My mother humiliated my wife on our son's first birthday, forcing her to serve everyone while caring for our sick baby.

My attorney's name was Daniel Reeves.

I had used him once before, when I bought the house.

He was methodical, unhurried, and he never said more than he needed to.

I called him from the hospital parking lot while Amy was inside with Frederick.

He picked up on the second ring.

"Connor.

What happened?"

I told him everything.

He didn't interrupt.

When I finished, there was a brief silence.

"Bring the envelope to my office first thing tomorrow.

Don't let it out of your hands tonight."

"Already planning on it."

"The power of attorney is the most serious piece.

If it's notarized with a forged signature, that's not just a family dispute.

That's a crjme.

Mason has real exposure here."

"He admitted he knew."

Another pause.

"He said that in front of officers?"

"Yes."

"All right.

Don't speak to your mother or Mason tonight.

Not a word.

If either of them contacts you, you forward it directly to me."

I said I would.

I hung up.

The hospital waiting room was quiet.

A nurse had taken Frederick's temperature — 102.4 — and started him on fluids.

The doctor said it was an ear infection, likely building for several days.

Treatable.

He would be fine.

Amy was sitting in the chair beside his crib when I came back in.

She had the blue dress I had brought her folded across her lap.

She hadn't changed into it.

She was just holding it.

"He's going to be okay," I said.

"I know." She smoothed the fabric with her thumb.

"She told me this morning that if I left the kitchen before the guests were gone, she would tell you I had been neglecting Frederick.

That I wasn't fit to be a mother."

I sat down.

"She said that to you."

"She said it while he was crying.

While I was trying to hold him and wash dishes at the same time." Amy looked up.

"I didn't tell you because I thought you'd think I was making it worse than it was.

I thought maybe I was."

"You weren't."

"I know that now." She looked back at Frederick.

"I've known it for a while.

I just kept hoping she would change."

The next morning, I was at Daniel's office by eight.

He read through all three pages twice without speaking.

Then he set them down and looked at me over his glasses.

"The bank account the money was transferred to — do you have any idea whose it is?"

"No."

"I ran a preliminary search this morning after your call." He slid a printed page across the desk.

"It's registered to a company called TBR Property Holdings LLC.

Filed in Tennessee fourteen months ago."

I looked at the page.

The registered agent was listed as a name I didn't recognize.

"Keep reading," Daniel said.

I found it on the second line.

One of the listed members of the LLC.

Mason Greer.

"He wasn't just helping her," I said.

"No.

He had financial interest in the outcome.

If that transfer of ownership had gone through, TBR Property Holdings would have had a legal basis to claim your house as a company asset within six months." Daniel leaned back.

"This wasn't a family argument, Connor.

This was a coordinated fraud scheme.

Your mother provided access and leverage.

Mason provided the legal mechanism."

I stared at the page.

"How close did they get?"

"Closer than you'd like.

The transfer document was notarized and dated.

If you hadn't come home when you did, it would have been filed with the county recorder's office on Monday."

Monday.

Three days away.

"What stopped them from filing it earlier?"

Daniel picked up the power of attorney again.

"They needed this activated first.

And to activate it, they needed to establish that you were incapacitated.

My guess is the plan involved something happening at the party that would have required medical or legal intervention on your behalf." He set the page down.

"Something that would have given Teresa grounds to invoke this document."

The room was very quiet.

"They were going to do something to me at the party," I said.

Daniel didn't answer immediately.

"That's what the evidence suggests," he said.

"I want you to be careful, Connor.

Your mother is out on bail this morning.

Mason hasn't been charged yet.

Until the DA's office moves, both of them are still free."

My phone buzzed on the desk between us.

A text from a number I didn't recognize.

*Connor.