Chapter 3

After the conference, I discovered that the locks on Mom's Southside house had been changed.

Contractors were carrying her furniture into a truck. A twenty-year-old oak table had already lost a corner of its finish.

"Who authorized this?" I demanded.

The site manager showed me a work order. "Mr. Sterling signed off. We're clearing the property today."

"He doesn't own it."

Serena stood in the doorway amid broken plaster, wearing Mom's gray cardigan.

"It's dusty in here. I grabbed something old to cover up. You don't mind, do you?"

"Take it off."

She slipped behind her security guard. "See? You were apologizing on television an hour ago and already you want to attack me."

I turned to the contractor. "The lawful owner is Evelyn Bennett's estate. None of you has the executor's permission to alter this property."

"Ms. Hayes showed us an authorization."

Serena produced a notarized-looking form bearing Mom's copied signature.

"She approved it last month."

But the document was dated yesterday.

Yesterday, my mother was lying in a morgue.

"Where did you get her signature file?"

"From the vault. Adrian gave me access."

I called the police nonemergency line and my lawyer. Serena immediately called Adrian on speaker.

"Nora, put the phone down," he said.

"She forged a property authorization."

"I let her retrieve the paperwork. We can't put this project on hold while your mother recovers."

"Who told you Mom couldn't use her right hand?"

"The hospital," Serena answered too quickly.

"Then you know exactly what happened to her."

Serena's eyes filled. "Adrian, she's interrogating me again."

"Enough," he snapped. "Serena's opening is in three days. You will not sabotage it."

"This house isn't yours to give away."

"You're my wife. I have a say in our finances."

"And what about Mom?"

"I'll visit once I'm done."

"When?"

Serena smiled. "Not this week. Adrian promised me another trip."

Once, I would have screamed that she always came first. Instead, I put away my phone.

"Fine. See you then."

He mistook my calm for surrender.

After he hung up, Serena tossed the cardigan onto the table.

"You should've behaved like this sooner." She brushed imaginary dust from my shoulder. "He did see all your calls that night, by the way. I said I was upset, and he hung up. He called it your usual attention-seeking routine."

My fingers curled. She stepped back toward security.

"Go ahead. Hit me. One touch and Adrian will make sure you never see this house again."

I picked up Mom's sweater and carefully dusted it off.

"Why aren't you losing your mind?" Serena demanded.

"Because you're not worth it."

I walked toward the street. A crash sounded behind me. Mom's old table had fallen from the truck and split in half.

"Just throw it away," Serena said.

I didn't turn around to fight. I photographed the wreckage and the forged form and sent both to my attorney.