Chapter 63 - The Documents on the TableRichard Caldwell arrived at nine the following morning.
His black SUV stopped outside the lodge, and a driver opened the rear door. Caldwell stepped out wearing an expensive charcoal overcoat, polished leather shoes, and a silver watch.
He looked like a man who had never been told no.
I met him on the porch.
"Good morning," he said pleasantly.
"You're not expected."
"Yet here I am."
Michael stood beside me. Olivia watched from the doorway, while Mom remained inside.
Caldwell glanced toward the house.
"Quite a family gathering."
"You said you wanted to discuss the northern parcel."
"Exactly."
He opened a leather folder and removed several documents.
"The agreement your father signed gives me the right to acquire approximately forty acres behind the lodge."
I scanned the first page.
There were signatures, legal descriptions, and references to an outstanding financial obligation.
The document looked professional.
But something immediately caught my attention.
The date was almost thirty years old.
"Where is the proof that this agreement was never terminated?"
Caldwell smiled.
"I anticipated that question."
He produced another paper bearing a bank stamp.
According to the document, the debt had been transferred to his company before the original repayment deadline.
Michael examined it carefully.
"This doesn't establish that the transfer was legally completed."
Caldwell turned toward him.
"Are you a lawyer?"
"No."
"Then perhaps you should leave legal questions to professionals."
I stepped between them.
"He can stay."
Caldwell's expression tightened.
"Your father was a proud man. He believed this property was worth more than anything."
"It was worth more to him than money."
"That was his mistake."
I returned the documents.
"I'm not signing anything."
For the first time, his pleasant expression disappeared.
"Think carefully. The northern parcel contains valuable development opportunities. Without a settlement, I may have to pursue legal remedies."
"Then pursue them."
He closed his folder.
"I was hoping you would be more reasonable."
"Reasonable doesn't mean surrendering something because someone threatens me."
Caldwell stared at me.
Then he turned toward his vehicle.
Before leaving, he looked back.
"Ask your mother about the winter your father disappeared for three days."
Mom, who had been standing behind the doorway, suddenly went completely still.
I turned toward her.
"What winter?"
Caldwell smiled faintly.
"She remembers."
Then he drove away.
Inside, Mom sank into a chair.
I knelt beside her.
"What happened?"
She pressed her hands together.
"Your father didn't disappear."
"Then where was he?"
She looked toward the windows.
"He went to meet someone."
"Who?"
"His younger brother."
I stared at her.
"Uncle Daniel?"
She nodded.
Michael pulled out the old photograph we had discovered.
"Was this taken during that meeting?"
Mom examined it.
Her eyes widened.
"Yes."
I pointed toward the third man in the photograph.
"Who is he?"
"Daniel."
"Why did Dad meet him?"
Mom took a shaky breath.
"Because Daniel had promised to help repay the debt. Your father believed he could still save the lodge without losing the northern land."
"And did he?"
"No."
She looked down.
"Daniel disappeared that winter."
Olivia sat beside her.
"Did Dad ever find him?"
Mom shook her head.
"He received one letter. It said Daniel had left the state and would never return."
I looked at the photograph again.
Something was written beneath Daniel's name.
A telephone number.
Michael examined it.
"This number might have belonged to an old business office."
He searched online and found that the company had been dissolved years earlier.
But its registered address still existed.
I stared at the screen.
"Where is it?"
Michael turned the laptop toward me.
A town less than two hours away.
We had found another lead.
That afternoon, Helen called.
She had examined Caldwell's documents and discovered several inconsistencies.
"The debt transfer needs verification," she explained. "Do not sign anything. We need the original loan records."
I looked toward the photograph.
"Then we'll find them."
But Mom suddenly grabbed my wrist.
"Please," she whispered. "If you find Daniel, don't let him convince you that your father was the only person who made mistakes."
Her words unsettled me.
May you like
Because they suggested there was something else.
Something she had not yet told us.
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