Chapter 4
The lake house belonged to Grant now.
That was the problem.
Daniel proposed to me there twelve years earlier during a family Fourth of July weekend.
Grant had invited us.
He stood twenty feet away when I said yes.
Now Daniel had hidden evidence on property Grant controlled.
“This is insane,” I said.
Hammer nodded.
“Agreed.”
“We can't trespass.”
“Agreed.”
“So we call Grant?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Hammer looked at Tank.
Tank smiled.
“I love this part.”
I immediately disliked whatever came next.
It turned out the lake house sat beside public shoreline.
Daniel had hidden the next item beneath an old fishing dock extending into public-access water.
At least according to a hand-drawn map included with letter two.
We went by boat.
Noah thought it was an adventure.
I spent the entire ride scanning the shore.
Grant's lake house appeared around a bend.
Large.
White.
Perfect lawn.
No cars.
Hammer slowed near the dock.
Tank climbed down.
Five minutes later, he surfaced holding a sealed metal tube.
“It was still there.”
My heart pounded.
Then a voice came from shore.
“You people really don't listen.”
Grant.
He stood at the top of the dock.
My stomach dropped.
Two men stood behind him.
Not bikers.
Private security.
Noah pressed against me.
Hammer immediately stepped between Grant and the boat.
“Back up.”
Grant laughed.
“Still pretending you're Daniel's bodyguard?”
Hammer's voice became cold.
“I wasn't good enough at it the first time.”
I looked at Grant.
“You followed us.”
He ignored me.
“Give me the tube.”
“No.”
“Rachel, you don't understand what Daniel was involved in.”
“I understand more every hour.”
Grant's face tightened.
“He lied to you.”
“So did you.”
“I protected this family.”
“You threatened my husband.”
“He was destroying everything.”
Hammer stepped onto the dock.
Grant's guards moved.
Hammer didn't flinch.
I grabbed Noah's hand.
“This is over,” I said.
Grant looked at me.
“Yes.”
Relief flickered.
Then I added, “For you.”
His face changed.
I raised my phone.
Recording.
Grant's guards noticed.
One whispered to him.
Grant forced a smile.
“You're making a mistake.”
“Maybe.”
I looked at the house.
“But Daniel spent years being afraid of you.”
“No.”
“I heard the recording.”
That landed.
Grant's eyes sharpened.
“What recording?”
Exactly the reaction I wanted.
I smiled.
“Apparently Daniel kept more than you thought.”
Grant stepped closer.
Hammer blocked him.
“Don't.”
Grant's anger finally surfaced.
“You think these criminals cared about Daniel?”
Hammer moved so fast I barely saw it.
Not a punch.
He simply grabbed Grant's wrist before Grant could shove him.
“Daniel was family.”
Grant glared at him.
“My brother was confused.”
“No.”
I stepped onto the dock.
“He was dying.”
Grant looked at me.
“And somehow he still scared you.”
That stopped him.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Grant's face changed.
Hammer smiled slightly.
“You didn't think we came alone, did you?”
Lena had contacted local police before we arrived.
Two patrol boats approached.
Grant backed away.
“This is private property.”
“We're in public water,” Hammer said.
Police kept the confrontation from escalating.
They couldn't arrest Grant simply for arguing with us.
But his behavior was documented.
The metal tube belonged to Daniel.
His name was engraved on it.
Grant had no legal claim.
We opened it at Lena's office.
Inside was letter three.
Another flash drive.
And a copy of an insurance document.
I recognized Daniel's policy number.
The beneficiary section showed a name I had never seen.
GRANT COLE.
My chest tightened.
Then beneath it was another document restoring me as beneficiary three weeks later.
I looked at Lena.
“What does this prove?”
“On its own? Maybe nothing.”
Hammer pointed to a signature.
“This isn't Daniel's.”
I knew immediately.
He was right.
Daniel's signature had been copied badly.
Grant had attempted to redirect Daniel's insurance.
The next flash drive contained emails.
One from Grant to an insurance agent.
Daniel isn't mentally competent to manage this anymore.
Change authorization attached.
My stomach turned.
He had used Daniel's cancer exactly the way he later tried using my grief.
