Chương 8
Franklin leaned forward, offended on principle.
Robert noticed and almost smiled despite himself.
“What situation?”
“My company has been under pressure.”
There it was.
The first clean piece of truth.
Not the whole truth, but enough to change the room.
“What kind of pressure?”
Daniel exhaled.
“We lost two contracts.”
“That does not explain my house.”
“No, but if my business fails, there are guarantees.”
“Yours.”
“Yes.”
“Not mine.”
“Dad, you invested in the company.”
Robert went still.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“I loaned you seventy-five thousand dollars in 2018.”
“Exactly.”
“That was repaid.”
“Mostly.”
Robert’s eyes hardened.
“Mostly?”
Daniel did not answer.
Robert stood.
I reached toward him, then stopped when he gave me a look.
“How much do you owe me?”
“It’s complicated.”
“How much?”
“I don’t have the number in front of me.”
“You had enough numbers in front of you to move ninety-one thousand five hundred dollars out of my investment account.”
Tyler stared at Robert.
Daniel went silent.
The room tightened.
“Where did that money go?”
“Dad.”
“Your kitchen?”
“No.”
“Franklin has invoices.”
“That is not what they are.”
“Then what are they?”
Daniel’s voice became quieter.
“Accounting documentation.”
“For work done where?”
Another pause.
“Different properties.”
“My properties?”
“Family properties.”
Robert closed his eyes.
“Do not use that word to hide behind me.”
“Dad, you are not understanding the risk.”
“Explain it.”
“I can’t do this over the phone.”
“You had no problem doing it while I was unconscious.”
“I never did anything while you were unconscious.”
“Drugged, then.”
“You were alert.”
“Barely.”
“That is not fair.”
Robert laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Fair.”
Daniel’s tone changed.
“Who is there?”
Robert did not answer.
“Is Michael with you?”
“Yes.”
“Of course.”
I looked at Franklin.
“Is Emily listening?”
“No.”
“Franklin?”
Robert’s silence answered.
Daniel muttered something.
Then he said, “Dad, do not trust Michael with this.”
Robert looked at me.
I felt heat rise in my face.
“Why?”
“Because Emily benefits if you change your estate.”
“Your lawyer already told me that argument.”
“Then maybe listen to him.”
“He told me you might use it.”
Silence.
Daniel recovered quickly.
“Tyler there?”
Tyler stopped breathing.
Robert looked at him.
“No.”
I watched Tyler’s face.
Surprise came first.
Then shame.
Then something like gratitude he did not know how to hold.
Daniel said, “His car is gone.”
“He is twenty-two.”
“He lives in my house.”
“That is apparently a popular arrangement in this family.”
“Dad.”
“I am going to ask you once more.”
Robert’s voice softened.
“Did you take my money to keep your company alive?”
Daniel said nothing.
That was answer enough.
Robert lowered the phone from his ear.
Then Daniel spoke.
“Yes.”
Robert froze.
Tyler looked down.
Daniel continued quickly.
“But I was going to put it back.”
Robert closed his eyes.
“There was a receivable coming in.”
“It got delayed.”
“We had payroll.”
“Vendors.”
“If I defaulted, the bank could have pulled our line.”
“I was trying to keep twenty-three people employed.”
Robert sat down very slowly.
“And my house?”
Daniel exhaled.
“That was different.”
“How?”
“If something happened to you, probate and estate complications could freeze everything.”
“My house is in a trust.”
Silence.
Franklin lifted his eyebrows.
Robert heard it too.
“You knew that.”
“Dad—”
“You knew that.”
“Yes.”
“Then why transfer it?”
Daniel’s answer came almost too softly to hear.
“Collateral.”
Tyler whispered, “Jesus.”
Robert stared at the table.
“For what?”
“For a private loan.”
“How much?”
Daniel did not answer.
“How much?”
“Two hundred fifty.”
The room seemed to shrink.
“Thousand?”
“Yes.”
Robert’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Franklin took a pen and wrote something on a legal pad.
Robert looked at the number as if seeing it written made it worse.
“Who lent it?”
“A private investor.”
“Name.”
“Dad.”
“Name.”
“I can fix this.”
“Name.”
“Melissa knows him.”
Robert’s eyes lifted.
That was the wrong answer.
“What does Melissa have to do with your business?”
“She introduced us.”
“Who?”
“Someone from her church.”
Tyler looked up sharply.
“Uncle Ray?”
Daniel went silent.
Robert turned toward Tyler.
“Who is Uncle Ray?”
“He’s not actually my uncle.”
“Name.”
“Raymond Cole.”
Robert frowned.
“Melissa’s husband’s brother?”
Tyler nodded.
Robert leaned back.
Melissa’s marriage, always described as unstable, suddenly seemed less peripheral.
Daniel spoke again.
“Dad, we can talk about this.”
“No.”
“I’m coming to you.”
“No.”
“I already know you’re somewhere near Lenexa.”
Tyler’s face drained again.
Robert looked at him.
“How?”
Daniel did not respond immediately.
Then Robert’s phone vibrated with a new notification.
Find My Device.
A location request.
Tyler whispered, “He’s using your Google account.”
I reached for Robert’s phone.
He held it away.
“Can he see where I am?”
“Maybe not yet.”
“Maybe?”
“If the device is signed in and he has the account credentials, yes.”
Robert looked at the screen.
Then at Tyler.
“Can you stop it?”
“Probably.”
“Do it.”
Tyler took the phone and began changing passwords with shaking hands.
Daniel’s voice came faintly from the speaker.
“Dad?”
Robert picked up the phone again.
“I revoked your authority.”
“I want my money returned.”
“I want the transfer of my house reversed.”
“Then I want an accounting of every dollar you touched while I was in that hospital.”
Daniel’s voice cracked for the first time.
“If you do this, you could destroy me.”
Robert’s expression did not change.
“You should have considered that before using me as your bank.”
He ended the call.
Nobody celebrated.
Robert sat staring at the dark screen.
After a minute, he said, “I need a doctor.”
Franklin nodded.
“I’ll arrange it.”
“No.”
Robert pushed himself upright again.
“I mean I actually need one.”
His hand went to his chest.
This time his face had gone completely gray.
I was already around the table when Robert’s knees buckled.
Tyler caught one arm and Franklin caught the other, but Robert’s weight dragged all three of them sideways.
“Chair.”
“I’ve got him.”
May you like
“Dad?”
Emily’s name flashed on my phone at the same moment, but I ignored it and helped lower Robert into the nearest chair.
