Chapter 4: The Signature
“What did Brandon want from you?”
My mother looked toward Laura and Leah as though she wished the room would empty.
I reached for her hand.
“Say it in front of them.”
“He told me you needed surgery,” she said.
“He said your insurance had refused to pay.”
“I never needed surgery.”
“I know that now.”
Leah pulled the chair closer.
“Did he ask you to sign something?”
“He brought a form he called a family guarantee.
I refused.” My mother pressed both palms against her knees.
“But I gave him a copy of my deed because he said the hospital needed proof of your address.”
I pulled my hand away.
“You gave him the deed without calling me?”
“I did call.
Brandon answered your phone.”
“What did he say?”
“He said you never wanted to hear my voice again.”
My ribs tightened with every breath.
“And you believed him?”
My mother stood, tears running unchecked.
“You told us you would choose him even if it meant losing us.
When he said you were finished with me, I thought those were your words.”
“I waited four years for you to fight for me.”
“And I waited four years for you to come home.”
The room blurred.
I covered my face, but the sob escaped before I could swallow it.
My mother sat beside me and held my shoulders carefully.
“I should have driven to that house.
I should have stood at the door until I saw you.”
“I thought you abandoned me.”
“No, sweetheart.
I let pride make me silent, and he used that silence against both of us.”
Laura placed a box of tissues on the bed.
Leah quietly poured water and held the straw while my mother wiped my cheeks.
Detective Harris called again twenty minutes later.
“The basement is empty,” he said.
“The storage unit is registered under Samantha Reed.”
Brandon’s plan became clear before he finished speaking.
“He put it in my maiden name so it would look like mine.”
“That’s what his attorney will argue.
We need you to tell us whether you rented Unit 214.”
“I didn’t.”
My mother lifted her phone.
“And I didn’t sign away my house.”
“We’ll compare the signatures.
But until we open that unit, do not contact Brandon.”
My phone rang on the bedside table.
BRANDON.
Detective Harris spoke quickly.
“Put it on speaker.
Let me record the call.”
I answered.
“What do you want?”
Brandon laughed softly.
“You always did enjoy making a scene.”
“You left me on that floor.”
“Mom lost her temper.
You provoked her.”
“And you watched.”
“I was protecting my family.”
“I was your family.”
There was a pause.
“Withdraw your statement,” he said.
“I’ll pay your medical bills and let you keep whatever is in the storage unit.”
“You mean whatever you put there.”
“You have no idea what your name is attached to.”
My mother leaned toward the phone.
“Stay away from my house, Brandon.”
His voice hardened.
“Mrs.
Reed, you should check with the county before calling it your house.”
I gripped the blanket.
“You forged her signature.”
“Prove it.”
A car door slammed on his end of the line.
Detective Harris interrupted.
“Brandon Cole, officers are on their way to speak with you.
Do not enter Mrs.
Reed’s property.”
Brandon went silent, then chuckled.
“You should be at Unit 214 instead.”
The call ended.
Detective Harris shouted to someone away from the phone.
“Get a unit to the storage facility now.”
Metal scraped in the hallway as Laura locked my door.
Leah stepped to the window and pulled the curtain aside.
“What is it?” I asked.
She held up her phone.
An alert from the storage company flashed across the screen.
UNIT 214: ACCESS RECORDED—11:47 A.M.
Leah turned toward Detective Harris’s voice on the speaker.
May you like
“Brandon isn’t at Samantha’s mother’s house,” she said.
“He’s inside the storage unit right now.”
