Chapter 2 - The Man in the Doorway
No one spoke.
Ethan’s eyes moved from his mother’s red cheek to Vanessa’s open stance.
Then he saw the medical-alert pendant in her hand.
“What are you doing?”
Vanessa recovered first.
“She fell.”
Ethan looked at the cane lying several feet away.
“She fell while you were standing over her?”
“She became aggressive.”
Margaret turned toward her son.
“No.”
Her voice trembled, but not from fear.
“She ordered me to crawl through her legs.”
Ethan stared at Vanessa.
Vanessa laughed nervously.
“That is ridiculous.”
“I heard you,” Ethan said.
Her face changed.
“You misunderstood.”
“I heard every word.”
He crossed the room and picked up Margaret’s cane.
When he gave it back to her, his hand was shaking.
“How long has this been happening?”
Margaret looked at him.
“Since the second week after you left.”
Vanessa stepped between them.
“She is lying because she never accepted our marriage.”
Margaret faced her immediately.
“I accepted your marriage. I did not accept being starved inside my own home.”
Ethan’s head turned sharply.
“Starved?”
Vanessa scoffed.
“She refuses to eat.”
Margaret pointed toward the kitchen.
“Open the locked cabinet.”
“There is no locked cabinet.”
Ethan walked into the kitchen.
Vanessa followed quickly.
“Ethan, stop. Your mother is creating drama.”
He found a small padlock attached to the pantry doors.
The refrigerator contained expensive wine, fresh fruit and prepared meals.
A separate plastic container on the bottom shelf held half a bowl of plain soup.
Margaret’s name was written on the lid.
Ethan stared at it.
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Her doctor recommended a restricted diet.”
“Which doctor?”
“She told me.”
Margaret entered the kitchen slowly.
“My doctor told me to eat five small meals a day.”
Ethan opened another cabinet.
Inside were Margaret’s prescription bottles.
Several were empty.
One label had been replaced.
He picked it up.
“This isn’t her heart medication.”
Vanessa grabbed for it.
“You don’t understand.”
Ethan stepped away.
“Then explain.”
Vanessa’s voice sharpened.
“I have been caring for her alone while you travel. Do you know what she is like? She complains constantly. She watches me. She questions every bill. She treats me like staff.”
Margaret held her gaze.
“I questioned why money disappeared from my account.”
Ethan became still.
“What money?”
Vanessa looked toward the hallway.
Margaret removed a folded bank statement from inside her cardigan.
“I found this in the trash.”
More than ninety thousand dollars had been transferred from Margaret’s savings account over four months.
The receiving account belonged to a company called VHC Interiors.
Ethan recognized the initials.
Vanessa Hale Consulting.
His wife’s private company.
“You transferred her money?”
Vanessa’s composure cracked.
“It was repayment.”
“For what?”
“For taking care of her.”
Margaret answered before Ethan could.
“She paid herself twenty-two thousand dollars a month to lock my food away.”
Vanessa looked toward the front door.
Ethan moved into her path.
“You are not leaving.”
She stared at him.
“You cannot keep me here.”
“No.”
May you like
He lifted his phone.
“But the police can ask you to stay.”
