Chapter 14 - Gerald’s Offer
Gerald finally contacted me directly.
He called from an unknown number.
“Connor.”
His voice was calm.
“You need to stop listening to the police.”
I almost hung up.
Then he said Amy’s name.
I stayed on the line.
“What do you want?”
“I want a deal.”
“You’re in no position to make deals.”
“You’d be surprised.”
He told me Teresa was the real architect of everything.
According to him, she approached him first.
She already knew about the trust.
She already wanted control of my property.
Gerald claimed he merely helped organize documents.
I knew criminals blamed each other when plans collapsed.
But then he mentioned something police had not told me.
A second trust account.
I called Rachel immediately after the call ended.
She contacted Douglas.
My father went silent.
That silence was answer enough.
There was another account.
Approximately $600,000.
Henry Bradley had intended it for my future children.
Frederick.
My mother knew.
Teresa had not merely targeted my inheritance.
She had targeted my son’s.
That erased the last trace of uncertainty inside me.
I gave Hill permission to use me in a controlled call with Gerald.
Gerald called again the next evening.
I followed Hill’s instructions.
I pretended I was angry at Teresa.
I pretended I wanted to settle privately.
Gerald became confident.
He told me he could return original documents if I paid him $150,000 and promised not to testify.
“What documents?”
I asked.
“Documents your mother never should have given me.”
“Where?”
Gerald laughed.
“You think I’m stupid?”
“No.”
I said.
“I think you’re scared.”
The line went quiet.
Then Gerald made his mistake.
“Your mother is the one who should be scared.”
“Why?”
“Because she thinks I destroyed the originals.”
I looked through the glass at Detective Hill.
He nodded for me to continue.
“Originals of what?”
Gerald paused.
Then said.
“The papers showing what she did to Douglas.”
My father.
“What did she do?”
Gerald hung up.
Police traced the call.
For the first time, they got a useful location.
An abandoned commercial property south of Nashville.
Officers surrounded it.
Gerald was not there.
But inside they found a locked briefcase.
Within it were documents carrying Douglas Bradley’s signature.
May you like
And a medical report stating that my father had terminal cancer.
My father had never been diagnosed with cancer.
