Too late.
I stepped toward her.
"What storage unit?"
Marlene's voice cut through the room.
"There is no storage unit."
Nicole stared at her.
"Then why did Jason move a metal lockbox into one at ten thirty tonight?"
Jason went completely still.
I turned toward him.
May you like
He looked at his mother.
And for the first time all night, he looked betrayed.
