Chapter 8 - Across the Street.
Mrs. Bell insisted they meet at the police station instead of the hotel.
Aaron agreed before she finished explaining why.
Grace stayed close to him in the interview room while Rachel watched Noah in a quiet family waiting area.
Mrs. Bell arrived carrying a grocery bag and a small memory card.
She looked more angry than frightened.
“I should have said something weeks ago.”
Grace looked up.
“About what?”
Mrs. Bell folded her hands.
“Your mother-in-law.”
Mrs. Bell described seeing Diane stand on the porch whenever Grace tried to take Noah for a walk.
She had watched Grace turn back more than once.
She had also heard Diane speaking harshly through an open kitchen window.
Mrs. Bell had never heard threats.
What disturbed her was the tone.
“It was the way you talk to someone who is not allowed to disagree.”
The previous evening, shortly before the police arrived, she saw Diane walk quickly to the recycling bins near the curb.
Diane looked up and down the street.
Then she dropped a torn envelope inside.
After police cars left, Mrs. Bell became curious.
She retrieved it the next morning.
Officer Harris opened the grocery bag.
Inside was a ripped mailing envelope addressed to Grace.
The return address belonged to the bank.
The envelope itself was empty.
“That was supposed to come last week.”
“What was it?”
“A replacement debit card.”
Aaron went still.
Grace’s old card had stopped working six days earlier.
Diane told her the bank had probably flagged it because Grace was spending irregularly.
Grace had believed her.
Harris made a note.
Mrs. Bell handed him the memory card.
“My camera caught the whole thing.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t knock on your door.”
“You noticed.”
“That should have been enough for me to ask.”
Aaron felt another layer of guilt.
A neighbor had seen something he had missed inside his own home.
After the meeting, the bank confirmed several facts by phone after verifying Aaron and Grace’s identities.
Grace’s replacement card had been mailed to the house.
Recent transfers were initiated through online access associated with the household computer.
The bank froze disputed activity for review.
Aaron asked who owned the DC Household Services account.
The representative could not disclose details.
That afternoon, Rachel called.
“Do you remember Mom’s cousin, Celia?”
Aaron barely did.
Celia had handled bookkeeping for small businesses years ago.
Rachel had found something in the family trust files.
Several old reimbursements went to a company with the initials DCS.
Diane Carter Services.
Aaron closed his eyes.
“Where is Celia now?”
“I called her.”
“And?”
“She sounded terrified when I mentioned Mom.”
“What did she say?”
Rachel repeated Celia’s words exactly.
Ask Diane why she needed a second set of signatures.
Then Celia hung up.
Aaron felt cold.
A second set meant copies, documents, and signatures Diane could reuse.
His phone buzzed.
This time it was Diane herself.
He almost ignored it.
Then he saw the attachment.
A photograph of a notarized document appeared on the screen.
The title read TEMPORARY FAMILY CARE AGREEMENT.
It claimed Aaron and Grace had voluntarily given Diane broad authority over Noah during periods of parental instability.
Their signatures appeared at the bottom.
Aaron knew immediately they were false.
“No.”
“No, we never signed that.”
A message followed.
YOU BOTH AGREED I WOULD PROTECT HIM IF THINGS BECAME UNSTABLE.
Then another.
ASK YOUR WIFE WHY SHE WAS PLANNING TO LEAVE.
Aaron turned to Grace.
Her face went pale.
He hated himself for the question before he asked it.
“Were you planning to leave?”
Grace looked at him for a long second.
“Yes.”
Aaron’s stomach dropped.
Grace reached for his hand.
“Not you.”
May you like
She swallowed.
“I was planning to leave her.”
