Chapter 6 - WHAT HE SOLD WHILE I WAS UNCONSCIOUS
The cabin wasn't worth millions.
That made the betrayal worse somehow.
It had belonged to my grandmother Ruth, who taught me how to balance a checkbook at her kitchen table and paid for my first accounting textbook with cash she kept in a coffee tin.
Julian sold it while I was unconscious.
The deed transferred the property to an LLC formed by Dana Kessler.
"He knew that cabin was separate property," I told Evelyn.
"Yes."
"He knew I would never sell it."
"Yes."
"So why put Dana's company on the deed?"
Evelyn tapped the document.
"Because people get careless when they think the owner might die."
Dana agreed to an interview with police and turned over her phone.
By afternoon, Detective Ortiz had a clearer picture.
Julian told Dana I had secretly approved the cabin transfer to free up cash for "medical contingencies."
Dana signed the LLC paperwork.
She admitted Julian talked constantly about money.
What she denied was knowing about the brake line.
"Do you believe her?" I asked Ortiz.
"Belief is cheap. Data isn't."
Dad almost smiled.
The phone data placed Dana at her apartment the morning of the crash.
Julian's location history, however, showed something more interesting.
At 8:03 a.m., thirty-seven minutes after I left home, his phone traveled to a coffee shop two blocks from the intersection where I crashed.
At 8:15, the crash was reported.
He had told police he was at home the entire morning.
"Maybe he followed me," I said.
"Maybe," Ortiz replied.
"Why?"
"That's what we need to prove."
The brake fitting had not simply loosened over time.
More important, brake fluid residue was found on a rag recovered from a trash bag in our garage.
The rag also carried Julian's DNA.
The man who held Chloe in the delivery room and cried so hard the nurse laughed.
Police obtained a warrant for Julian's devices and financial records.
Ortiz explained that the prosecutor wanted the strongest possible case before moving.
Because Julian still had supervised access to Chloe.
"Can I stop it?" I asked Evelyn.
"Not without a new court order. The current evidence is serious, but the criminal investigation is still open. The center will supervise every minute."
Saturday morning, I called Chloe before the visit.
"You can ask to leave any time," I told her.
"Even if Daddy gets sad?"
"Especially if you feel uncomfortable. Adults are responsible for their own feelings."
Dad drove her there.
"Mrs. Mercer, there has been an incident. Chloe is safe."
"What happened?"
"Mr. Mercer brought a document and tried to get Chloe to sign her name at the bottom. When staff intervened, he became agitated."
"What document?"
"We only saw part of it before he took it back."
Dad came on the line.
"Audrey, it was a statement saying you told Chloe to lie about seeing Julian in the garage."
For one second, I couldn't breathe.
Then Dad added, "And there's something else. He whispered something to her before staff separated them."
"What?"
May you like
Dad paused.
"He told Chloe that if she kept talking, Mommy might never come home."
