Chapter 4: The Son Who Never Listened
I read the message twice.
“They took control?” Irene asked.
“Temporarily.” Detective Ruiz held out her hand.
“Let me see.”
I gave her the phone.
“My father created that trust.
It holds the company shares, our home, and nearly every account.”
“Who becomes controller if you’re declared unfit?”
I already knew the answer.
“My mother.”
Dr.
Singh entered with a chart.
“Mrs.
Wentworth, your test shows a sedating substance in your system.
The level is low, but repeated exposure may explain the dizziness and memory gaps.”
Irene’s fingers closed around the blanket.
“Can you prove how it got there?”
“I can document what we found.”
“That’s not enough,” I said.
“It becomes enough when it joins other evidence,” Ruiz replied.
“The camera, the tea packets, the documents, and your recording.”
My phone rang again.
Margaret’s name filled the screen.
Ruiz switched on her recorder.
“Answer it.
Put her on speaker.”
I touched the screen.
“What do you want?”
“My son back,” Margaret said.
“Irene has turned you against your own family.”
“You put something in her tea.”
“Vitamins.
She refused to care for herself.”
“The hospital found a sedative.”
A pause followed.
“I gave her something to help her sleep,” Margaret said.
“She was hysterical.”
“You never had a doctor’s permission.”
“I am your mother.
I don’t need permission to protect this family.”
Irene pushed herself upright.
“You weren’t protecting anyone.”
Margaret’s voice sharpened.
“You should be grateful.
Without Austin, you would still be renting that miserable little apartment.”
“And without Irene,” I said, “you would already have emptied my safe.”
“Careful, Austin.
The trust company has accepted the incapacity declaration.
Every employee at your firm will learn you are unstable before lunch.”
“You forged it.”
“Prove that.”
The call ended.
I lowered the phone.
“She thinks she has won.”
“No,” Ruiz said.
“She thinks you’ll panic.”
Irene looked at me.
“Will the company survive if she controls the shares?”
“Margaret can remove me as president.
She can sell assets and close accounts.”
“Then call your lawyer.”
I called Helen Cross, the attorney who had handled my father’s estate.
She answered on the second ring.
“Helen, someone filed an incapacity transfer.”
“I know,” she said.
“Victor Hale called me ten minutes ago.”
Victor had administered the trust for twelve years.
“What did he say?”
“That you appeared at his office yesterday, signed in front of him, and asked for an immediate transfer to Margaret.”
“I was on a flight.”
“Your flight records prove that, but Victor has a copy of your passport and a biometric verification.”
Ruiz leaned toward the phone.
“Ms.
Cross, tell him not to alert Victor that law enforcement is involved.”
Helen went quiet.
“Who is this?”
“Detective Ruiz.
We have possible forgery, financial fr@ud, and an att@ck inside Mr.
Wentworth’s home.”
Helen exhaled.
“Then you need to know something else.
Victor requested a court hearing at noon.
He wants Margaret’s temporary control confirmed before Austin can object.”
“Can we stop it?” I asked.
“Not without stronger evidence.”
Irene touched my arm.
“The nursery recording.”
Ruiz called the officer searching our house.
He found the note behind the light switch, but the password failed.
“Carla changed it,” Irene said.
Nurse Patel entered carrying Irene’s purse in a clear hospital bag.
“A woman left this at the front desk,” she said.
“She said she worked for Victor Hale.”
Inside was a flash drive and a handwritten note.
**Mr.
Wentworth, Victor ordered me to erase the security files.
I copied them first.
Do not trust the court documents.
—Leah Mercer**
Helen’s voice came through the speaker.
“Austin, I know Leah.
She has worked for Victor for nine years.”
Ruiz picked up the flash drive.
“Then we find her before Margaret does.”
My phone lit up with a photograph from an unknown number.
Leah stood beside her car, staring at the camera.
May you like
Beneath the picture were six words:
**Withdraw your objection, or she disappears.**
