Chapter 6 - What Michael Knew
The search for Michael expanded across the city.
His credit cards remained untouched.
His bank account had not moved.
His phone was switched off.
Police believed someone was helping him.
I believed the same thing.
But I no longer knew whether that person was friend or enemy.
The phrase from Anna’s file repeated in my head.
MICHAEL KNOWS.
Knows what?
That Victor was after the trust?
That Evelyn was helping him?
That Anna had changed her will?
Or something worse?
Lily was discharged that evening.
I took her to my parents’ house instead of home.
She refused to sleep alone.
So I sat beside her until after midnight.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Is Uncle Michael bad?”
I hated the question.
“I don’t know everything yet.”
“He was nice to me.”
“I know.”
“He helped me with fractions.”
“I know.”
She stared at the ceiling.
“Can someone be nice and still do something bad?”
The simplicity of the question hurt.
“Yes.”
“Sometimes people can love you and still make terrible choices.”
She turned toward me.
“Did Grandma love me?”
I could not answer quickly.
Lily noticed.
Finally, I said:
“I think your grandma loved what she wanted more than she protected you.”
“That isn’t the kind of love you deserve.”
Lily closed her eyes.
The next morning, Detective Collins called.
Michael had made contact.
Not with police.
With me.
He sent an email to an address I had used in college.
One he knew I rarely checked.
The message contained only a location and a time.
Underneath, he wrote:
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT ANNA FOUND.
Detective Collins refused to let me go alone.
We compromised.
I would enter alone.
Officers would remain nearby.
The location was an abandoned office building owned by Michael’s failed real estate company.
At 2:03 p.m., I stepped inside.
Dust covered the lobby.
Half the ceiling lights were dead.
Michael stood near the elevators.
He looked exhausted.
His shirt was wrinkled.
His face had not been shaved.
“You brought cops.”
“I brought common sense.”
He almost smiled.
Then he saw my expression.
“Lily okay?”
“She almost died.”
Pain crossed his face.
For one second, I saw my brother.
Then I remembered his signature.
“You helped Evelyn.”
“Yes.”
The answer stunned me.
He did not deny it.
“Why?”
“Because I thought we were scaring you.”
I stepped closer.
“She put peanuts in front of my child.”
“I didn’t know she would do that.”
“You stole from Lily.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Less than you think.”
“Six hundred twelve thousand dollars.”
His eyes opened.
“That wasn’t all me.”
“Then tell me who.”
He looked toward the dark hallway.
“Victor.”
Then his voice dropped.
“But Victor isn’t the reason I called you.”
He reached into his jacket.
Police moved somewhere outside.
Michael slowly removed a flash drive.
“Anna gave me this four days before she died.”
I stared at it.
“She told me if anything happened to her, I was supposed to give it to you.”
My voice came out flat.
“You waited two years.”
Michael’s face twisted with shame.
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
He looked directly at me.
May you like
“Of what’s on it.”
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