Chapter 7 - DAVID’S REAL TRIP TO DALLAS
David was in Dallas.
Technically.
He had attended the first day of the conference.
Then he checked out of his hotel.
Where did he go?
Evelyn’s lake house.
Two hours north.
He remained there while his mother arranged the retrieval.
Phone records later showed six calls between David and Evelyn during the hour before the mall meeting.
Two calls between Evelyn and Colin.
And a short message from David to his mother the evening before the attempted entry:
7:30 is clean. Hannah always leaves by 7:20.
Always.
That word bothered me more than it should have.
David knew my routine because he had helped build it.
Wake Chloe at six-thirty.
Breakfast.
Hair argument.
Backpack argument.
Leave at seven-twenty.
School by seven-forty.
He had converted the rhythm of our family into an entry window.
When confronted through counsel, David denied directing an unauthorized entry.
He said he believed Colin had permission to retrieve his business property.
Natalie asked the obvious question.
“Permission from whom?”
David’s lawyer stopped answering informally after that.
Then David called me directly.
I almost ignored him.
Instead, I put him on speaker with Natalie sitting beside me.
“Hannah.”
“What?”
“You’re turning a misunderstanding into something catastrophic.”
I looked at Natalie.
She nodded for me to let him talk.
“The drives belong to the company.”
“Then why didn’t you request them through your lawyer?”
“Because you would have delayed.”
“Why did your mother pay a stranger in cash?”
“He’s a contractor.”
“Why did she tell him not to let anyone see him?”
Silence.
“You recorded her?”
There it was.
Not denial.
Fear of evidence.
“Yes.”
David exhaled.
“Chloe was there?”
I became colder.
“That’s what worries you?”
“I don’t want our daughter involved.”
“She recognized the key.”
He went silent.
I continued.
“She was the reason I saw what your mother was doing.”
“Do not put this on my mother.”
I almost laughed.
“She handed him the key.”
“She was helping me recover property.”
“She knew the temporary order.”
“My mother has nothing to do with our divorce.”
“Then why is one of the companies in your hidden ledger hers?”
The call went dead.
Natalie stared at my phone.
“Well.”
May you like
“What?”
“I think Eric earned his fee.”
