I didn't sleep much that night.
At six in the morning, Natalie sent the address of her attorney's office.
Mara came with me.
Garrett stayed nearby.
We met Natalie in a small conference room with frosted windows and a table scarred by years of paperwork.
She looked different from the woman I remembered standing beside the garage.
Thinner.
Tired.
Older.
She kept both hands wrapped around a paper cup she never drank from.
"I know you don't want to see me."
"I don't."
She nodded.
"I deserve that."
"Then tell me why you contacted me."
Natalie looked at Mara.
Her attorney answered.
"She wants to provide information voluntarily."
"About the property?"
"Yes."
I sat down.
"Start there."
Natalie swallowed.
"Your house was never supposed to become yours."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"Claire believed your house was worth more than you told her."
"It is."
"I know."
"Then what did she think?"
Natalie looked down.
"She believed there was something connected to the property."
"Something?"
"A development agreement."
I waited.
She continued.
"Years before you bought the house, the surrounding land was part of a proposed commercial project."
"I know about the old development plans."
"Do you know who owned the adjacent parcels?"
"No."
"Marlene's family."
I stared at her.
Mara leaned forward.
"Explain."
Natalie rubbed her thumb against the paper cup.
"Her father owned several properties in the area. Most were sold over the years. Your parcel was one of them."
"I bought it from a holding company."
"That holding company was connected to him."
I felt a slow pressure behind my eyes.
"Why would that matter?"
"Because your house sits on the only parcel that wasn't sold with the others."
"Why?"
Natalie shook her head.
"I don't know."
Mara asked, "What did they think the parcel was worth?"
"Much more than its market price."
"How much?"
Natalie hesitated.
"Enough to make my mother obsessed with getting it back."
That explained the folder.
It did not explain Lily.
I looked at Natalie.
"Why involve my daughter?"
Natalie's face tightened.
"They believed you would resist."
"That still doesn't explain Lily."
"Claire knew you had changed your estate plans."
I stared at her.
"How?"
"She saw paperwork."
"What paperwork?"
"Your will."
I felt the room become very quiet.
"My will is private."
"Claire was your wife."
"That doesn't answer my question."
Natalie lowered her voice.
"She had access to your office."
I thought about the study.
The locked cabinet.
The old files.
The drawer Claire had once asked me to empty.
I had assumed she was reorganizing.
Mara looked at me.
"Did you ever notice anything missing?"
I thought.
"No."
Natalie spoke again.
"Your wife told us you were planning to leave the house entirely to Lily."
I looked at her.
"That's true."
"She believed that if something happened to you, she would have control of it."
My stomach tightened.
"Because of the custody arrangement."
Natalie nodded.
"She believed she could eventually sell it."
I leaned back.
The pieces began connecting.
The attack.
The property documents.
The will.
The attempt to frighten Lily.
The old family land.
But one piece still didn't fit.
"Why would Marlene care?"
Natalie looked directly at me.
"Because she was drowning in debt."
I said nothing.
"She had been for years."
Mara asked, "How much?"
"I don't know exactly."
"Estimate."
"More than the property was worth when you bought it."
I stared at the table.
"So she wanted my house to rescue herself."
Natalie shook her head.
"Not just your house."
"What else?"
"The land rights."
Mara's expression changed.
"What land rights?"
Natalie took a folded document from her bag.
She slid it across the table.
Mara opened it.
I watched her read.
Her face became increasingly serious.
She handed it to me.
It was an old development agreement.
My property was listed as one of several parcels.
But there was another page.
An easement.
A narrow strip of land crossing the rear of my property.
I knew about it.
I had never considered it important.
Natalie pointed to the final paragraph.
"That is what they wanted."
I read it twice.
The agreement granted access to the neighboring parcels if the development was ever revived.
Mara looked at me.
"This could be valuable."
"How valuable?"
"Potentially very."
Natalie nodded.
"My mother knew that."
"How?"
"She had been trying to revive the development."
I looked at her.
"Without telling me."
"Yes."
"Why not approach me?"
Natalie gave a bitter smile.
"Because she believed you would refuse."
I almost laughed.
She was right.
"What happened to the development?"
"Investors backed out."
"When?"
"Years ago."
"And now?"
Natalie looked at me.
"Someone bought the neighboring parcels."
Mara sat up.
"Who?"
Natalie hesitated.
Then she gave us a name.
A corporation.
One I recognized.
It belonged to a developer who had recently approached the city about a major project.
I had seen the proposal in the newspaper.
I had never connected it to my property.
Mara immediately began taking notes.
"Does Claire know about this?"
"Yes."
"Does Marlene?"
"She started the plan."
"And the sisters?"
Natalie nodded.
"They all knew."
I looked at her.
"You knew too."
Her eyes filled.
"I did."
"Why didn't you stop them?"
"I tried."
"You stood there."
"I know."
"You watched."
"I know."
"Then why should I believe you now?"
She looked down.
"Because after that day, I couldn't sleep."
I said nothing.
"I kept seeing Lily's face."
Her voice cracked.
"I kept hearing her scream."
She wiped her eyes.
"I thought I could pretend I was only there."
She shook her head.
"I wasn't only there."
Mara closed the file.
"Did they plan to transfer the property before or after the attack?"
"Before."
"Then what was the attack supposed to accomplish?"
Natalie looked at me.
"They wanted you distracted."
"From what?"
"From signing."
My heart stopped.
"Signing what?"
"The transfer documents."
Mara's face hardened.
"Where are they?"
Natalie hesitated.
"With Claire."
I stood.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"You do."
"I know where she kept the originals."
Mara raised a hand.
"Don't go there."
I stopped.
Natalie continued.
"There's a safe."
"Where?"
"In your old bedroom."
I stared at her.
The room Claire had packed from.
The room I had avoided entering.
"Does she still have access?"
"No."
"Then how?"
Natalie shook her head.
"She gave the key to Marlene."
My phone rang.
Detective Price.
I answered.
"Elias, we have a problem."
"What happened?"
"Someone attempted to access the property records this morning."
"Who?"
"We're checking."
I looked at Mara.
She already understood.
The investigation wasn't over.
Price continued.
"We also found a second set of documents."
"Where?"
"In a storage unit rented under Claire's name."
My grip tightened.
"What documents?"
He paused.
"Medical forms."
I felt the room tilt.
"Whose?"
"Lily's."
Click here to continue reading: PART 7: The Medical Records Raised a Question None of Us Had Asked, and Claire Had Been Preparing an Answer Before the Attack
The Alert That Turned a Quiet Flight Into the Longest Three Hours and Forty-One Minutes of My Life
Part 6 of 20
