Chapter 4
The woman in the photograph became our first real lead.
Rebecca scanned the picture and sent it to a private investigator she knew.
His name was Thomas Reed.
Within an hour, he called.
"Her name is Evelyn Hart."
"Who is she?"
"Former paralegal."
"For Charles?"
"For Whitmore Holdings' outside counsel."
Rebecca put him on speaker.
We were sitting at my kitchen table.
Tank stood by the window.
Lily was upstairs with Mara, who had offered to keep her occupied while we handled everything.
Thomas continued.
"Evelyn disappeared from legal work about eighteen months ago."
"Disappeared how?" I asked.
"Quit. Moved. No public employment record afterward."
"Can you find her?"
"I already did."
Rebecca stared at the phone.
"Where?"
"Twenty minutes from you."
That seemed too easy.
Thomas must have heard the silence.
"She's been waiting for someone to look."
I didn't like that answer.
"Why?"
"Because she contacted me first."
My skin prickled.
"What?"
"About nine months ago. She asked if I knew Duke Malone."
"Why didn't you call me?"
"Because she refused to explain why. Said she needed proof you weren't working with Charles Whitmore."
Rebecca leaned forward.
"Do you have her address?"
Thomas hesitated.
Then gave it to us.
Rebecca wanted me to stay home.
I refused.
Tank came with us.
Evelyn lived in a small brick house near the edge of town.
When she opened the door, she looked exactly like the woman in the photograph, only older.
She saw me and immediately started crying.
"You're Grace's husband."
I didn't answer.
"You sent the package?"
She nodded.
"Why anonymously?"
"Because Charles still has people watching."
Rebecca stepped forward.
"Ms. Hart, we need to know about the will."
Evelyn looked behind us.
"Come inside."
Her living room had no family photographs.
No decorations.
Just plain furniture and closed blinds.
She locked the door.
Then she sat.
"I helped prepare Grace's estate documents."
My hands clenched.
"The ones in my safe?"
"Those aren't the originals."
Rebecca and I exchanged a look.
Evelyn continued.
"The first will named you as Lily's sole guardian. No exception for suitability. No transfer clause to Charles."
My anger rose.
"So the copy I have was changed."
"Yes."
"By who?"
She looked down.
"Charles."
Tank cursed softly.
Rebecca asked, "Did Grace sign the altered version?"
"No."
I felt dizzy.
"The signature?"
"Forged."
I had known.
Still, hearing it confirmed hurt.
"Why didn't you report it?"
Evelyn's eyes filled.
"I tried."
"When?"
"Two weeks before Grace died."
She stood and walked to a small cabinet.
From inside, she removed a thick binder.
"I copied everything."
Emails.
Drafts.
Document versions.
Billing records.
One email was from Charles to the law partner handling Grace's estate.
Remove Malone's unconditional guardianship. Insert Whitmore transfer language.
The response was short.
She won't sign.
Charles replied.
Then don't ask her.
I stared at the words.
Rebecca whispered, "Jesus."
Evelyn turned another page.
"There's more."
A billing entry showed a meeting between Charles and Dr. Pike.
Three days before the altered will appeared.
Another document listed a payment from a Whitmore subsidiary to Pike's private consulting company.
$75,000.
"For what?" I asked.
Evelyn shook her head.
"No description."
Rebecca photographed every page.
I asked the question that had been sitting inside me since the attic.
"Why now?"
Evelyn went still.
"What?"
"Why is Charles trying to take Lily now?"
She looked frightened.
That told me she knew.
"Evelyn."
She swallowed.
"Because Lily turns six next month."
"So?"
"So Grace's trust changes."
Rebecca leaned forward.
"What trust?"
Evelyn looked at me.
"You don't know."
"No."
She closed her eyes.
"Grace inherited shares from her grandmother."
"What kind of shares?"
"Whitmore Holdings."
I stared.
"How many?"
"Twenty-eight percent."
Tank whistled.
Rebecca immediately understood.
"Who controls them?"
"Until Lily turns six, the voting rights are held by the estate administrator."
"Charles?"
Evelyn nodded.
"And after six?"
"They transfer to Lily's legal guardian until she turns twenty-five."
The room became silent.
I finally understood.
Charles didn't want my daughter.
He wanted her shares.
Rebecca's voice was cold.
"If Bear remains guardian, Bear controls twenty-eight percent."
"Yes."
"And if Charles becomes guardian?"
"He keeps control."
I stood.
Everything Grace had feared suddenly made sense.
Charles didn't care where Lily lived.
He cared who signed corporate votes.
I started toward the door.
Rebecca grabbed my arm.
"Where are you going?"
"To see Charles."
"No."
"He used my dead wife."
"And he'll use your anger too."
"I don't care."
"You better care."
Her voice sharpened.
"Lily needs you outside a jail cell."
I stopped.
Tank stepped between me and the door.
"She's right."
I hated them both for about three seconds.
Then I sat again.
Evelyn opened another folder.
"There's one more thing."
She handed me a copy of a letter from Grace.
It was addressed to me.
I had never seen it.
Bear,
If my father tries to take Lily, it will not be because he suddenly loves her. Follow the money. Protect her from becoming an asset in his hands.
My eyes blurred.
I kept reading.
And if you ever doubt whether I trusted you to raise her, don't. You were the only person I trusted completely.
I pressed the paper against my chest.
For two years, I'd wondered.
Not whether Grace loved me.
I knew she did.
But whether she had been scared to leave Lily with me.
I was a mechanic.
A biker.
A man who had learned parenting through trial and error.
I burned pancakes.
I bought the wrong shampoo.
I once sent Lily to school wearing two different socks and didn't notice until pickup.
Grace had always made everything look easy.
Without her, I felt like I was pretending.
Now I had proof she hadn't thought that.
She had chosen me.
Completely.
My phone buzzed.
Rebecca checked hers at the same time.
Court notification.
She opened it.
Her face changed.
"What?"
"The judge approved a temporary child welfare interview."
"When?"
"Today."
"With who?"
"A court-appointed evaluator."
"Fine."
Rebecca didn't look relieved.
"Bear."
"What?"
"Charles requested that Lily be removed from your home during the evaluation."
My stomach dropped.
"For how long?"
"Up to seventy-two hours."
I stood so fast the chair fell backward.
"No."
"It's only a request."
"No."
"Bear—"
"No one is taking her somewhere alone."
Rebecca read further.
Then she froze.
"What?"
She looked up.
"The proposed temporary placement isn't foster care."
I already knew.
Still, I asked.
"Where?"
May you like
Rebecca's voice dropped.
"Charles's house."
