Chapter 2 - THE MAN MARTIN CALLED FIRST
The man’s name was Samuel Reed.
Fifty-two.
Retired state investigator.
Now a private security consultant.
Kalin had never met him.
He knew her father.
That was enough to make her suspicious.
Samuel crouched at a distance.
“I’m not coming closer unless you say.”
Kalin stared.
“Why are you here?”
“Your mother’s SUV passed my trail camera.”
“What?”
“I own the cabin two miles north.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
Samuel looked toward the road.
“Your father hired me five years ago.”
Kalin’s heart pounded.
“For what?”
“To watch Diane.”
Kalin almost laughed.
Then stopped because Samuel did not.
“My dad hired you to spy on my mom?”
“He hired me to investigate money missing from a family trust.”
That sentence felt absurd in the cold.
Kalin gripped the deer stand post.
“My father didn’t have a trust.”
Samuel looked at her.
“That’s what Diane told you?”
Kalin said nothing.
Samuel removed his coat and placed it on the ground between them.
“Take it if you want.”
She did.
Pride lost to temperature.
He helped her into the vehicle only after she agreed.
The truck heater burned painfully against her hands.
Samuel gave her water.
Then drove.
“Where?”
“Your house.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You want a hospital?”
Kalin thought of Diane.
Her satisfied face.
“You said home.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Samuel’s expression became unreadable.
“Because your mother thinks it’s empty.”
Kalin stared.
Samuel continued:
“She told your housekeeper to take three days off. She canceled the evening nurse.”
“I don’t have an evening nurse.”
“She has been billing one.”
Kalin went cold.
“What?”
Samuel glanced at her.
“Your father’s trust has been paying disability support for you for three years.”
“I don’t receive disability support.”
“I know.”
Kalin sat frozen.
Then Samuel asked:
“Did Diane ever tell you who owns the house?”
“My mother.”
“No.”
Kalin frowned.
“My dad left it to her.”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Samuel looked at her.
“You.”
Kalin laughed.
“That’s impossible.”
“Your father left Diane a lifetime management right only if you were medically unable to manage property yourself.”
The pieces began moving.
The doctor visits Diane insisted on attending.
The mail she opened.
The bank statements Kalin never saw.
The constant reminders:
You can’t manage alone.
You can’t work consistently.
You’d lose the house in a month.
Kalin stared at Samuel.
“She’s trying to make me incompetent.”
“She may already have tried.”
The truck turned onto a paved road.
Samuel continued:
“Martin believed she would eventually push too far.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“He tried.”
Kalin shook her head.
“No.”
“He left letters.”
“I never got them.”
Samuel’s jaw tightened.
“Exactly.”
They reached the Halverson house at 9:40 p.m.
Samuel used a key.
Kalin stared.
“Why do you have that?”
“Your father gave me emergency access.”
Inside, the house was dark.
Warm.
Familiar.
Kalin limped to the living room and sat in Martin’s old chair.
Samuel found blankets.
Then said:
“I need to leave before she returns.”
“What?”
“She cannot know yet that I’m involved.”
Kalin stared.
“You want me to sit here alone?”
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“She believes abandoning you out there will create a medical crisis.”
Kalin went still.
“She expects you to be found confused, hypothermic, maybe injured.”
“Why?”
“So she can petition for emergency guardianship.”
Kalin’s face changed.
Samuel continued:
“She has a filing prepared for tomorrow.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve been watching the attorney.”
Kalin’s fear turned cold.
Then headlights swept across the front windows.
Samuel moved toward the side hallway.
“That’s her.”
Kalin stared at the door.
“Stay.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because her face when she sees you will tell us more than anything she says afterward.”
Samuel disappeared through the back hall.
Outside, Diane stepped from the SUV.
She laughed to herself.
“Finally. I’m rid of her.”
Kalin heard the lock.
The front door opened.
Diane walked inside.
Then froze.
Kalin sat calmly in Martin’s chair.
Dirty from the woods.
Face pale.
Eyes steady.
Diane’s keys slipped from her hand.
Kalin smiled.
“Back already, Mom?”
Diane’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
May you like
And Kalin knew Samuel had been right.
Her mother had expected her not to come home.
