Chapter 6 - Useful for Once
The elder law attorney’s name was Miriam Voss, and she did not waste emotion when paperwork could move faster. She reviewed the safe deposit documents, the medical records I had gathered, the house sale information, and the photographs of Geneva’s condition when Joel left her at my gate. Her expression remained calm until she saw the medication bag.
“This is not care,” she said.
By the next morning, Miriam had filed emergency motions to review Joel’s authority, freeze remaining proceeds from Geneva’s sold house, and suspend any further transactions tied to her assets. Adult Protective Services opened an investigation. The bank flagged withdrawals. The title company was notified that questions existed around capacity and coercion at the time Geneva signed the sale documents.
Joel arrived at my apartment that evening with Dakota in the passenger seat and rage in his eyes.
I did not open the gate.
He shouted from the driveway, “You ungrateful little nobody. We gave you a place in this family.”
I stood behind the iron bars with my phone recording openly. “You left an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s on my pavement and drove away.”
Dakota leaned out the window. “We were overwhelmed.”
“You packed her medications in a sandwich bag.”
Joel pointed at me. “You think some old box makes you important?”
“No,” I said. “Grandma did.”
That hit him harder than I expected.
He tried to laugh. “Whatever she wrote doesn’t matter. She wasn’t in her right mind.”
“She added me fifteen years ago.”
His face changed.
There it was. The same fear from the truck. The fear of discovering that Geneva had protected herself before her mind became easier to steal from.
Behind me, through the open window, Geneva’s voice drifted from the couch.
“Arthur,” she called softly. “Hide the keys. Joel is smiling again.”
Dakota stopped breathing.
May you like
Joel did not shout after that.
He left.
