Chapter 4 - THE FAMILY THAT STOLE WALNUT STREET
Curtis Miller looked terrified.
Not guilty.
Not angry.
Terrified.
Emily held the forged property transfer.
“Your father?”
Curtis shook his head.
“Daniel, don’t.”
Daniel stepped between Curtis and the stairs.
“You’ve had nineteen years to tell her.”
“Tell me what?” Emily demanded.
Curtis wiped his mouth.
“My father represented developers.”
“Which developers?”
He looked at Daniel.
Emily noticed.
“What did Reeves Holdings have to do with this?”
Daniel answered.
“My company bought several properties on this block.”
“From my father?”
“No.”
“Then from whom?”
“Halpern Development.”
Emily looked at the file.
REEVES / HALPERN DEVELOPMENT.
Daniel continued.
“Marcus Halpern was my partner.”
“Was?”
“He died seven years ago.”
Curtis finally spoke.
“My father worked for Halpern.”
Emily stared at him.
“And forged my father’s signature?”
Curtis looked away.
“Yes.”
The word hit harder than she expected.
Her father had lost the market because someone stole it.
Her family had spent years believing he made bad business decisions.
Her mother worked two jobs after his death.
Emily remembered generic cereal.
Late electric bills.
Shoes from thrift stores.
And all of it had started here.
“Why didn’t Dad fight?”
Curtis swallowed.
“He tried.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
Curtis continued.
“Robert found out Halpern was using shell companies to buy half the block. Your father owned the center parcel. Without it, the development couldn’t proceed.”
“So they forged a sale.”
“Yes.”
“And nobody noticed?”
“My father filed the papers.”
Emily felt sick.
“What happened when Dad confronted him?”
Curtis was silent.
“Curtis.”
“He threatened to go public.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Emily looked at him.
“You knew this?”
“Not then.”
“When did you know?”
“Years later.”
“How many?”
Daniel didn’t answer quickly enough.
Emily stepped closer.
“How many years?”
“Twelve.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You knew for twelve years that my father’s property was stolen.”
“I knew something was wrong.”
“You knew enough.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you find us?”
“I tried.”
“You’re a billionaire.”
“That doesn’t make people easier to find when they’ve changed addresses six times and want nothing to do with the past.”
Emily turned away.
Her mother had changed apartments constantly.
She had always said cheaper rent.
Maybe there had been another reason.
Emily opened another envelope.
Inside was a police report.
Robert Carter.
Workplace fall.
Witness: Anthony Miller.
Curtis’s father.
Emily froze.
“Your father witnessed my dad’s death?”
Curtis whispered, “Yes.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Emily.”
She raised one hand.
“No.”
She kept reading.
Anthony Miller claimed Robert had been working alone near an unsecured edge.
Accidental fall.
No foul play suspected.
Emily looked at Curtis.
“Was he there?”
Curtis said nothing.
“Was your father really there?”
“Yes.”
“Did he ever tell you what happened?”
Curtis’s eyes filled with something that looked like shame.
“He told me Robert was threatening Halpern.”
Emily felt the room shrink.
“What happened that day?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I swear.”
Daniel took the report.
He studied the final page.
Then frowned.
“There should be photographs.”
Curtis looked toward the cabinet.
Daniel noticed.
He walked over.
Opened it.
Inside sat old restaurant invoices.
Wine lists.
Tax folders.
Then Daniel pulled out a brown envelope.
POLICE EVIDENCE - CARTER, ROBERT.
Emily’s breath caught.
“How did that get here?”
Curtis whispered, “My father left it.”
Daniel opened the envelope.
Inside were photographs of the construction site.
One showed Robert’s hard hat near the ledge.
Another showed two men in the background.
Emily moved closer.
The first was Anthony Miller.
The second was younger.
Dark hair.
Expensive coat.
Daniel went pale.
Emily stared at him.
“You know him.”
Daniel didn’t answer.
“Who is he?”
Daniel looked at the photograph.
“Marcus Halpern.”
Emily’s heart pounded.
Then she noticed something else.
Behind both men, partially hidden near a concrete column, stood a third figure.
Daniel Reeves.
May you like
Nineteen years younger.
At the construction site on the day her father died.
