Chapter 8 - The Mother Who Knew
Emily expected betrayal from Daniel.
She did not expect it from her own mother.
Carol Weller arrived at Ashwood on Sunday afternoon carrying apple pie.
She was sixty-three and still wore Robert’s wedding ring on a chain around her neck.
Sophie hugged her immediately.
Emily waited until Sophie went outside with Max.
Then she placed the forged mortgage on the kitchen table.
Carol’s face changed before reading it.
Emily saw everything.
“You knew.”
Carol sat down.
“Emily—”
“You knew.”
“I knew Robert suspected something.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Carol looked toward the window.
“Daniel came to me after your father got sick.”
Emily’s voice became very quiet.
“Why?”
“Medical bills.”
“Dad had insurance.”
“Insurance didn’t cover everything.”
“I would have paid.”
“You had Sophie. You had the farm. Your marriage was already falling apart.”
Emily pushed the papers toward her.
“What did Daniel do?”
Carol’s hands trembled.
“He paid seventy-eight thousand dollars.”
Emily stared.
“From where?”
“I didn’t ask.”
“You didn’t ask the banker married to your daughter where seventy-eight thousand dollars came from?”
“He said it was a bonus.”
Emily stepped away from the table.
Carol’s eyes filled.
“Your father found out.”
“What happened?”
“He accused Daniel of buying my silence.”
“Was he right?”
Carol said nothing.
Emily felt something inside her break.
“You knew he and Vanessa were involved?”
“I suspected.”
“And you said nothing.”
“You loved him.”
“So did Dad. He still tried to protect me.”
“Robert was dying.”
“And you were afraid of losing the man paying the bills.”
Carol stood.
“That is cruel.”
“No. Cruel is knowing my husband was stealing against my farm while sleeping with someone else and deciding I couldn’t handle the truth.”
“I did not know about the mortgage.”
“But you knew enough.”
Carol began crying.
Emily hated herself for not softening.
She didn’t.
“How much did Daniel pay after Dad died?”
Carol froze.
There was the answer.
Emily stared.
“How much?”
“Emily—”
“How much?”
“A hundred and fifty thousand.”
Emily gripped the chair.
“For what?”
“He said it was repayment of money Robert invested with him.”
“Did Dad invest?”
“No.”
The word was barely audible.
Emily looked at her mother with disbelief.
“What did Daniel want?”
Carol wiped her face.
“A box.”
Emily stopped.
“What box?”
“He asked whether Robert had left documents.”
“The tobacco box?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you give him anything?”
“No.”
“Then why did he pay you?”
Carol looked sick.
“Because I told him Robert had hidden things around the farm.”
Emily’s anger became cold.
“You told him.”
“I didn’t know Sophie would be involved.”
“You told him where to look.”
“I told him Robert used the dog run.”
Emily closed her eyes.
That explained Vanessa.
Daniel knew Robert’s habits because Carol had sold them.
Sophie came through the back door.
“Grandma?”
Both women turned.
Sophie looked between them.
“Are you fighting?”
Carol tried to smile.
“No, sweetheart.”
Emily said, “Yes.”
Carol stared at her.
Emily crouched beside Sophie.
“Grandma made a mistake and we’re talking about it.”
Sophie absorbed that.
“Like Vanessa?”
Carol flinched.
Emily answered carefully.
“Different.”
Sophie looked at Carol.
“Did you hurt Mom?”
Carol began crying again.
“Yes.”
Sophie took Emily’s hand.
Not Carol’s.
That hurt them both.
Later, after Carol left, Emily found an envelope beneath the pie plate.
Inside was a cashier’s check stub.
$150,000.
From DCP Holdings.
Daniel’s company.
On the back, Carol had written a note.
He told me if I spoke, the IRS would investigate the money and I could lose the house. I was ashamed. I am still ashamed. Give this to Mara.
Emily sat alone in the kitchen.
Her phone rang.
It was Heartland’s general counsel.
This time Elaine Foster sounded different.
“Ms. Carter, the bank has placed Daniel Carter on administrative leave.”
Emily stood.
“Why?”
“We discovered irregular access to archived records.”
“Which records?”
“Your mortgage file.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“Who accessed them?”
Elaine hesitated.
“Daniel.”
Emily felt vindication for half a second.
Then Elaine continued.
“There is another issue.”
“What?”
“Several original documents are missing.”
Emily’s relief vanished.
“Which documents?”
“The original mortgage signature pages.”
“When did they disappear?”
“We don’t know.”
Emily looked out toward Robert’s dog fence.
“Daniel is destroying evidence.”
“We cannot make that accusation.”
“I can.”
“Ms. Carter, listen carefully. Heartland intends to continue foreclosure unless ordered otherwise.”
Emily stared at the phone.
“You found evidence your own employee tampered with my file.”
“We found evidence of unauthorized access. That is not proof the mortgage was invalid.”
“So you suspend him and still take my farm.”
Elaine was silent.
Emily understood.
Heartland was frightened too.
Not of Emily.
Of a $1.85 million fraudulent loan becoming a public scandal.
And frightened institutions protected themselves first.
Always.
Before hanging up, Elaine said, “One more thing.”
“What?”
“Your father came to the bank six days before he died.”
Emily stopped.
“Why?”
“He asked to see box 417.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“The access record says someone had already entered it that morning.”
Emily’s voice dropped.
“Who?”
Elaine answered.
“Your husband.”
Emily corrected her.
“Ex-husband.”
May you like
Elaine said, “At the time, he was still your husband.”
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