Chapter 9 - The Funeral Papers
I remembered the day after my mother’s funeral because I had not slept.
The house smelled like lilies.
People kept bringing casseroles.
David handled everything.
He answered the door.
He spoke to the funeral home.
He organized flowers.
He brought me papers and told me where to sign.
Insurance forms.
Acknowledgments.
Tax documents.
Estate paperwork.
I signed without reading most of them.
Not because I trusted paperwork.
Because I trusted my husband.
That realization made me physically ill.
Thomas asked the obvious question.
“Do you remember signing company documents?”
“No.”
“Property transfer forms?”
“No.”
“Anything relating to the townhouse?”
“No.”
“Could David have included documents among legitimate estate papers?”
I covered my face.
“Yes.”
Diane grabbed my hand.
“Rebecca.”
“I don’t know what I signed.”
“That doesn’t mean you authorized fraud.”
“I signed things.”
“You were grieving.”
“I still signed.”
Thomas looked at me through the mirror.
“Stop.”
I lowered my hands.
“Being deceived into signing one document does not authorize ten others.”
“But what if my actual signature is on something?”
“Then we determine what happened.”
His calm helped.
Barely.
We drove directly to his office.
Melissa emailed the Blue Cedar records.
Thomas printed them.
The formation documents contained my signature.
It looked real.
More real than the hotel authorization.
I stared at it.
“That might actually be mine.”
Thomas examined the date.
“Do you remember where you were?”
I checked my phone calendar from three years earlier.
The date was eight days after Mom’s funeral.
I had been at the lawyer’s office handling probate.
David had been with me.
I remembered signing a stack of papers.
Thomas nodded.
“This may be genuine.”
My stomach dropped.
“Then I own half this company?”
“On paper.”
“I don’t want it.”
“That isn’t the problem.”
“What is?”
“If your signature is genuine, David may argue you knew.”
Diane leaned forward.
“Knew what?”
“That assets were being transferred.”
I stared at him.
“You think he’s setting me up.”
Thomas did not answer immediately.
That was answer enough.
I stood.
“No.”
“Rebecca.”
“No.”
“He can cheat.”
“He can steal.”
“He can forge things.”
“But he is not turning me into the criminal.”
Thomas’s voice stayed calm.
“Then we prove what happened.”
“How?”
“Tracing.”
“Email metadata.”
“Device records.”
“Witnesses.”
“Notary logs.”
“Bank authentication.”
“And most importantly, motive.”
I stopped pacing.
“Motive.”
“Yes.”
“Who benefits?”
I looked at the Blue Cedar ownership.
Rebecca Harrison.
Eleanor Harrison.
Not David.
That was deliberate.
If money disappeared, David could point toward us.
His wife.
His mother.
Two women.
One company.
He stood outside it.
My stomach turned.
“He didn’t put his own name anywhere.”
Thomas nodded.
“Exactly.”
Diane whispered.
“That son of a bitch.”
Thomas continued.
“If this is what I think, David may be preparing two different stories.”
I sat down.
“What stories?”
“To Melissa, you voluntarily surrendered property.”
“To family, your marriage ended and finances were being separated.”
“To banks, you authorized loans.”
“To Blue Cedar records, you transferred property.”
“And if investigators ever came?”
He looked directly at me.
“You and Eleanor controlled the company.”
My blood went cold.
“He set up his own mother too.”
“Potentially.”
I thought about Eleanor running with the ledger.
“Unless she knew.”
Thomas nodded.
“Also possible.”
My phone rang.
Emily.
I answered.
“Mom.”
Her voice shook.
“Something happened.”
“What?”
“Noah got an email.”
I looked at Thomas.
“From who?”
“Dad’s company.”
“What does it say?”
“That the wedding expenses are under review.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Dad apparently listed part of the wedding as a company event.”
Thomas closed his eyes briefly.
I almost screamed.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Emily continued.
“They’re asking Noah to confirm vendor invoices.”
“What vendors?”
“The band.”
“The photographer.”
“The transportation.”
“The hotel rooms.”
Thomas mouthed one word.
Fraud.
I asked Emily to forward the email.
Within seconds, Thomas had it.
He read.
His face became grim.
“Rebecca.”
“What?”
“David submitted business reimbursement requests.”
“For the wedding?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Nearly ninety thousand dollars.”
I stared at him.
“But I paid most of it.”
“Exactly.”
“He submitted my expenses?”
“It appears so.”
Diane swore.
Thomas kept reading.
“There’s another issue.”
“What?”
“He identified EMH Holdings as an event partner.”
My stomach tightened.
“Emily’s initials.”
“Yes.”
“And he lists Emily as a beneficiary.”
I closed my eyes.
“He’s dragging her into it.”
Thomas nodded.
“Potentially.”
I turned back to the phone.
“Emily, do not respond.”
“I won’t.”
“Forward everything to Thomas.”
“Okay.”
“Where is your father?”
“I don’t know.”
Then she hesitated.
“Actually.”
“What?”
“He texted me.”
“When?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
“What did he say?”
Emily read it aloud.
I’m sorry your mother is turning this into something ugly.
I hope someday you understand how much I sacrificed for this family.
My jaw clenched.
Then Emily continued.
There’s more.
“What?”
He said I should be careful what documents I give you because Grandma Eleanor could lose everything.
Thomas looked up sharply.
“Ask her if he mentioned the ledger.”
I did.
Emily went quiet.
“Yes.”
My pulse jumped.
“What exactly?”
“He said if Grandma contacts me about an old red book, I should not take it.”
Every person in Thomas’s office stopped moving.
“Did Eleanor contact you?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Then Emily gasped softly.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“There was something in my wedding bag.”
My heartbeat accelerated.
“What wedding bag?”
“The emergency tote.”
“The one Grandma Eleanor carried upstairs yesterday.”
I remembered.
Eleanor had volunteered to carry Emily’s personal items from the bridal suite to the hotel room.
“Where is it?”
“Here.”
I could hear fabric moving.
Noah spoke in the background.
Then Emily went silent.
“Emily?”
Nothing.
“Sweetheart?”
She inhaled sharply.
“Oh my God.”
“What?”
“I found something.”
My entire body tensed.
“What is it?”
“A book.”
I stood.
“What color?”
Her voice became a whisper.
May you like
“Red.”
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