Chapter 6: What Jack Hid
The door upstairs slammed again.
Jordan and I looked at each other.
Neither of us moved.
Then came the sound of footsteps.
Fast.
Heavy.
Someone was running across the hallway above us.
“Stay here,” Jordan whispered.
I grabbed his wrist.
“No.””
“Mom—”
“We go together.””
We climbed the stairs.
The attic door was open.
I knew I had closed it.
Jordan reached for the handle.
“Don't.””
He stopped.
I could hear breathing on the other side.
Not ours.
Someone was inside.
Jordan whispered, “Who's there?””
Silence.
Then a man's voice answered.
“Mrs. Bennett?””
Jordan stepped in front of me.
“Who are you?””
The man emerged from behind a stack of Christmas boxes.
He was older than Jordan, younger than Jack had been when he died. Gray threaded through his dark hair. He wore a black coat dusted with snow.
I recognized him immediately.
The man from the photograph.
Daniel Cross.
Kayla's father.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“You.””
He looked at me.
“I'm sorry.””
Jordan lunged forward.
“You broke into our house?””
Daniel raised both hands.
“I didn't come to hurt anyone.””
“You were in the attic.””
“I needed to find something.””
“What?””
He looked at me.
“The file.””
I laughed once.
“You mean the file your daughter has been trying to steal?””
His jaw tightened.
“Kayla doesn't know everything.””
“She knows enough.””
Daniel looked toward the wooden box.
“Does she?””
I stepped closer.
“You knew my husband.””
“Yes.””
“You were here three days before he died.””
“Yes.””
“You were with Kayla.””
“Yes.””
“And now you're standing in my attic.””
He nodded.
“Yes.””
I pointed toward the stairs.
“You have thirty seconds to explain why.””
Daniel looked at Jordan.
Then back at me.
“Your husband discovered that Kayla wasn't working alone.””
Jordan frowned.
“What does that mean?””
Daniel reached inside his coat.
I instinctively stepped back.
He slowly removed a folded document.
“Six years ago, Kayla was drowning in debt.””
“She still is,” I said.
“She owed money to people who don't accept excuses.””
“Who?””
Daniel didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at the box.
“Jack found out that someone had been using his property records to secure loans.””
My stomach tightened.
“The house.””
“Yes.””
“Before Kayla moved in?””
“Yes.””
Jordan shook his head.
“How?””
Daniel looked at him.
“Your father was investigating.””
“Investigating what?””
“Fraud.””
The word hung in the attic.
I thought of the forged signatures.
The property transfer.
The private investigator.
The strange bank records.
“Who was committing the fraud?””
Daniel's eyes moved to me.
“Kayla.””
Jordan stepped backward.
“No.””
“She had access to financial records through a company she worked with.””
“What company?””
“Northstar Development.””
Jordan frowned.
“I've heard of it.””
“Your father had too.””
Daniel placed the document on an old trunk.
“Northstar was buying distressed properties. Some legally. Some not.””
“And Jack?””
“He invested with them years earlier.””
I stared at him.
“Jack never told me.””
“He didn't want you involved.””
“Why?””
“Because the company was connected to people who could make problems disappear.””
Jordan whispered, “My God.””
Daniel continued.
“Jack discovered that Kayla had been helping move properties through shell companies.””
“Why would she do that?””
“Money.””
I looked at him.
“That isn't enough.””
“No,” Daniel said.
“It isn't.””
He sat on the trunk.
“Kayla believed she could make enough money to clear her debts. She borrowed against properties she didn't own. She forged signatures.
She manipulated records. She thought no one would notice.””
“But Jack did.””
“Yes.””
“What happened when he confronted her?””
Daniel's face changed.
“He gave her an ultimatum.””
“What ultimatum?””
“Return the money and walk away.””
I remembered the note.
Only if Kayla comes.
“Did Jack know you were involved?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Daniel looked down.
“Because I was the one who introduced him to Northstar.””
Silence.
I stared at him.
“You.””
“Yes.””
“You brought that into my husband's life.””
“I did.””
“And then?””
“I tried to get him out.””
“You failed.””
“Yes.””
The word was barely audible.
Jordan pointed toward the box.
