Chapter 5: The Offer I Was Never Supposed to Refuse
I didn't speak immediately.
I let the silence sit.
"Who is this?" I said.
"You already know," the man said.
"Your father mentioned my name to you, didn't he?
He has a habit of doing that.
He thinks it frightens people into cooperating."
"Does it?"
A short pause.
"Most of the time."
I looked at Samantha.
I mouthed the name: *Harlan Briggs.* Her expression sharpened.
She reached into her bag and pulled out her own phone, already typing.
"What do you want?" I said.
"To save us both a great deal of trouble," Briggs said.
"Your father made a mistake this morning.
He moved too quickly and he moved without telling me the full picture.
I don't enjoy being put in that position."
"That sounds like a problem between the two of you."
"It would be," he said, "except that the DA's office is now involved, which makes it a problem for everyone adjacent to your father.
Including me.
I'd like to resolve that cleanly."
"By doing what?"
"By having you sign a statement confirming that the bank submission was the result of a miscommunication.
A clerical error.
No fraud, no forgery, no criminal referral.
Your father pays a civil penalty, the account unfreezes, and everyone moves forward."
Eleanor made a small sound in her sleep.
I shifted her gently.
"And what do I get?" I said.
"You get to avoid a very long, very public legal process," Briggs said.
"Probate disputes are exhausting, Mrs.
Gallagher.
Especially with a newborn.
Especially alone."
There it was.
"I'm going to need to think about it," I said.
"Of course," he said.
"I'll call again tomorrow morning."
He ended the call.
Samantha was already on her feet.
"Tell me everything he said.
Word for word."
I did.
When I finished, she sat back down slowly.
"He's frightened," she said.
"Briggs doesn't make calls like that unless he's exposed.
If he used that notary's credentials, he's the one facing criminal liability, not just your father."
"He wants me to give him a way out."
"Yes." She looked at me carefully.
"Victoria, this call may be the best thing that could have happened.
If he calls again tomorrow, I want you to answer it.
And I want you to let me listen."
I looked at the phone in my hand.
"He said I was alone," I said.
Samantha's jaw tightened.
"He was wrong about that."
I nodded slowly.
But something else was turning over in my mind — something Briggs had said that Samantha hadn't caught, because she didn't know what I knew.
*Your father mentioned my name to you, didn't he?*
Charles hadn't mentioned Briggs's name to me.
I had seen it on Charles's phone screen.
May you like
Which meant Briggs had been watching the porch.
He had been there this morning.
