Chapter 6: The Second Envelope
By the time Evelyn drove me home, I had received four more calls from Dad.
I didn't answer them.
Instead, I watched the houses slide past the passenger window and tried to understand why Tyler had disappeared.
Was he running away?
Had Linda sent him somewhere?
Or had he finally realized that the people he had spent his life protecting were prepared to sacrifice him too?
Evelyn parked a block from my house.
“Don't go inside until you know who's there,” she said.
“That's my home.””
“I understand.””
“No, you don't. My dad is in there, and he thinks I stole something. Linda is probably telling him I'm a criminal. If I stay away, she'll convince him I'm guilty.””
Evelyn considered this.
“Then we go in together. But you do not surrender the original document, and you do not sign anything.””
We walked toward the house.
The front door stood open.
Inside, Dad was pacing the living room with his phone pressed to his ear. Linda sat at the dining table, a stack of papers spread before her.
When she saw Evelyn, she stood so abruptly that her chair toppled backward.
“You!””
Evelyn closed the door.
“Hello, Linda.””
For the first time since I'd known her, my stepmother looked genuinely unable to speak.
Then she recovered.
“You have no right to be here.””
“I'm here because Emily contacted me about a possible forgery involving her beneficial interest in a trust.””
Linda turned to Dad.
“You knew she was doing this?””
Dad lowered his phone.
“I didn't know she was meeting Evelyn.””
Linda's expression hardened.
“So you've been hiding things from me too.””
Evelyn placed her folder on the coffee table.
“We need to discuss the transfer authorization.””
“There is nothing to discuss,” Linda snapped.
“That document is an internal draft.””
“An internal draft that was submitted to the trust administrator?””
Linda said nothing.
Evelyn continued.
“The administrator has a duty to investigate any material discrepancy in a beneficiary's authorization. If the signature is forged, the attempted transfer can be challenged.””
“You can't prove it's forged.””
“I haven't finished investigating.””
Linda laughed bitterly.
“You disappeared for three years, and now you think you can walk into my home and accuse me of fraud?””
“This isn't your home to use as a shield.””
Dad stepped between them.
“Enough. Both of you.””
I looked at him.
“Dad, where is Tyler?””
He rubbed his forehead.
“I don't know.””
“When did you last see him?””
“About an hour ago. Linda said he went to his room. When I checked, he was gone.””
“Did he take anything?””
Linda's gaze flicked toward the dining table.
“No.””
Evelyn noticed.
“So you know he took something.””
“I didn't say that.””
“You looked at the papers when Emily asked.””
Linda grabbed the top sheet and shoved it into a folder.
“This is a family matter.””
“Forgery is not a family matter,” Evelyn replied.
“And neither is the attempted diversion of trust assets.””
Linda leaned across the table.
“You have no idea what you're talking about.””
Evelyn didn't move.
“Then explain why the authorization was submitted through Vale Holdings.””
The name silenced the room.
Dad stared at Linda.
“What is Vale Holdings?””
Linda's mouth opened, then closed.
“An investment company.””
“Whose company?”” Dad demanded.
“It's not relevant.””
“It's relevant if someone is trying to transfer Emily's inheritance to it!””
Linda's face flushed.
“You don't understand the arrangement.””
“Then explain it!””
For the first time, Dad sounded like the man who had raised me before Linda entered our lives.
But the anger in his voice didn't make me feel safe.
It made me realize how much he had allowed himself not to know.
Linda pushed away from the table.
“I have spent years keeping this family together. I have sacrificed everything for you and your daughter, and now you are letting a woman who abandoned us walk in here and accuse me of crimes.””
Evelyn's expression remained composed.
“I never abandoned anyone. I left because someone threatened my child.””
“Convenient.””
“Do you want to explain why the threat came from a number registered to a company associated with Richard Vale?””
Linda's face changed.
It happened in an instant.
Her eyes widened. Her lips parted. One hand moved instinctively toward her purse.
Dad saw it.
“Linda?””
She grabbed her bag.
“I need to make a call.””
“No,” Dad said.
“You're going to answer the question.””
She stared at him.
Then she said, “I don't owe you an explanation for every person I knew before we met.””
“No one asked you about everyone you knew. Evelyn asked about Richard Vale.””
Linda's voice dropped.
“Richard is dead.””
Evelyn tilted her head.
“Who told you that?””
Linda didn't answer.
“Did you see a death certificate?”” Evelyn asked.
“Did you attend his funeral? Did you speak to the authorities?””
“Stop interrogating me!””
“Then stop making claims you can't support.””
Linda's face twisted with anger.
“You always thought you were better than everyone else.””
“No,” Evelyn said quietly.
“I simply kept copies.””
She opened her folder and placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Linda standing outside a hotel beside Richard Vale. He had one hand on her shoulder. She was smiling up at him.
The date printed on the back was almost exactly one year before Linda married Dad.
Dad picked up the photograph.
“Who is this man?””
Linda looked away.
“Someone from my past.””
“Did you have a relationship with him?””
“Mark, please.””
“Did you?””
She swallowed.
“Yes.””
