Chapter 4 - the men who came before the will was read)
There were three men upstairs.
The first called himself Dean.
The second never gave a name.
The third stood by the front window and watched the road.
Dean wore jeans, a blue sports jacket, and a smile that made Nora immediately dislike him.
He looked around Samuel’s kitchen.
“Nice place.”
Marcus stood near the refrigerator.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Dean smiled wider.
“That’s a funny thing for a debtor to say.”
Nora stepped into the room behind Gerald.
Dean noticed her.
“You must be Nora.”
“How do you know my name?”
“Your brother talks about you.”
Marcus muttered, “Dean.”
“What? Family should know family.”
Nora folded her arms.
“How much?”
Marcus glared.
“Nora.”
“How much do you owe?”
Dean answered.
“Two point four.”
Nora blinked.
“Million?”
“Unfortunately.”
Elaine entered the kitchen.
Her anger seemed to vanish when she saw Dean.
Fear replaced it.
That told Nora everything she needed to know about how serious this was.
“You told me nine hundred thousand,” Elaine whispered.
Marcus looked at the floor.
Dean laughed softly.
“Nine hundred was spring.”
Nora stared at her brother.
“What did you gamble on?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“Sports. Cards. Private games.”
Dean said, “And investments.”
Marcus snapped, “Shut up.”
Nora looked at him.
“What investments?”
Dean sat at Samuel’s kitchen table as though he owned it.
“Your brother had a plan. Sell this house, clear his position with us, use what remained to recover.”
Nora laughed.
Marcus’s face hardened.
“What?”
“You were going to gamble whatever was left.”
“I was going to invest it.”
“You call everything investing.”
Dean tapped his fingers on the table.
“We were told closing was in nine days.”
“It isn’t closing,” Nora said.
Dean’s expression barely changed.
“Problem?”
“The house isn’t Marcus’s.”
Dean looked at Marcus.
Marcus said quickly, “It will be.”
“No,” Nora replied.
Dean studied her.
“You seem confident.”
“I’m an accountant. Confidence is usually what people call it when a woman has already checked the numbers.”
For the first time, the unnamed man near the door smiled.
Dean did not.
“We have a signed purchase agreement.”
“Signed by whom?”
“Marcus.”
“Then you have expensive toilet paper.”
Marcus moved toward her.
Gerald stepped between them.
Dean watched with amusement.
Nora asked, “Who’s the buyer?”
“That isn’t your concern.”
“It becomes my concern when someone attempts to sell my property.”
Dean leaned back.
“Your property?”
Nora regretted saying it immediately.
Marcus saw the mistake too.
Dean’s eyes sharpened.
“Interesting.”
Gerald intervened.
“This conversation is over.”
Dean stood.
“Not quite.”
He removed an envelope from his jacket and placed it on the table.
Inside was a photograph of Samuel entering a medical clinic six months earlier.
Another showed Gerald leaving Hawthorne Ridge.
Another showed Nora arriving three days before Samuel’s death.
Nora felt her stomach tighten.
“Why were you watching my father?”
Dean said, “We weren’t.”
“Then who took these?”
“That is the twenty-million-dollar question.”
Marcus looked startled.
“Twenty?”
Dean glanced at him.
“You really don’t know?”
Nora leaned forward.
“Know what?”
Dean’s smile disappeared.
“Your father’s house isn’t why people care about this family.”
He pointed toward the floor.
“The question is what’s underneath it.”
Nobody moved.
Dean looked at Marcus.
“You promised us access.”
Nora turned sharply.
“Access to what?”
Marcus said nothing.
Elaine whispered, “You told them about the room?”
“I didn’t know what was in it.”
“You knew enough.”
Dean walked toward the back door.
“Forty-eight hours, Marcus.”
“For what?”
“Either you produce the collateral you promised, or we stop behaving like lenders.”
He paused beside Nora.
“You should ask your attorney about Northstar Holdings.”
Gerald’s face changed.
Very slightly.
But Nora saw it.
Dean saw it too.
“There it is,” Dean said.
Nora turned to Gerald.
“What is Northstar Holdings?”
Gerald did not answer.
Dean opened the door.
Before leaving, he looked back.
“Oh, and Nora?”
“What?”
“Your father wasn’t the only person who knew Evelyn Mercer.”
The three men disappeared outside.
Marcus collapsed into a chair.
Elaine gripped the counter.
Nora faced Gerald.
“Northstar Holdings.”
Gerald removed his glasses.
“Your father owned part of it.”
“How much?”
“Originally?”
“Yes.”
“Thirty-two percent.”
“What does it own?”
Gerald looked toward the basement door.
“Among other things, the land under Hawthorne Ridge.”
Nora frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“The house is only one parcel.”
“How many are there?”
“Forty-seven.”
Nora stared.
Gerald continued.
“Your father did not leave you a house.”
He paused.
“He left you control of a land trust worth approximately sixty-three million dollars.”
May you like
Behind them, Marcus whispered one word.
“Fuck.”
