Chapter 5 - THE PERSON OUTSIDE THE WINDOW
Owen switched off every light in the house.
Daniel ran toward the front entrance, but Margaret grabbed his arm.
“Don’t go outside.”
“Someone is watching us.”
“That may be exactly what they want you to do.”
Owen locked the doors and activated the old exterior cameras. Two had stopped working months earlier. A third showed the driveway. The fourth covered part of the southern lawn.
A shadow moved between the trees.
Daniel leaned closer to the monitor.
“There.”
The figure wore dark clothing and a baseball cap. Their face remained hidden.
Owen took a flashlight and an old hunting radio from the cabinet.
“I’ll circle through the kitchen.”
“No,” Margaret said. “We call the police.”
Before she could reach her phone, the security monitor went black.
Every camera had lost power at the same time.
A sharp sound came from Robert’s study.
Glass breaking.
Daniel ran first.
Margaret and Owen followed.
The study window stood open. Shattered glass covered the carpet. The metal lockbox was gone.
Daniel climbed halfway through the window.
Owen pulled him back.
“They may still be out there.”
A car engine started beyond the southern woods.
By the time the police arrived, the intruder had disappeared.
The officers searched the property and found tire tracks near an abandoned service road. No fingerprints were recovered from the broken window.
Margaret showed them the threatening photograph and explained the stolen documents.
The older officer looked uncomfortable when she mentioned Northstar Holdings.
“Have you dealt with the company?” Margaret asked.
“They own several developments in the county.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
The officer closed his notebook.
“You should speak with an attorney.”
“I have one.”
“Not Adrian Cole.”
The answer came so quietly that Daniel almost missed it.
Margaret stepped closer.
“Why not Adrian?”
The officer glanced toward his younger partner.
“I didn’t say anything about him.”
“You said his name.”
The officer refused to explain further.
After the police left, Daniel stood in the damaged study.
“I brought Vanessa into this family.”
Margaret touched his shoulder.
“You did not create her choices.”
“I gave her access to my office. My passwords. Copies of my identification.”
“Did you sign anything related to Lakehaven?”
“No.”
“Did she ask you to?”
Daniel looked away.
Margaret waited.
“Three months ago, she asked me to sign a blank authorization form,” he admitted. “She said the wedding planner needed permission to negotiate hotel blocks.”
“Was Adrian present?”
“Yes.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
Daniel continued.
“I didn’t sign it.”
“Are you sure?”
“I refused. Vanessa got angry, and we argued. The paper disappeared afterward.”
“Could she have copied your signature from another document?”
“She has hundreds of documents with my signature.”
Owen approached the broken window.
“Then Northstar doesn’t need Daniel to agree. They only need enough paperwork to make a sale appear legal until the property changes hands.”
Margaret looked at the empty space where the lockbox had been.
“They also need the deed.”
“The deed is still in your possession,” Daniel said.
“Only because I haven’t signed it.”
Daniel looked toward her desk.
“You were really going to give me the house?”
“Yes.”
“Even after everything Vanessa said about it?”
“The gift was for my son, not his wife.”
Daniel sat in Robert’s chair.
“I don’t deserve it.”
“This is not about deserving an expensive house.”
“What is it about?”
Margaret looked around the room where Robert had spent so many evenings.
“Trust.”
Daniel bowed his head.
His phone rang.
Vanessa’s name appeared on the screen.
Margaret expected him to ignore it.
He answered.
Vanessa was crying.
“Daniel, someone broke into my apartment.”
He stood immediately.
“Are you hurt?”
“No, but everything is destroyed. They left a message on the wall.”
“What message?”
Vanessa sent a photograph.
Four words had been painted above her bed.
RETURN WHAT ROBERT HID.
Daniel looked at Margaret.
Vanessa’s frightened voice came through the phone.
“Your mother has to give them the deed.”
Margaret took the phone from Daniel.
“You said they asked for what Robert hid.”
Vanessa stopped crying.
Margaret continued.
May you like
“So why do you think they want the deed?”
The call ended.
