Chapter 6: Laura’s Second Safeguard
Malcolm approached the officer.
“The order must be enforced.”
Teresa’s voice came through my phone.
“Put me on speaker.”
I did.
“My name is Teresa Almeida.
I am Laura Mercer’s sister, and Claire has been pretending to be me for six months.”
Claire shook her head.
“That woman is lying.”
Teresa laughed once.
“Ask Claire what language our mother spoke.”
Claire said nothing.
“Portuguese?” Malcolm offered.
“Welsh,” Teresa replied.
“We grew up in Cardiff.
I moved to Portugal when I was thirty.”
The officer looked at Claire.
“Have you communicated with Mr.
Mercer while claiming to be Teresa?”
“No.”
Teresa continued.
“I have every message Claire sent me telling me Daniel had forbidden contact.
I also have Laura’s original trust.”
“Where?” Claire asked too quickly.
“At a solicitor’s office you cannot enter.”
Malcolm closed his case.
“An overseas copy may not supersede the notarized document.”
“It isn’t overseas,” Teresa said.
“Laura filed it locally three weeks before she passed.
She removed Claire from every position and named Rachel as alternate trustee.”
Rachel pressed one hand to her chest.
“Laura never told me.”
“She was afraid Claire would pressure you.”
Claire moved closer to my phone.
“Laura was heavily medicated.”
“And yet you witnessed one of the documents you now call unreliable,” Teresa said.
Malcolm turned to Claire.
“You told me you had never seen the original.”
“I hadn’t.”
Teresa’s voice sharpened.
“Your signature is on page nine.”
For the first time, Malcolm stepped away from Claire.
She caught his sleeve.
“You’re my attorney.”
“I am not risking my license over facts you concealed.”
“You already filed the order.”
“Based on your sworn statement.”
Claire’s grip loosened.
The officer took the guardianship paper to the venue office to contact the issuing court.
Another officer remained beside the children.
Teresa lowered her voice.
“Daniel, Laura also left an audio file.
Sophie knows the password.”
Sophie looked startled.
“I do?”
“Your mother’s name for the three of you.”
Sophie touched the silver bracelet on her wrist.
Three small stars hung from it.
“Forever three,” she whispered.
Teresa sent Rachel a link.
Rachel entered FOREVERTHREE, and Laura’s face appeared on the screen.
She looked tired, but her voice was steady.
“If you are watching this, Claire has ignored my instructions.
Daniel, do not blame the girls.
Claire told me she could make you choose her by separating you from them.”
Claire rushed toward the tablet.
Margaret blocked her.
Claire shoved past, and the device fell onto the carpet, still playing.
Laura’s recorded voice filled the ballroom.
“She asked me to sign control of their trust to her.
I refused.
I am leaving copies with Teresa and my solicitor.”
Claire stamped on the tablet.
The screen cracked.
Everyone froze.
Malcolm stared at her shoe.
“That was evidence.”
Claire backed away.
“It was a private recording.”
The officer returned from the venue office.
“The judge who supposedly signed this emergency order retired four years ago.”
Malcolm’s face drained of color.
“I received that order from Claire.”
“You filed it,” the officer said.
“She told me it had been reissued.”
Claire ran for the side exit.
The venue manager stepped into her path, but she seized a glass candleholder from a table.
“Move.”
Sophie cried out.
I pulled both girls behind me.
Claire’s hand shook around the heavy glass.
“Give me the box and Laura’s letter.
I will reverse the transfer.”
“No,” I said.
“Then your daughters lose everything.”
“They still have me.”
“You couldn’t even protect them from a woman sleeping in your bed.”
My face burned, but Sophie slid her hand into mine.
“He knows now,” she said.
“And we know him.”
Claire looked at the children, then at the officers closing in.
“You think Laura protected you?” she said to me.
“There is something in that second letter she never had the courage to tell you.”
Margaret opened the cash box.
May you like
Beneath the financial records lay an envelope marked:
DANIEL—ABOUT THE NIGHT LAURA CHANGED HER WILL.
