Chapter 6: The Door Left Open
We drove to the farm before noon.
The office door stood open, though I knew I had locked it.
“Stay behind me,” Ethan said.
“No.
You stay beside me.”
A drawer had been emptied onto the floor.
Jack’s old files lay scattered beneath the desk.
Ethan picked up a torn folder.
“Someone was looking for the trust amendment.”
A boot scraped in the records room.
Brooke stepped out holding a thick brown envelope.
“Give me that,” I said.
She hugged it against her coat.
“This proves Jack intended Harbor Ridge for us.”
“It proves nothing if you took it from my office.”
“The door was open.”
“You forced the lock.”
“I used the spare key Ethan gave me.”
Ethan held up his key ring.
“I took that key back last year.”
Brooke’s eyes moved toward the exit.
I blocked the doorway.
“Put the envelope on the desk.”
“You don’t order me around.”
“This is my farm.”
“Not for much longer.”
A truck stopped outside.
Conrad Vale entered with two men carrying document cases.
Brooke’s shoulders relaxed.
“You took your time.”
Conrad glanced at the scattered files.
“What have you done?”
“I found what we need.”
“You were told not to come here.”
“You were happy enough to use my signature.”
His face changed.
Ethan quietly set his phone on the shelf with the camera facing them.
I pointed to the envelope.
“Did Brooke copy my signature for you?”
Conrad straightened his cuffs.
“I relied upon documents presented as valid.”
Brooke laughed.
“Don’t start pretending now.
Your office produced the authorization form.”
“Be careful.”
“You promised me two hundred thousand dollars when the access road was approved.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“So the seventy-five thousand was only the first payment?”
Brooke spun toward him.
“You recorded me once without permission, and I will ruin you.”
“You were already recorded at dinner,” I said.
Her face emptied.
“Tessa gave us everything.”
Brooke reached for Ethan’s phone.
He moved back without touching her.
“Do not come closer.”
“You have no idea what I can tell the authorities about you.”
“Tell them all of it.
I already called and gave my name.”
She stared at him.
“You reported yourself?”
“I described exactly what happened at the restaurant.
I have an appointment with an attorney, and I’ll accept the consequences.”
“You’d destroy our marriage for her?”
“No.
We destroyed it ourselves.”
Conrad moved toward the desk.
“This family argument is irrelevant.
I have a court order permitting inspection of the access route.”
One of his men handed Graham, who had just entered behind us, a stamped document.
Graham read it twice.
“This order was issued this morning.”
“Based on the authorization your client signed,” Conrad said.
“I signed nothing,” I replied.
A county official came through the door and checked the papers.
“Until a judge says otherwise, you must allow the survey team onto the marked section.”
Brooke laid the brown envelope on the desk and smiled.
“You should have taken my deal.”
“What deal?” Graham asked.
“The house for her peace.
Now she may lose the house and the farm.”
The surveyors walked toward Daisy’s pasture.
I stepped in front of the gate.
“You will not frighten my horses.”
The official lowered his voice.
“Ma’am, if you interfere, they can ask the court to remove you.”
Conrad pointed toward the pasture.
May you like
“Begin at the eastern fence.”
Then Daisy lifted her head as the first survey truck rolled through my gate.
