Chapter 15 - Forty-Eight Hours
Once we understood the deadline, Mark’s behavior stopped looking reckless.
It looked desperate.
He had promised property he did not own.
He had taken money based on that promise.
He needed my signature before December first.
Thanksgiving had not been chosen because the family would already be together.
It had been chosen because it was the last realistic chance to corner me.
Maya filed an emergency notice with the county recorder and the trust attorney first thing Monday morning, challenging any transfer involving the lake property.
The bank maintained its freeze.
Ryan’s lawyer submitted Caleb’s recording to the family court.
And James’s command received copies of the sheriff’s preliminary notes showing that no witness other than my mother claimed he touched Lauren.
For the first time, Mark started losing control of the story.
At 11:17 a.m., Lauren called me.
I almost didn’t answer.
Then I remembered James’s rule.
Accurate, not emotional.
I started recording and picked up.
“What?”
Lauren was crying.
Not fake crying.
I knew the difference.
“Mark is going to ruin me.”
“You helped him.”
“I know.”
“That’s not an apology.”
“I’m not calling to apologize.”
At least she was honest about one thing.
“He says I owe him one hundred eighty thousand dollars.”
“For what?”
“Everything. Lawyers. The condo. Mom’s transfers. He kept a ledger.”
My head started pounding.
“He told me if you signed, my debt disappeared.”
“So you forged my name.”
Silence.
“Lauren.”
“Yes.”
The word was barely audible.
I closed my eyes.
“You hit Emma.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“She grabbed me and I was angry.”
“No. Why did you laugh?”
That silence was longer.
Finally she whispered, “Because everybody was staring at me and I knew I had screwed up. I laugh when I’m scared.”
I wanted to hate that answer.
Instead, I hated that it sounded human.
Not excusable.
Human.
She continued.
“Mark told me to file against James before you had time to think.”
“And Mom?”
“He told her if she didn’t back me, he’d expose everything.”
“Where are you?”
Another pause.
“In my car.”
“Where?”
“Outside his office.”
James, who had been listening, shook his head sharply.
Do not go.
I agreed.
“Leave,” I told her.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I took something from him.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
James’s eyes widened.
“What’s in it?”
“Every payment. Every transfer. Every person he paid.”
“Get it to your attorney.”
“I don’t have one anymore.”
“Then take it to police.”
“I’m scared.”
Before I could answer, I heard a car door slam on her end.
Lauren gasped.
A man’s voice shouted her name.
Mark.
Then the line went dead.
---
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