Chapter 9 - The Storage Unit
Sarah returned for the phone the next morning.
She looked exhausted.
No makeup.
Same wine-red dress beneath a borrowed coat.
David opened the door.
"Where's Greg?"
"I don't know."
"You left together."
"We argued."
"About?"
Sarah looked past him.
"Can I see Mom?"
"No."
Her face tightened.
"She's my mother."
"And yesterday you helped your husband trap her inside her house."
"I didn't know he was going to block the door."
"You knew about the power of attorney."
Sarah looked down.
"Some of it."
David held up the phone.
"You left this."
She reached for it.
He did not move.
"I saw Greg's message."
Sarah froze.
"What message?"
"The storage unit."
Her face told him everything.
David lowered his voice.
"What is in it?"
"Nothing."
"Try again."
Sarah turned toward the driveway.
"David, please."
"What's in the unit?"
"I don't know everything."
"What do you know?"
Sarah closed her eyes.
"Documents."
"What documents?"
"Dad's."
David became still.
"What did you take?"
"Greg did it."
"Sarah."
She looked at him.
"After Dad died, Greg found paperwork in the study."
"What paperwork?"
"I don't know."
"Stop saying that."
"I don't."
Her voice broke.
"I swear."
Carolyn appeared behind David.
"Let her inside."
David turned.
"Mom."
"She's standing on my porch."
He stepped aside.
Sarah entered.
Lily remained upstairs.
Carolyn led Sarah into the library.
Nobody sat.
Carolyn looked at her daughter.
"Tell me about the storage unit."
Sarah swallowed.
"Greg rented it last year."
"Before your father died?"
"Yes."
Carolyn's face changed.
"Why?"
"He was storing business things."
"What things?"
"At first, old inventory."
"At first?"
Sarah nodded.
"Then after Dad died, Greg started taking boxes from here."
Carolyn gripped the chair beside her.
"What boxes?"
"Files from Dad's office."
David spoke.
"You watched him?"
Sarah stared at the floor.
"I helped."
Carolyn looked away.
That hurt more than Sarah expected.
"Why?"
"Greg said there could be documents about investments."
"So you robbed your father's office after his funeral."
Sarah began crying.
"I thought we were looking for information."
"About money."
"Yes."
Carolyn nodded slowly.
"Always money."
Sarah wiped her face.
"There was something else."
David stepped closer.
"What?"
"A metal case."
Carolyn turned quickly.
"What metal case?"
"Dark green. Small. Dad kept it behind the bottom cabinet."
Carolyn stared at her.
Robert's military records.
His original partnership agreements.
And a handwritten ledger he had maintained from the earliest years of Miller Precision.
"Where is it?"
"In the unit."
Carolyn walked toward the door.
David stopped her.
"I'm going."
"So am I."
"No."
"It's my property."
"Exactly why you shouldn't walk into a place Greg controls."
Carolyn looked at him.
"I'm done sitting in rooms while other people decide what happens to my things."
David recognized the expression.
Robert had worn the same one.
"Fine."
Rebecca met them twenty minutes later.
Sarah provided the unit number and access code.
The facility manager checked the account.
"Gregory Miller rented this unit thirteen months ago."
Sarah looked confused.
"Thirteen?"
David turned.
"Dad died eleven months ago."
The manager nodded.
"Unit was opened before that."
Carolyn's stomach tightened.
Greg had been searching for Robert's documents while Robert was alive.
They opened the unit.
Dozens of boxes filled the space.
Furniture.
Electronics.
Financial documents.
Robert's tools.
Carolyn's missing jewelry box.
Family photographs.
Even silverware from the dining room.
Carolyn walked deeper inside.
"This isn't storage."
Rebecca looked around.
"It's preparation."
"For what?"
"To empty your house."
Sarah covered her mouth.
"No."
David opened one box.
Inside were printed photographs of Carolyn's home.
Each room had handwritten notes.
Sell.
Keep.
Auction.
Replace.
Carolyn picked up a photograph of her bedroom.
Beside Robert's dresser, Greg had written antique dealer.
Sarah leaned against the wall.
"He told me we would only sell things Mom didn't use."
Carolyn looked at her.
"I used my wedding ring."
Sarah froze.
Carolyn opened the jewelry box.
The ring was gone.
"So was it something I didn't use?"
"Mom, I didn't know."
"How many times do you plan to say that?"
Sarah began sobbing.
David searched the back of the unit.
He found the green metal case.
Locked.
Carolyn knew where the key was.
Robert had kept it on his old watch chain.
Carolyn wore the chain around her neck.
She opened the case.
Inside were the documents she expected.
But there was something else.
A small digital recorder.
Carolyn frowned.
"I've never seen this."
David pressed play.
Robert's voice filled the storage unit.
"If Greg Miller ever hears this recording, understand that I know what you are doing."
Sarah collapsed onto a cardboard box.
Carolyn stared at the recorder.
Robert continued.
"You asked me for four hundred thousand dollars on October eighth. When I refused, you threatened to make Sarah choose between you and this family."
David's expression hardened.
"I have copies of your gambling records and the loans you hid from her."
Sarah whispered, "What?"
The recording continued.
"You also asked me how quickly property transfers after the death of a spouse."
Carolyn covered her mouth.
"I don't know whether you're merely desperate or dangerous, Greg."
Robert paused.
"But if anything happens to me unexpectedly, Rebecca Sloan has been instructed to review everything."
Everyone in the unit became still.
Sarah stared at the recorder.
Robert's next sentence changed the case completely.
"And if you ever tell Sarah that I agreed to lend you the money, this recording proves you lied."
Sarah looked at David.
"He told me Dad promised him four hundred thousand."
David said nothing.
Sarah's face collapsed.
"He said Dad died before signing the transfer."
Carolyn closed her eyes.
For eleven months, Sarah had justified everything by believing her father owed Greg money.
Greg had built the foundation of his control on a lie.
Rebecca stopped the recorder.
"There's a date."
David looked at her.
"When?"
"Four days before Robert died."
Nobody spoke.
May you like
Then Sarah whispered the question all three of them were thinking.
"Did Greg know Dad made this recording?"
