I turned back to Mom.
“The rental property on Madison Street? be like ”
Her mouth opened.
I continued.
“Down payment funded through three transfers made within eleven days of my combat bonus arriving.”
“Caleb, I can explain—”
“And somebody opened credit cards using Naomi’s Social Security information.”
Kendra immediately looked at Mom.
That glance told me more than any confession.
I pushed the power-of-attorney papers back across the table.
“You really thought I’d sign this.”
Mom’s eyes filled with tears.
Instantly.
I had seen her cry before.
This wasn’t grief.
It was strategy.
“We were trying to protect you.”
“From my wife?”
“She changed after you left.”
“She got cancer.”
“She became manipulative.”
“She sold her hair so she could afford a biopsy.”
Mom looked away.
I stood.
“Do you know where I found her five nights ago?”
No answer.
“In a tool shed.”
Kendra folded her arms.
“She wanted privacy.”
I looked at her.
“You made a woman with stage-three cancer sleep beside fertilizer and lawn equipment.”
“She was making everyone miserable!”
Mom snapped her head toward Kendra.
Too late.
The sentence hung in the room.
I nodded slowly.
“Thank you.”
Kendra frowned.
“For what?”
“For finally telling the truth without realizing it.”
Then someone knocked on the front door.
Mom stared at me.
“Who is that?”
I didn’t answer.
The knock came again.
Two county investigators stood outside with a sheriff’s deputy.
Nobody was arrested that night.
Real life didn’t move as quickly as revenge stories.
But the investigation had already begun.
And this time, Mom and Kendra couldn’t control the story.
PART 4
