Chapter 8 - The Missing Signature
Natalie returned home before sunset.
She locked every door.
Then she examined the trust documents.
Something was wrong.
The signature on one page looked different.
Her grandmother's name had been copied.
Natalie called Richard.
“Someone forged this.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“You said you did.”
“I said I knew what happened. I never said I knew who did it.”
Natalie stared at the papers.
Then she noticed something.
A date.
The forged document had been created after her grandmother's death.
That meant someone had been manipulating the estate after she died.
Natalie's phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Hello?”
A man's voice said,
“Stop looking.”
“Who is this?”
“You don't know what you're opening.”
“What did you do to my grandmother?”
Silence.
Then:
“Ask your father.”
The call ended.
Natalie immediately called Daniel.
He answered on the first ring.
“Dad.”
“I know.”
“You know what?”
“That someone contacted you.”
Natalie froze.
“How?”
Daniel's voice trembled.
“Because they contacted me too.”
“Who?”
“I can't say.”
“Why?”
“Because if I tell you, you become part of it.”
Natalie laughed bitterly.
“I already am.”
Daniel whispered,
“There's something you need to understand.”
“What?”
“Your grandmother didn't leave you that house because she loved you.”
Natalie stopped.
“What?”
“She left it because she believed you would eventually need protection.”
“Protection from whom?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Instead, he said,
“Check the basement.”
Then he hung up.
Natalie stared toward the staircase.
May you like
The mansion suddenly felt much larger.
And much less safe.
