CHAPTER 6 — THE MAN IN MY SON’S HOUSE
Dean Mercer was Harper’s “business consultant.”
At least that was what she had called him the only time I met him.
He was forty, polished, handsome in the smooth and forgettable way of men who practiced being trusted. He had shaken my hand at a charity dinner and said he admired women who understood family legacy.
At the time, I thought it was a strange compliment.
Now it sounded like research.
I called Alex.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
I dialed my sister Linda.
“I need you to come sit with Sophie.”
Her voice sharpened immediately. “What happened?”
“I’ll explain later.”
Linda arrived twelve minutes later in bedroom slippers and a wool coat thrown over her pajamas.
She took one look at my face and did not ask questions.
“Go,” she said.
I drove to Alex’s house.
The front door was open.
Not unlocked.
Open.
I stepped into the entryway.
A lamp had been knocked over. Broken glass glittered across the floor.
“Alex?”
No answer.
Then I heard shouting from upstairs.
“You used my name!”
Alex’s voice.
A man answered, lower and colder.
“You signed the documents.”
“I never saw those documents.”
“You should read what your wife gives you.”
I moved toward the staircase.
Harper appeared at the top.
Her coat was gone. Her hair had come loose around her face.
“Evelyn, leave.”
“Where is my son?”
“This is private.”
A heavy thud sounded behind her.
I climbed.
Harper blocked the stairs.
“Move.”
“No.”
Another crash.
Then Alex shouted, “Mom, call the police!”
Harper grabbed my wrist.
I looked down at her hand.
“Let go of me.”
“You are not destroying my family.”
“You did that without assistance.”
She tightened her grip.
I pulled free and continued up.
The bedroom looked as if a storm had passed through it.
Papers covered the floor.
A desk drawer hung open.
Alex stood near the window, bleeding from his lower lip.
Dean faced him with one hand clenched.
“Did you hit him?” I asked.
Dean smiled faintly.
“He came at me.”
Alex pointed toward the documents.
“They borrowed against the house.”
I stared at Harper.
“What?”
She looked away.
Alex lifted a page.
“My signature is forged. They used the house as collateral for Dean’s company.”
Dean adjusted his cuff.
“That is an accusation.”
“I’m looking at the papers.”
“You benefited from the investment.”
“I didn’t know it existed!”
Harper moved between them.
“Everyone needs to calm down.”
Alex turned on her.
“Are you sleeping with him?”
Her eyes flashed.
“That has nothing to do with the financial arrangement.”
The answer hit him harder than a confession.
Alex’s shoulders dropped.
Dean stepped toward the bedroom door.
I blocked him.
“You’re not leaving.”
He gave me a patient smile.
“Evelyn, this is a family dispute.”
“No. Forged signatures make it a police matter.”
He reached around me for the door.
I did not move.
The smile disappeared.
“Get out of my way.”
Behind me, Harper whispered, “Dean, don’t.”
He grabbed my upper arm.
Alex lunged.
The three of us collided against the dresser.
A mirror crashed to the floor.
Dean shoved Alex backward.
Alex struck the bedpost and fell.
I reached for my phone.
Dean knocked it from my hand.
Then red and blue lights flashed across the bedroom wall.
Sirens filled the street.
Dean looked toward the window.
Harper stared at me.
“You called them before you came?”
“No,” I said.
A voice sounded from the doorway.
May you like
“I did.”
Sophie stood there in her pink pajamas, holding Linda’s phone.
