Chapter 3 - THE SIGNATURE THAT WASN'T MINE
I stared at my forged signature until the black lines blurred.
“I never signed these.”
Claire folded her arms.
“You approved them.”
“No.”
“You were Emily's husband.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
“It is to a bank.”
Detective Harris leaned closer to the screen.
“How much?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Just under four million dollars.”
Sophie was downstairs with my sister Rachel, safely away from the argument, but I could still picture her small wrist beneath Claire's fingers.
Four million dollars.
My name.
My wife's company.
A dead woman.
And a woman standing in front of me who seemed to know exactly how badly I could be destroyed.
Claire smiled.
“You see the problem, Ethan?”
I looked up.
“You forged my signature.”
“Prove it.”
Those three words were a challenge.
I had spent three years thinking Emily's death had taken my future. I suddenly wondered whether someone had been taking pieces of it long before she died.
Harris asked for every original record.
Daniel said there was one more thing.
“A life insurance policy.”
My stomach tightened.
“For Emily?”
Daniel nodded.
“You and Claire were listed as beneficiaries.”
I stared at him.
“Why was Claire listed?”
“She was the policy administrator.”
“That doesn't explain the beneficiary.”
Daniel looked away.
“I know.”
Claire stepped forward.
“Ethan, you're exhausted.”
I laughed.
“Three years ago, my wife died in a car accident. Now I learn the woman standing beside her jewelry box was named on her insurance policy. Forgive me if exhaustion isn't my first concern.”
Claire's face went cold.
“You're going to regret attacking me.”
“I didn't attack you.”
“You broke down a door.”
“To save my daughter.”
She pointed at me.
“You'll lose everything.”
I looked at the police officers.
“That's a threat.”
Claire turned away.
Harris stopped her.
“Don't leave.”
She stared at him.
“Am I under arrest?”
“Not yet.”
That word seemed to frighten her more than arrest would have.
That night I drove to the bank with Daniel and Detective Harris. Box 317 opened with the silver key.
Inside was one envelope.
ETHAN. OPEN THIS ONLY IF I'M DEAD.
I knew Emily had written it before she died.
I opened it with shaking hands.
There was a USB drive and one sentence.
If Claire knows I suspected her, Sophie is no longer safe.
My chest tightened.
I looked at Daniel.
“Emily knew.”
He nodded.
“She knew everything.”
The USB contained a video.
Emily appeared on screen.
Tired.
Pale.
Alive.
“Ethan,” she whispered, “if you're watching this, I failed to stop her.”
I stopped breathing.
Emily looked toward a closed door behind her.
“Claire has been stealing from the company. But she is not working alone.”
The video ended.
Before I could replay it, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man's voice said, “If you want Sophie alive, stop digging.”
May you like
Then the line went dead.
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