Chapter 6 - JASON’S LAPTOP
Megan walked into the hotel room and started crying before I closed the door.
Not loud crying.
The kind that happens when someone has spent hours trying not to fall apart.
Amy hugged her.
For several seconds, my sister couldn’t speak.
I looked at the laptop.
“Where is Jason?”
“I don’t know.”
“When did you last see him?”
“Last night.”
“What happened?”
Megan wiped her face.
“He came home after ten.”
“He barely spoke.”
“He showered.”
“Packed a bag.”
“And said he had to go to Knoxville for work.”
“At ten at night?”
“I knew it was strange.”
“So I asked him.”
“He got angry.”
“Jason never gets angry.”
“What did he say?”
Megan looked at me.
“He told me your mother was destroying our family.”
That surprised me.
“Teresa?”
“He said everything would have been fine if she hadn’t gotten greedy.”
The room went silent.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he mention Leonard?”
Megan nodded slowly.
“He said Leonard was going to blame everyone else.”
I took the laptop from her.
“Did you open it?”
“Yes.”
“Password?”
“He left it unlocked.”
That seemed too convenient.
I looked at Amy.
She understood.
“Maybe he wanted Megan to find it.”
Megan shook her head.
“He was panicking.”
“He forgot everything.”
I opened the laptop.
The desktop looked ordinary.
Emails.
Work files.
Folders.
Then I saw one named MBC.
I clicked it.
Password protected.
I tried Frederick.
Wrong.
Teresa.
Wrong.
Michael.
Wrong.
Megan whispered.
“Try 0712.”
“What is that?”
“Our wedding date.”
I entered it.
The folder opened.
Inside were dozens of scanned records.
The first was my father’s trust.
The second was the resignation document with my forged signature.
The third was a chain of title transfers showing the land moving from my father’s trust to Magnolia Crest Holdings.
Then something caught my eye.
Magnolia Crest’s registered organizer.
Jason Miller.
My brother-in-law.
Megan stared at the screen.
“No.”
Her voice barely existed.
“No.”
She stepped backward.
“He told me he was doing routine paperwork.”
I continued scrolling.
Magnolia Crest had been created in 2013.
Jason and Megan married in 2015.
That meant Jason’s connection to my family’s stolen land existed before he married my sister.
I looked at her.
“How did you meet Jason?”
She seemed confused.
“At Mom’s church barbecue.”
“Who introduced you?”
Megan stared at me.
“Mom.”
Amy covered her mouth.
The implication was horrifying.
Had Jason married Megan because of Teresa?
Was their entire relationship connected to the land?
Megan shook her head.
“No.”
“No.”
“Jason loves me.”
“I’m not saying he doesn’t.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Megan.”
“He cannot have married me because of some property deal.”
“I don’t know.”
She looked at me with tears running down her face.
“I have two children with him.”
“I know.”
Her voice cracked.
“You don’t know.”
“My entire life is in that house.”
“I know.”
“And now you’re telling me my husband met me because Mom needed someone at a title company?”
“I’m telling you we need to find out.”
Megan sat on the edge of the bed.
I continued through the files.
There were emails exported as PDFs.
Several involved Leonard Shaw.
One dated nine years earlier.
Leonard had written:
THE SON HAS NO IDEA.
Jason replied:
TERESA SAYS HE NEVER READ MICHAEL’S LETTER.
Another email.
Leonard:
THE TRUST IS THE ONLY PROBLEM.
Jason:
ELAINE CAN HANDLE THE SIGNATURE.
I stopped.
Megan looked up.
“What?”
I turned the screen away instinctively.
Too late.
She stood.
“Show me.”
“Megan.”
“Show me.”
I turned it back.
She read the email.
Her face collapsed.
“My husband knew.”
I didn’t answer.
There was nothing to say.
Another document contained a financial projection.
If the remaining land was rezoned for mixed residential development, the estimated value could exceed twelve million dollars.
Suddenly four to six million seemed small.
