Chapter 5 - The Empty Unit.
The storage facility manager could not let Connor into Teresa's unit without authorization.
Connor had expected that.
He had not expected the manager to recognize his name.
"Bradley?"
The man behind the counter adjusted his glasses.
"Connor Bradley?"
Connor nodded.
The manager looked toward Amy, then back at Connor.
"Your mother listed you as an emergency contact."
Connor felt a flicker of hope.
"Does that let me access the unit?"
"No."
The manager shook his head.
"But I can tell you someone cleared most of it this morning."
"Who?"
"The renter and an authorized guest."
"Mason?"
"I can't provide personal information beyond what's appropriate, but if you have a legal request, our office will preserve video and access records."
Connor handed him Rachel's card.
"Please do that."
The manager nodded.
Then he hesitated.
"There is one other thing."
Connor waited.
"A box was left near the loading area after they departed."
"What kind of box?"
"Banker's box. No name. We put it in lost and found."
Connor's heart accelerated.
"Can I see it?"
The manager shook his head again.
"Not if I can't establish ownership."
Connor understood the caution, even though every instinct told him to demand the box.
Rachel arrived forty minutes later after speaking with the facility's corporate office.
She asked the manager to preserve the box without opening it until ownership and any investigation were clarified.
Connor stood beside her in the parking lot afterward.
"So we leave the thing that might contain my stolen documents sitting twenty feet away?"
Rachel folded her arms.
"We do this cleanly."
"My mother didn't."
"That is exactly why you should."
Amy touched Connor's arm.
"She's right."
Connor exhaled.
The three of them returned home.
A white SUV was parked across the street.
Connor recognized it immediately.
Aunt Betsy.
She stepped out before Connor reached the driveway.
"We need to talk."
Connor kept walking.
"You had that chance yesterday."
"Mason is blaming me for everything."
"Maybe because you were involved."
Betsy glanced at Rachel.
"Who's this?"
"My attorney."
Betsy's confidence weakened.
"You hired a lawyer against your mother?"
Connor stopped at the front steps.
"I hired a lawyer to understand documents carrying a signature I didn't make."
Betsy rubbed her hands together.
"Teresa said the signature was just a sample."
Rachel's eyes sharpened.
"A sample for what?"
Betsy looked as though she regretted speaking.
Connor waited.
"For practice."
Amy stared at her.
"Practice signing his name?"
Betsy immediately shook her head.
"That's not what I meant."
"Then say what you mean."
For once, the words came from Amy with no hesitation.
Betsy looked at her in surprise.
Amy stepped closer.
"You laughed when I was in that kitchen holding my sick son."
Betsy opened her mouth.
Amy continued.
"You told me a woman who was financially supported should earn her place."
Betsy's face reddened.
"I was joking."
"I wasn't laughing."
Connor looked at his aunt.
"Neither was I."
Betsy glanced toward the SUV.
"Teresa told us you were tired of Amy spending your money."
Connor's expression hardened.
"What money did she say Amy spent?"
"Clothes. Food. Things for the baby."
Amy gave a bitter laugh.
"Things for our baby?"
"I'm telling you what she said."
Connor stepped closer.
"Did you help her copy my records?"
Betsy went still.
"Mason said you did."
Her eyes immediately filled with anger.
"Mason doesn't know what he's talking about."
"Did you?"
Betsy looked at Rachel again.
Rachel said nothing.
That silence seemed to make Betsy more nervous than any accusation.
"Years ago, when your father died, Teresa had a box of documents."
Connor's chest tightened.
"Go on."
"She asked me to scan them."
"My documents?"
"Some were yours."
"Did that include my Social Security number?"
Betsy closed her eyes.
"Probably."
Connor looked away toward the street because he needed a second before speaking.
"And recently?"
"She asked if I still had the scans."
"When?"
"Three months ago."
"Did you give them to her?"
Betsy nodded once.
Amy whispered, "Oh my God."
Betsy immediately became defensive.
"She said you needed copies for refinancing."
"Did you ask me?"
"She's your mother."
Connor looked back at her.
"That sentence has cost me enough."
Betsy flinched.
Rachel asked whether Teresa had discussed the private mailbox.
Betsy's eyes flickered.
