Chapter 7: The Conversation with Uncle Pete
Pete answered on the third ring, which for him meant he'd seen my name and taken a moment to decide.
"Didn't expect to hear from you on a Monday morning," he said.
"I know.
I'm sorry to call out of nowhere.
Do you have a few minutes?"
"I've got nothing but minutes.
Sit down, tell me what's going on."
I sat at the kitchen table with a fresh cup of tea and told him.
Not everything — not the solicitor, not Sandra, not the text messages.
Just the dinner.
The TV.
My mother's reaction.
The way my father had looked at the carpet and said nothing.
Pete listened without interrupting, which was how he always listened.
When I finished, he was quiet for a moment.
"Your father called me yesterday," he said.
"After he got home."
"What did he say?"
"He said dinner had gone badly.
That you'd had a falling-out with your mother." A pause.
"He also said James had told him some things he was finding hard to sit with."
"What things?"
"He didn't go into detail.
But he said he was worried about you.
About your state of mind." Pete's voice was careful.
"I'll be honest with you.
The way he said it didn't sound like him.
It sounded like he was repeating something."
"He was," I said.
"Pete, James has been sending my father texts for at least six weeks.
Building a picture of me that isn't true.
And I think it's connected to Mum and Dad's will."
Silence.
"That's a serious thing to say," Pete said.
"I know.
I wouldn't say it if I didn't have reason to."
"What reason?"
I told him about the text thread.
About Sandra.
About Hargreaves & Pell and Daniel Pell's connection to James.
Pete didn't speak for a long time after that.
"Pete," I said.
"Does Dad ever talk to you about the estate?
About what he and Mum are planning?"
"He mentioned it once.
Back in the spring.
Said they were getting things sorted.
Said James had been a big help."
"Did he say what James had helped with specifically?"
"He said James had recommended the solicitor.
Said he'd done his research and found someone good." Pete stopped.
"He seemed grateful.
You know how your father is.
He doesn't like asking for help.
The fact that James stepped in without being asked — it meant something to him."
"James didn't step in," I said quietly.
"He positioned himself.
There's a difference."
Another long silence.
"What do you want from me?" Pete said finally.
Not unkindly.
Just directly.
"I want to know if Dad would listen to you.
If you told him that something didn't feel right.
That he should ask to see the documents himself — not the summary James gave him, but the actual documents."
"He'd push back.
He'd say I was interfering."
"I know.
But would he think about it afterward?"
Pete made a sound that wasn't quite a laugh.
"Your father has thought about everything I've ever said to him.
He just never admits it until three weeks later."
"Then that's enough," I said.
"I'm not asking you to fight with him.
I'm just asking you to plant one question."
"And if he asks me where this is coming from?"
"Tell him the truth.
Tell him I called you.
I'm not hiding anything."
Pete was quiet for a moment.
"All right," he said.
"I'll call him tonight."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet." He paused.
"There's something else.
When your father called me yesterday — at the end of the call, before he hung up, he said something I've been thinking about since."
"What did he say?"
"He said, I just want to make sure she's taken care of.
I thought he meant you.
But now I'm not sure."
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"The way he said it.
He sounded like a man who'd been told he needed to protect someone.
And the way James has been talking about you — " Pete stopped.
"I think your father has been told that you're the threat.
And that James is the one keeping the family safe."
The kitchen was very quiet.
"He believes it," I said.
"For now," Pete said.
"But your father is not a stupid man.
He's a trusting one.
There's a difference."
After I hung up, I sat for a while without moving.
Then my phone rang.
James.
Right on time.
I let it ring four times.
Then I picked up.
May you like
"James," I said.
"Let's talk."
