Chapter 4 - The Money Before the House
Emma's father had been dead for fourteen years.
Daniel Carter had been the kind of man strangers remembered.
He was not wealthy.
He repaired industrial cooling systems, volunteered at the local fire department, and carried peppermint candies in every jacket pocket.
Emma had always thought of him as uncomplicated.
Margaret destroyed that illusion with one sentence.
"Your father had another account."
Emma closed the bedroom door.
Downstairs, Brandon was sending the guests home.
Vanessa could be heard arguing with someone in the foyer.
Emma sat opposite her mother.
"What account?"
Margaret rubbed her trembling hands together.
"Before he died, Daniel received money."
"From whom?"
"I don't know."
"How much?"
Margaret looked at her.
"Nearly six hundred thousand dollars."
Emma stared.
Her father had died after a workplace accident.
At the time, the Carter family had struggled with hospital bills.
Six hundred thousand dollars would have changed everything.
"You're telling me Dad had six hundred thousand dollars?"
"Not exactly."
"What does that mean?"
"He said it wasn't his."
Emma's confusion deepened.
Margaret reached beneath the mattress.
She withdrew a worn envelope.
Emma stared at it.
"You kept that here?"
"I kept it with me."
Inside was a handwritten note.
Margaret gave it to Emma.
The handwriting belonged to Daniel.
If anything happens to me, do not return the money.
Do not contact the people who sent it.
Use it only if necessary to protect Emma and Brandon.
D.
Emma read it twice.
Her heartbeat slowed into something heavier.
"Protect us from what?"
"I asked him."
"What did he say?"
"He said he'd made a mistake years before."
Emma looked toward the open balcony doors.
"Was the first payment for this house made with that money?"
Margaret nodded.
Emma stood abruptly.
"No."
"Emma..."
"I bought this house."
"You did."
"I made every payment."
"Yes."
"The down payment came from my savings."
Margaret shook her head.
"Most of it did."
Emma stared.
"Most?"
"You were short at closing."
Memory returned.
Twelve years earlier.
A transfer delay.
Her savings account temporarily frozen during a bank merger.
Her mother had unexpectedly covered part of the down payment.
Margaret had told her it came from an old insurance settlement.
"How much?"
"One hundred eighty thousand."
Emma felt the room tilt.
"So the paper downstairs..."
"May trace back to the account Daniel told me never to discuss."
Emma paced toward the window.
"And somebody just broke into my room after Vanessa opened that file."
Margaret nodded.
"They weren't looking for jewelry."
A knock came.
Brandon entered before Emma answered.
Vanessa stood behind him.
Her anger had been replaced by panic.
"Police are coming," Brandon said.
Emma looked at him.
"Good."
Vanessa pointed at Margaret.
"Tell her."
Margaret flinched.
Emma stepped between them.
"Don't point at her."
Vanessa lowered her hand.
"Tell Emma who called this afternoon."
Margaret looked confused.
"I didn't receive a call."
"Not you."
Vanessa looked at Brandon.
Emma turned.
Brandon's face had gone pale again.
"Who called?"
He rubbed his forehead.
"I thought it was a scam."
"Who?"
"A man."
"What man?"
"He said his name was Elias."
Margaret stood.
The color left her face.
Emma noticed immediately.
"You know that name."
Margaret whispered, "Your father did."
Brandon stared.
"What?"
Margaret looked toward the old photograph.
"The night before Daniel died, he came home bleeding."
Emma's chest tightened.
"The factory accident was the next morning."
Margaret nodded.
"He told me if anyone named Elias ever contacted us, I was to take you both and leave."
A siren sounded outside.
Vanessa whispered, "Maybe we should."
Emma looked at the darkening garden.
"No."
She folded her father's note.
"We've spent fourteen years not knowing what we're running from."
May you like
She slipped it into her pocket.
"I'm done running from something without a name."