Connor caught it.
"You paid for it."
Betsy looked stunned.
"What?"
"The anonymous message said to ask who paid for the box."
Betsy slowly shook her head.
"Lena had no right to—"
Connor held up a hand.
"So you did."
Betsy sat down on the front step.
The fight seemed to leave her shoulders.
"Teresa said she didn't want financial mail coming to her house because she was worried about identity theft."
The irony was so sharp Connor almost laughed.
"What was sent there?"
"I don't know."
"Think."
Betsy rubbed her forehead.
"Bank letters. Credit offers. Something from a title company."
Rachel leaned forward slightly.
"What title company?"
Betsy named one in downtown Nashville.
Rachel wrote it down.
Connor's phone buzzed.
A fraud alert filled the screen.
A new attempt had just been made to reset the password on one of his financial accounts.
The location attached to the security alert was less than a mile away.
Connor showed Rachel.
She immediately told him not to drive there.
Instead, he called the bank and locked the account.
While he was speaking, another alert appeared.
Then another.
Someone was trying multiple accounts in rapid succession.
Amy looked toward the street.
"Connor."
He followed her gaze.
The white SUV was gone.
Betsy was still sitting on the step.
But at the far end of the block, an emerald-green sedan pulled away from the curb.
Teresa drove an emerald-green sedan.
Connor ended the bank call and stared after it.
Rachel's voice was calm.
"Document the time."
Connor did.
Then Betsy's phone rang.
She looked at the screen and went pale.
"It's Teresa."
Connor held out his hand.
"Answer it."
Betsy shook her head.
The call stopped.
A text appeared instead.
Betsy read it and immediately covered the screen.
Amy saw enough to react.
"What did she say?"
Betsy stood too quickly.
"I have to go."
Connor stepped aside rather than block her.
"Show me the message."
"No."
"Then at least tell me if it involves my documents."
Betsy's eyes filled with tears.
"Connor, you don't understand."
"Then help me understand."
She looked at him for a long moment.
Then she turned the phone around.
The message contained only nine words.
DON'T SAY ANOTHER WORD.
I STILL HAVE YOUR FILE.
Betsy did not leave immediately after showing Connor the threatening message.
She sat in her SUV with the driver's door open while Amy brought her a bottle of water.
The kindness embarrassed her more than anger would have.
"After what I said to you, you don't owe me anything."
Amy handed her the bottle anyway.
"This isn't about what I owe you."
Betsy looked down.
"Teresa always made it sound like you were weak."
Amy gave a tired smile.
"She made me feel weak too."
Betsy looked up.
That admission changed something between them.
Betsy explained that Teresa's files were never openly described as blackmail.
Teresa called them memory folders.
She said families forgot who paid for what, who promised what, and who caused problems.
The folders were supposedly a way to keep facts straight.
Over time, Betsy noticed Teresa only preserved facts that gave her power.
A late payment became irresponsibility.
A private complaint became disloyalty.
A borrowed amount became lifelong debt.
"She doesn't invent everything."
Betsy wiped her eyes.
"That's why it's so hard to fight her."
"She takes one real thing and builds five false meanings around it."
Connor thought about Amy's old work message.
He had not seen it yet, but he suddenly understood what Teresa's folder on Amy would probably contain.
Real documents.
False story.
Rachel asked Betsy whether Teresa had ever kept original documents rather than copies.
Betsy nodded.
"Sometimes."
"Where?"
"Usually the storage unit."
"And after she cleared it?"
Betsy looked at the threatening text again.
"She said there was one place nobody would search because it was too obvious."
Connor felt a chill.
"Her house?"
Betsy shook her head.
"No."
"Your house."
Connor and Amy looked at each other.
The possibility was horrifying because Teresa had enjoyed free access for years.
Connor immediately called Rachel rather than tearing through rooms randomly.
Rachel advised them to document anything unusual and avoid destroying potential evidence.
Connor walked slowly through the house with new eyes.
When he reached the guest room Teresa used most often, he noticed the vent cover near the closet was slightly crooked.
He did not touch it.
He photographed it.
Then he called the investigator handling the report.
May you like
The next phase of the search was no longer going to happen on Teresa's terms.
The House She Tried to Claim |
