Chapter 8
I set the folder on the counter between us.
"I want the name of every person at Pend Oreille Property Solutions that you dealt with.
I want the account number where rental payments were deposited.
And I want to know exactly how much money has been collected since April."
He was quiet for a moment.
"And if I don't give you that?"
"Then I take what I already have to the sheriff's department and let them ask you instead."
His jaw tightened.
"You'd really do that."
"I would."
"Madison will never forgive you."
That one was designed to land hard, and it did.
I felt it move through my chest like a stone dropping into still water.
But I kept my eyes on him and my voice even.
"What Madison will never forgive," I said, "is finding out that I knew her father-in-law forged my name and collected money from my house for four months — and I did nothing about it because I was afraid of upsetting her."
Richard looked at the folder.
Then at me.
Then at the folder again.
"The account is in Connor's name," he said finally.
My son-in-law.
Not Richard.
Connor.
"How much?" I asked.
He told me.
I had to set my hand flat on the counter to keep my face neutral.
Fourteen thousand dollars.
Fourteen thousand dollars collected from my property over four months, deposited into my son-in-law's bank account, while I paid the insurance, the taxes, and the spring repair bill without knowing a single dollar had ever come in.
"Does Madison know about the account?" I asked.
He picked up his water glass.
"You should ask her that yourself."
My phone was already in my hand before he finished the sentence.
* * *
# CHAPTER 5: The Call I Didn't Want to Make
Madison answered on the second ring, which meant she wasn't in the middle of anything.
She answered quickly when she had nothing to hide.
She let calls go to voicemail when she was managing something she didn't want interrupted.
"Mom." Her voice was bright.
May you like
Carefully bright.
"I'm at the lake house," I said.
