Chapter 5: The Man I Called at Midnight
I didn't call Gerald.
I called the only other attorney I knew well enough to trust at midnight — a woman named Adrienne Cole, who had handled Claire's estate and who had always made Gerald Foss slightly uncomfortable in meetings.
I had never understood why until now.
She picked up on the second ring.
"I need you to come to the house," I said.
"Tonight.
Bring someone you trust to handle digital evidence."
A pause.
"How serious?"
"Serious enough that I'm not calling my regular attorney."
Another pause.
Shorter.
"Give me forty minutes."
While I waited, I read every page of Claire's second file.
Fourteen months of communications between Dorian Harlan and Gerald Foss.
Wire transfers.
A draft of the guardianship clause in Gerald's own handwriting, sent to Dorian for approval before it was ever shown to Claire.
A chain of emails in which Gerald referred to Lily as "the asset."
My daughter.
Six years old.
Referred to as "the asset."
My hands were steady.
I don't know how.
Adrienne arrived in thirty-eight minutes with a forensic IT consultant named Marcus who said nothing, shook my hand, and immediately began making a verified copy of the USB drive and my security system's backup server.
I walked Adrienne through everything.
The document.
The video.
The file.
The erased security footage.
Vanessa's calls from the unknown number.
When I finished, Adrienne sat back in her chair.
"Gerald drafted that clause," she said.
It wasn't a question.
"His handwriting.
His email address.
Sent to Dorian Harlan for revisions."
"And Vanessa is Dorian's sister."
"According to Claire's investigator.
I haven't confirmed it independently yet."
"I can confirm it by morning." Adrienne looked at the copy of the guardianship document.
"This clause is voidable.
Claire signed under duress.
With her video testimony and the communications between Gerald and Dorian, we can have this in front of a judge within the week."
"What about Lily's trust?"
"Protected.
Once we file, I'll request an emergency preservation order.
Nothing moves until the court reviews it."
I exhaled for the first time in hours.
Then Marcus looked up from his laptop.
"The security footage wasn't just erased," he said.
"Someone logged into the system remotely.
Twelve separate sessions over four months.
Always between two and four in the morning."
"Can you trace the login?"
"Already did." He turned the laptop around.
"The IP address is registered to a property management company." He pointed at the screen.
"Harlan Property Management."
I looked at Adrienne.
She was already writing.
"One more thing," I said.
I picked up my phone and pulled up the text I'd received earlier.
*Don't trust your attorney.* "Someone sent me this tonight.
Unknown number.
Right after Rosa told me what she knew."
Adrienne studied it.
"Someone on the inside who got nervous."
"Dorian's side or Gerald's?"
"Could be either." She set the phone down.
"Or it could be Vanessa."
I hadn't considered that.
"Why would Vanessa warn me?"
"Because," Adrienne said carefully, "if Dorian is her brother and this was his plan from the start — she may not have known everything she agreed to when she walked into this house."
The room went quiet.
From the couch, Lily made a small sound in her sleep and reached out one hand toward nothing.
May you like
I didn't know yet whether Adrienne was right about Vanessa.
But I knew that by morning, I was going to find out.