The agent had apparently questioned the change.
Daniel discovered it.
Reversed it.
Then started investigating Grant more aggressively.
I opened his letter.
Rach,
This is where I asked you to marry me because I believed family meant safety.
I was wrong about Grant.
I wasn't wrong about you.
Tears blurred the page.
You once asked why I stopped speaking to him for two years after our wedding.
I told you it was business.
The truth is he offered me money to leave you.
My breath stopped.
Hammer whispered, “Jesus.”
I kept reading.
He said marrying you would make me weak.
He said I needed a wife who understood the Cole name.
I hit him.
I should have told you.
But I knew you'd spend years wondering whether his hatred was your fault.
It wasn't.
My hands shook.
Grant had smiled at our wedding.
Given a speech.
Bought us a refrigerator.
All while believing I was beneath them.
Daniel continued.
When Noah was born, Grant changed.
For a while, I believed he finally understood.
I know now he was interested in the family trust.
I looked up.
“What trust?”
Lena immediately leaned closer.
Hammer frowned.
“You didn't know?”
“No.”
Of course I didn't.
Another secret.
Daniel explained.
Their father had created a trust for future grandchildren.
Grant controlled it as trustee.
Noah was a beneficiary.
“How much?” I asked.
Lena shook her head.
“We'll have to find out.”
I kept reading.
Grant never told us Noah had money in that trust.
When I discovered it, almost half was gone.
My stomach dropped.
Hammer cursed.
Lena reached for the flash drive.
The records showed withdrawals.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Investment accounts.
Transfers.
Consulting fees paid to companies connected to Grant.
Noah sat beside me drawing on a notepad.
My eight-year-old had apparently been robbed before he could spell the word trust.
Anger replaced fear.
“What happens now?”
Lena looked serious.
“If these records authenticate, Grant has a much bigger problem.”
“Can he access whatever remains?”
“Possibly.”
“Then freeze it.”
“I'll make calls.”
Hammer looked at the next clue.
Daniel had written:
FOURTH STOP.
THE FIRST PLACE NOAH EVER SAW SNOW.
I smiled despite everything.
“Blue Ridge cabin.”
Hammer frowned.
“Grant property?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“It belongs to Daniel's mother.”
Silence.
Hammer stared at me.
“I thought she died.”
“She did.”
“Then who owns it?”
I swallowed.
“Grant.”
Hammer closed his eyes.
“Of course.”
We decided to wait until morning.
Police were now involved.
Lena contacted a federal agent.
Grant's accounts were being reviewed.
For the first time, I believed we might actually be ahead.
Then I received a call from Noah's school.
Confused, I answered.
“Mrs. Cole?”
“Yes.”
“This is Principal Hayes.”
My heart tightened.
“Noah isn't at school.”
“I know. He's with me.”
There was a pause.
“That’s why I'm calling.”
“What happened?”
“A man came into the office about an hour ago.”
My blood turned cold.
“What man?”
“He claimed he was Noah's uncle.”
Grant.
I stood.
“What did he want?”
“He asked to be added to Noah's authorized pickup list.”
My knees weakened.
Hammer grabbed my arm.
The principal continued.
“We refused, obviously.”
“What did he say?”
“He became upset.”
My voice dropped.
“What exactly did he say?”
Another pause.
“He said you were emotionally unstable after Daniel's death and that he expected to have temporary custody soon.”
I couldn't breathe.
Hammer heard enough.
His face hardened.
Lena immediately opened her laptop.
I whispered, “Custody?”
Then another email arrived.
From an attorney.
Petition for emergency guardianship of minor child Noah Cole.
Petitioner: Grant Cole.
The reason listed beneath made my hands go numb.
MATERNAL PARENT ENGAGED IN DANGEROUS ASSOCIATION WITH KNOWN MOTORCYCLE GANG.
Attached were photographs.
Me.
Noah.
Hammer.
The warehouse.
The lake.
Grant had been documenting the entire ride.
Hammer stared at the petition.
“He's not trying to stop the evidence anymore.”
I looked at my son.
“No.”
May you like
I finally understood.
“He's trying to take Noah before we reach the end.”