Leonard wasn’t trying to clean up an old scheme.
He wanted the rest of the land before its value exploded.
Then I found a newer email.
Dated six weeks before Frederick’s birthday.
Subject:
NEXT PHASE.
Leonard wrote:
Connor is the obstacle.
Teresa replied from a private email address.
Not after Frederick.
Leonard:
Explain.
Teresa:
Connor won’t fight if he thinks he’s protecting the boy.
We only need Amy gone long enough to establish instability.
My hands began shaking.
Amy read over my shoulder.
She stepped away.
“She was going to use our baby against you.”
Megan covered her face.
I kept reading.
Another message.
Teresa:
Once guardianship is temporary, I can convince him to sign anything.
Leonard:
He didn’t sign last time.
Teresa:
He won’t know he signed this time either.
I felt nauseated.
They were planning another forgery.
Or worse.
I scrolled farther.
A PDF was labeled LIFE.
I opened it.
It was my life insurance policy.
One million dollars.
I had purchased it after Frederick’s birth.
The beneficiary should have been Amy.
The document on Jason’s laptop showed something else.
PRIMARY BENEFICIARY:
TERESA BRADLEY.
I stood so quickly the desk chair tipped over.
“That is impossible.”
Amy stared.
“What?”
“My life insurance.”
I showed her.
“I changed the beneficiary to you last year.”
Megan whispered.
“Can they change it without you?”
“Not legally.”
I called the insurance company.
After identity verification, the representative confirmed that my beneficiary had been changed four months earlier.
Not to Teresa directly.
To the Connor Bradley Family Trust.
I had never created such a trust.
The listed trustee was Teresa.
I asked how the change had been authorized.
“Electronically.”
“From what email?”
The representative gave me an address.
It looked like mine.
One letter was different.
An impersonation account.
My heart was pounding.
“What happens if I die?”
I asked.
Amy stared at me.
The representative hesitated.
“The proceeds would be paid according to the beneficiary designation currently on file.”
“To the trust?”
“Yes.”
“With Teresa controlling it?”
“I can only explain the designation.”
I ended the call.
Nobody spoke.
Then Megan pointed at the screen.
“There’s another file.”
It was called CONNOR TIMELINE.
I opened it.
Dates appeared down the left side.
Financial transfer.
Marriage conflict.
Guardianship petition.
Property execution.
Insurance confirmation.
At the bottom was one final line.
ACCIDENT WINDOW — SEPTEMBER.
August was almost over.
Amy looked at me.
“Connor.”
“What does ‘accident window’ mean?”
I didn’t answer.
I didn’t have to.
Megan’s phone rang.
Jason.
We all froze.
She stared at the screen.
“Answer it.”
I whispered.
She put it on speaker.
“Jason?”
His breathing was heavy.
“Megan, listen to me.”
“Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Did you help my mother steal Connor’s property?”
Silence.
“Jason?”
“I didn’t know what it became.”
“What does that mean?”
“It was supposed to be paperwork.”
“Your name created Magnolia Crest.”
“I know.”
“You lied to me for eleven years.”
“I know.”
“Did you marry me because of Mom?”
Jason began crying.
That frightened me more than anything.
“No.”
“No, Megan.”
“Never.”
“Then why?”
“Because Teresa introduced us after Leonard told me to get close to the family.”
Megan closed her eyes.
“But I stayed because I loved you.”
She made a broken sound.
Jason continued quickly.
“Listen.”
“You need to leave Nashville.”
“Take the kids.”
“Do not go home.”
“Why?”
“Because Leonard knows you have my laptop.”
My heart stopped.
“How?”
I asked.
Jason went silent.
Then he whispered.
“He called me.”
“When?”
“Five minutes ago.”
“What did he say?”
Jason breathed shakily.
“He said I had one chance to fix my mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“The laptop.”
Megan gripped the phone.
“Jason.”
“What does he want?”
A long pause followed.
Then Jason said:
“He wants Connor dead before Monday.”
May you like
The call disconnected.
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