Chapter 2 - Karen Wanted the Phone
Officer Lena Ortiz noticed Karen’s reaction too.
She had been standing near the kitchen island taking notes when Karen demanded the phone.
Now she closed her notebook.
“Why do you need it?”
Karen forced a laugh.
“I didn’t say I needed it.”
“You said he needed to give it to you.”
“I meant Daniel. It may contain company information.”
Dad frowned.
“How would Emily’s old phone contain company information?”
Karen looked at him as though he should already know.
“Emily handled financial documents from home.”
Mom had worked beside Dad when they started Hale Residential Partners.
Dad found buildings.
Mom handled numbers.
I knew that much because Grandma used to tell stories about the company’s early years.
“Your mother could walk into a room with ten bankers,” Grandma once said, “and leave with all ten believing the idea had been theirs.”
After Mom became sick, she stopped going to the office.
Karen had taken over much of her work.
Dad stared at the phone.
“I thought Emily’s phone was lost.”
Grandma answered.
“It wasn’t.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
Dad looked hurt.
Grandma didn’t apologize.
“Emily gave instructions about certain personal belongings.”
Karen stepped forward.
“Those instructions don’t override corporate confidentiality.”
Officer Ortiz lifted a hand.
“Nobody is taking anything right now.”
Karen stopped.
The second officer, Marcus Reed, was talking with a county child-protection worker who had arrived after the police.
Karen seemed to realize the situation was becoming serious.
She changed strategies.
She started crying.
It was fast.
Almost impressive.
“Daniel, this is insane.”
Dad didn’t answer.
“I made a mistake.”
“You locked him outside.”
“For a few minutes.”
“In January.”
“He was being disrespectful.”
“He’s seven.”
“I know how old he is!”
Dad flinched.
Karen lowered her voice.
“I lost my temper.”
Grandma gave a bitter laugh.
“You lost control because a child spilled juice?”
Karen turned.
“You’ve hated me since the wedding.”
“I distrusted you long before the wedding.”
That sentence changed the room.
Dad looked at Grandma.
“What does that mean?”
Grandma’s eyes remained on Karen.
“Another conversation.”
“No,” Karen said immediately. “Say it.”
Grandma ignored her.
The child-protection worker approached Dad.
“Mr. Hale, for tonight, Noah needs to stay somewhere separate from Ms. Pike-Hale while we assess what happened.”
Karen stiffened.
“This is my house.”
Grandma replied, “Actually, it isn’t.”
Silence.
Dad looked at her.
“What?”
Grandma’s expression changed.
She had spoken too quickly.
Karen noticed.
“Margaret,” she said softly.
Grandma’s eyes narrowed.
Dad stood.
“Whose house is it?”
Grandma took a breath.
“Emily owned half.”
“I know.”
“And her share did not automatically become yours.”
Dad stared.
Karen moved toward the stairs.
Officer Ortiz stopped her.
“Please stay down here.”
Karen glared.
Grandma continued.
“Emily’s share went into Noah’s trust.”
Dad looked at me.
I had no idea what a trust was.
“Why didn’t I know that?”
“You did.”
“No.”
“You signed the probate documents.”
Dad rubbed his forehead.
“I signed hundreds of documents after Emily died.”
“That doesn’t mean they didn’t matter.”
Karen suddenly spoke.
“Daniel is trustee.”
Grandma looked at her sharply.
Dad did too.
“How do you know that?”
Karen froze.
It was small.
Half a second.
But everyone noticed.
Karen recovered.
“You told me.”
“No.”
“I’m sure you did.”
Dad shook his head.
“I didn’t even remember.”
Officer Ortiz said nothing.
She simply wrote something down.
The rest of that night became a blur.
Dad took me to a medical clinic so someone could make sure I was all right.
Grandma came with us.
Karen remained at the house while police documented the scene.
Dad sat beside me in the examination room.
“I should have been there.”
I looked at the floor.
“You weren’t.”
He swallowed.
It was the first honest answer either of us had given.
“No.”
Later, Grandma took me to her house.
Dad stayed too.
He slept on the couch.
Or tried to.
At three in the morning, I woke because voices were coming from the kitchen.
Grandma and Dad were arguing quietly.
“You knew she was controlling him,” Grandma said.
“I didn’t know this.”
“You didn’t want to know.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Fair?”
Grandma’s voice rose.
“Your son has been afraid to call me for months.”
Silence.
Then Dad asked, “What were you talking about earlier?”
Grandma said nothing.
“Before the wedding. Why did you distrust Karen?”
Another silence.
Finally Grandma answered.
“Because Emily distrusted her first.”
I sat upright in bed.
Dad’s voice became quieter.
“Emily barely knew Karen.”
“That’s what you believed.”
I climbed out of bed.
The phone was charging on the nightstand.
Its cracked screen glowed.
A notification appeared.
Storage almost full.
Then another.
Secure Folder: 17 files recovered.
I didn’t understand.
I touched the screen.
A password box appeared.
Six digits.
Underneath it was a hint.
The day Noah changed everything.
I knew that date.
My birthday.
I typed it.
The folder opened.
There were photographs.
Documents.
Screenshots.
And one audio file.
The title was only two words.
If necessary.
I pressed it.
My mother’s voice filled the dark room.
“If you are hearing this, something happened before I could fix it myself.”
I froze.
Mom continued.
“There are things Daniel doesn’t know.”
A floorboard creaked in the hallway.
I looked up.
Karen was supposed to be at our house.
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But someone was standing outside Grandma’s kitchen door.
And the handle had just begun to turn.
