Chapter 3 - The Signature
By September, Greg had stopped pretending he was looking for work.
He slept until ten.
He drank beer in Robert's study.
He complained about dinner.
He criticized Carolyn's television volume.
Then one afternoon he placed a document beside her coffee.
"Sign this."
Carolyn did not touch it.
"What is it?"
"Insurance."
"For what?"
"The house."
"I already have insurance."
"Updated liability coverage."
Carolyn read the first page.
The document was not insurance.
It was a limited financial power of attorney naming Sarah as authorized agent.
Carolyn looked up.
Greg did not appear embarrassed.
"You expected me not to read it?"
He shrugged.
"I expected you to trust your daughter."
Sarah entered the kitchen.
"What's going on?"
Carolyn pushed the paper toward her.
"Did you know about this?"
Sarah looked at Greg.
Then at the document.
"It's just temporary."
Carolyn stood.
"No."
"Mom."
"No."
"You're making things difficult for everyone."
"My refusal to surrender control of my finances is difficult?"
Sarah lowered her voice.
"We are the ones taking care of this house."
Carolyn laughed once.
It was not a happy sound.
"You live here without paying rent."
"We cook."
"I buy the groceries."
"We clean."
"I pay a housekeeper."
"We take you places."
"You use my car."
Sarah's face hardened.
"Do you hear yourself?"
"Yes."
"You sound obsessed with money."
Carolyn stared at her daughter.
"You stole thirty-eight thousand dollars from me."
Sarah went silent.
Greg stepped between them.
"We paid some back."
"Four thousand."
"It's a start."
"It has been six months."
Sarah folded her arms.
"What do you want from us?"
"Respect."
Sarah scoffed.
Carolyn looked at her daughter for several seconds.
Then she picked up the power of attorney.
She tore it in half.
Then again.
And again.
She dropped the pieces onto the table.
Greg's face darkened.
"You shouldn't have done that."
Carolyn looked at him.
"Get out."
Sarah blinked.
"What?"
"Both of you."
"Mom."
"You have thirty days."
Greg laughed.
"You can't be serious."
"I am."
Sarah stared at Carolyn as if seeing a stranger.
"What about Lily?"
"Lily is welcome here whenever you bring her respectfully."
"You would throw your granddaughter out?"
"I am asking her parents to find a home."
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
Carolyn almost weakened.
Then Greg spoke.
"Your husband would be ashamed of you."
That ended it.
Carolyn stepped closer.
"Do not speak for Robert."
Greg's expression changed.
He had found the boundary he should not cross.
Carolyn pointed toward the hall.
"Thirty days."
That evening Sarah did something she had never done before.
She searched Carolyn's bedroom.
She found the safe behind Robert's framed sailing photograph.
She did not know the combination.
She photographed it.
Then she found Carolyn's notebook.
Inside were handwritten numbers.
Birthdays.
Anniversaries.
Bank telephone numbers.
The safe combination was not there.
Sarah searched the drawers.
Nothing.
Greg stood at the bedroom door.
"Find it?"
"No."
"We need the trust."
"She could have it at the attorney's office."
"Then get her attorney's name."
"I know who it is."
Greg smiled.
"Good."
Sarah looked uneasy.
"We can't force her."
"Who said force?"
"What are you thinking?"
Greg entered the bedroom.
"Your mother is sixty-five. Recently widowed. Emotionally unstable."
"She's not unstable."
"We know that."
He smiled.
"But documents don't know anything."
Sarah stared at him.
Greg continued.
"We establish that she's confused. Then you manage the estate."
"How?"
"Doctor."
"Her doctor would never do it."
"Then someone else's doctor."
Sarah shook her head.
"This is getting insane."
Greg stepped closer.
"You want to go back to that apartment?"
"We don't have the apartment."
"Exactly."
"We can rent."
"With what?"
Sarah looked away.
Greg lowered his voice.
"You know how much this house is worth?"
Sarah said nothing.
"Two point eight million."
She looked at him.
"And the trust?"
"We don't know."
"Your father owned part of Miller Precision until he died."
"He sold most of it."
"Most."
Sarah remained silent.
Greg smiled.
"You think your brother is going to share if something happens to Carolyn?"
"David would."
"You don't know David anymore."
Sarah did know him.
That was precisely why Greg's plan frightened her.
David would never take their mother's house.
David would never steal from Carolyn.
And if he discovered what they had already done, David would not negotiate.
Sarah picked up Carolyn's notebook.
"What if Mom calls him?"
Greg looked at her.
"Then make sure she doesn't."
That night Sarah blocked David's number.
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The next morning Greg called a man named Dr. Patrick Voss.
And the first stage of their plan began.
