Chapter 6 - RYAN FINALLY SAW WHAT I HAD BEEN SEEING
My brother wanted Edward arrested immediately.
Maya stopped him.
“Evidence goes to the proper people. You do not create a second problem.”
Ryan hated that.
I understood.
Then he admitted something I did not expect.
“Mom called me three months ago.”
“What?”
“She said you were trying to take control of her accounts.”
My stomach dropped.
“And you believed her?”
“I thought you were overreacting about her memory.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because she asked me not to.”
There it was.
Secrets growing inside concern.
Then Ryan said:
“She told me Edward was helping.”
My anger disappeared.
“Why didn’t you look him up?”
He looked ashamed.
“I wanted Mom to be right.”
That hurt because I understood.
I had wanted her to be right too.
That was how we got here.
Then Mom walked into the room holding a checkbook.
“Michael?”
Ryan closed his eyes.
She thought he was Dad again.
Only for maybe ten seconds.
Then she corrected herself.
“Ryan.”
Her face collapsed.
“I knew that.”
He hugged her.
No argument after that.
That night, Ryan found another document tucked inside the checkbook.
A cashier’s check request.
$25,000.
Payee:
SILVER PINES RENOVATION GROUP.
Mom said it was for kitchen work.
Her kitchen had not been renovated.
Maya traced the company.
Registered address matched Edward’s business office.
Another related entity.
The bank had stopped the transaction before it cleared because Mom forgot to complete verification.
She had been one phone call away from losing another $25,000.
Then Ethan found something else in the camera archive.
Edward was not always alone.
A woman visited with him twice.
She carried a notary bag.
Name:
Melissa Crane.
Public records showed she had notarized Mom’s property option.
Maya examined the dates.
On the day Melissa claimed Mom clearly understood the agreement, Mom had called me three times asking what month it was.
Not proof by itself.
But deeply concerning.
The investigation expanded.
Then Mom’s attorney found another major document.
A proposed transfer-on-death designation for one investment account.
Value:
$318,000.
Beneficiary organization:
SENIOR FREEDOM FOUNDATION.
I searched the name.
Board president:
Edward Beckett.
Mom stared at the paper.
“I wanted to leave something to charity.”
“Did you know his foundation was the charity?”
She hesitated.
Then whispered:
“I don’t know.”
The room went silent.
Edward had positioned himself around her cash.
May you like
Her house.
And now her estate.