Dad lowered the photograph.
“And Tyler?””
Linda went completely still.
Evelyn spoke before she could answer.
“Your grandmother suspected Richard was Tyler's biological father. She never obtained a definitive test, but she found evidence that Richard had made payments to Linda for several years.””
Dad looked as if he'd been struck.
“Payments?””
Linda's eyes filled with tears.
“I was young. I was scared. Richard wasn't the man you think he was.””
“Did you know he was stealing from Margaret?””
“No.””
“Did you know about the trust?””
Linda didn't answer.
Dad's voice rose.
“Did you know?””
She covered her face.
“I knew Margaret had money. I knew she wanted Emily protected. I didn't know how much.””
Evelyn placed another document on the table.
“Then perhaps you can explain why Vale Holdings submitted a transfer request using Emily's forged signature.””
Linda stared at the page.
For several seconds, she seemed to be searching for a lie convincing enough to save her.
Then she said something I hadn't expected.
“I didn't forge her signature.””
“Who did?”” I asked.
Linda looked at me.
“Tyler.””
The room went silent.
I felt as if the floor had dropped away beneath my feet.
“You're blaming Tyler now?””
“He took the document. He copied your signature. He said he could make the transfer look legitimate.””
“You knew?””
Linda's tears disappeared.
“I knew he had the document. I didn't know he'd actually submit it.””
Evelyn's expression hardened.
“Where is the original authorization?””
“I don't know.””
“Where is Tyler?””
“I don't know!””
Dad slammed his palm against the table.
“Stop lying!””
Linda flinched.
He stared at her, breathing hard.
“Did you help him forge Emily's signature?””
“No.””
“Did you help him access the trust?””
“No!””
“Did you know about the company?””
Linda hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
Dad stepped away from the table.
“Get out.””
She blinked.
“What?””
“Go somewhere else. I need time to think.””
“This is my home.””
“Then tell me the truth.””
“I have told you the truth!””
“No. You've told me pieces of it whenever the whole thing became too dangerous to hide.””
Linda looked at me.
For the first time, she seemed to understand that the balance of power in the house had shifted.
She grabbed her purse and walked toward the stairs.
Halfway up, she turned.
“You think you've won, Emily?””
I didn't answer.
She pointed at me.
“You have no idea what your grandmother did to this family. If you keep digging, you'll destroy the only people who ever cared about you.””
I held her gaze.
“Then why are you so afraid of what I'll find?””
She stared at me for a long moment.
Then she disappeared upstairs.
Dad sank into a chair.
Evelyn gathered the documents.
“We need to contact the trust administrator and preserve the evidence. We should also consider reporting the suspected forgery.””
Dad nodded slowly.
“I'll cooperate.””
I looked at him.
“Will you tell the police what you knew about the original transfer?””
“Yes.””
“And the money that disappeared?””
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.””
I wanted to believe him.
But belief wasn't enough anymore.
Evelyn was preparing to leave when I noticed something beneath the dining table.
A small black flash drive.
I picked it up.
“Dad, is this yours?””
He shook his head.
Evelyn took it carefully.
“Don't plug it into anything yet.””
She examined the casing.
A strip of white tape was wrapped around one side. On it, someone had written two words in blue ink.
*FOR EMILY.*
My heart began racing.
“Tyler left it,” I whispered.
Evelyn placed it inside a protective sleeve.
“Possibly.””
Dad stared at the flash drive.
“Why would Tyler leave something for you?””
I thought about the blood on his hand. The fear in his voice outside my bedroom. The way he had asked me to delete the recording.
Maybe he had wanted to protect himself.
Maybe he had wanted to protect Linda.
Or maybe, for the first time in his life, he had realized that his lies had gone too far.
Evelyn put the flash drive in her folder.
“We'll examine it securely.””
My phone rang.
An unknown number.
I answered before Evelyn could stop me.
“Tyler?””
A boy's voice came through the line, breathless and frightened.
“Emily, listen to me. You have to get out of the house.””
“Where are you?””
“Don't ask. Just listen. Mom found out I copied the files.””
“What files?””
“The ones from Dad's office. The ones that prove who took Grandma's money.””
I looked at Dad.
His face had gone white.
“Tyler, what are you talking about?””
A loud crash sounded at the other end.
Tyler gasped.
Then I heard Linda's voice.
“Give me the phone!””
The call cut off.
For several seconds, no one moved.
Then Dad grabbed his keys.
“I'm going to find him.””
Evelyn caught his arm.
“Mark, wait.””
He turned on her.
“My son is missing!””
Evelyn looked at the flash drive in her folder.
“Then we need to find out what he copied before anyone else gets to it.””
Dad stared at her.
“What if the files prove Tyler is innocent?””
Evelyn's answer was quiet.
“Then they may also prove that someone else has been using him.””
My phone buzzed one final time.
A photograph appeared.
It showed Tyler sitting in the back of a car, his wrists held together with plastic ties.
May you like
Beneath it was a message.
Bring the original trust document to the old Vale warehouse by six tonight. Come alone, or your stepbrother will disappear.