“What is in there?””
Daniel stood.
“The proof.””
“Proof of what?””
“That Jack was murdered.””
My knees weakened.
Daniel caught the edge of the trunk.
“I didn't come here to convince you.””
“Then why did you come?””
“Because Kayla knows I have the original records.””
I remembered Margaret's words.
She's trying to take what your husband left inside it.
“What records?””
Daniel looked toward the wooden box.
“The ones that show exactly who benefited after Jack died.””
Jordan stepped toward the box.
“Open it.””
I nodded.
He lifted the lid.
We removed the documents one by one.
Bank transfers.
Property records.
Photographs.
Copies of emails.
Then Jordan found a small plastic bag.
Inside was a prescription bottle.
He read the label.
“Digoxin.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
I stared at him.
“What is that?””
“A heart medication.””
“Jack didn't take heart medication.””
“I know.””
Jordan's face went white.
“Then why was it in his house?””
Daniel said, “Because someone put it in his coffee.””
I couldn't breathe.
I remembered that morning.
Jack had made coffee.
I had kissed him goodbye.
He had smiled.
“See you tonight.””
I had gone grocery shopping.
He had collapsed before I returned.
I had spent six years believing his heart simply failed.
I touched the bag.
“Who found this?””
“Jack.””
“What?””
“He found the bottle the day before he died.””
My hand froze.
“He knew.””
Daniel nodded.
“He suspected he'd been poisoned.””
“Then why didn't he tell me?””
“He planned to.””
“When?””
“The night he died.””
Jordan stared at the floor.
“Kayla knew.””
Daniel looked at him.
“Yes.””
“That's why she was there.””
“Yes.””
Jordan suddenly turned away.
I watched his shoulders shake.
Daniel said quietly, “Your husband had arranged to meet someone after Kayla left.””
“Who?””
“Margaret.””
I remembered the phone call.
“Why?””
“To give her the records.””
“But she said she witnessed the transfer.””
“She did.””
“What transfer?””
“The house.””
I looked at the forged document.
Daniel continued.
“Jack had prepared a legitimate transfer document.””
My heart stopped.
“To whom?””
“To you.””
I frowned.
“The house was already mine.””
“Legally, yes. But Jack wanted to make something absolutely clear.””
He pulled another paper from his coat.
“He created a trust.””
I read the first line.
My name.
Then Jordan's.
Then another name.
I looked at Daniel.
“Who is this?””
He didn't answer.
Jordan leaned over my shoulder.
His face changed.
“That's not possible.””
“What?””
He pointed.
The beneficiary listed beneath my name was not Jordan.
It was *Emma Bennett*.
My granddaughter.
Jordan's daughter.
I stared at the name.
Emma was nine years old.
Kayla's daughter.
“Why would Jack leave the house to Emma?””
Daniel said, “Because he believed Kayla would eventually try to take it.””
I shook my head.
“But Emma is her child.””
“Exactly.””
I looked up.
Daniel's expression was grim.
“Jack believed the safest way to protect the house from Kayla was to put it somewhere she couldn't legally touch.””
Jordan swallowed.
“Why didn't Mom know?””
“Because the trust wasn't finalized.””
I stared at the document.
“Then what is it?””
“A draft.””
My stomach dropped.
“Then it means nothing.””
“Not exactly.””
Daniel pointed to the bottom.
“Jack had it notarized.””
I read the date.
The day before he died.
“He was going to file it.””
“Yes.””
I whispered, “And someone stopped him.””
Daniel nodded.
“Someone who knew exactly what he planned to do.””
Jordan looked at him.
“Kayla.””
Daniel didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Then a sound came from downstairs.
The front door opened.
A woman's voice called out.
“Jordan?””
Kayla.
Daniel's eyes widened.
“She followed me.””
Jordan whispered, “What do we do?””
I looked at the box.
Then at the stairs.
Then at the trust.
For six years, I had thought grief was the worst thing Kayla could bring into my house.
I had been wrong.
Kayla wasn't afraid of the truth.
She was afraid of what the truth would do to her daughter.
May you like
And as her footsteps reached the bottom of the stairs, I realized we finally had something she didn't know we had.
Evidence.
