DANIEL REEVES.
Naomi answered immediately.
“Did you find something?”
“I did,” he said. “And I think you should hear it before you contact Mr. Cole again.”
Naomi placed the call on speaker.
Daniel explained that Westbridge Holdings had financed a proposed redevelopment project through a company connected to Brandon and Brianna. The project involved several parcels of commercial property, including land that appeared to overlap with the historical records for Parker House.
The loan application listed Naomi as a personal guarantor.
It also listed Miriam Parker as a beneficiary who had supposedly consented to the transaction.
Neither woman had authorized the documents.
“Can you prove that?” Naomi asked.
“We have copies of the submitted paperwork. The signatures need to be independently examined, but there are inconsistencies. More importantly, the application contains a valuation report suggesting your family property is worth substantially more than the amount recorded in older documents.”
“How much more?”
“Preliminary estimates put the combined development value in the millions, depending on ownership and planning approvals.”
Naomi gripped the edge of the table.
Millions.
Her mother had spent decades worrying about ordinary bills while sitting on a property that might be worth a fortune.
But Daniel’s next words were even more disturbing.
“There is also a reference to an individual named Evelyn Parker.”
Miriam gasped.
“What does it say?” Naomi demanded.
“That she may have held an ownership interest in the original property before her disappearance.”
Miriam covered her mouth.
Daniel continued.
“Someone submitted an affidavit claiming Evelyn transferred her interest to a third party thirty years ago. The affidavit is dated several months after she disappeared.”
“That makes no sense,” Naomi said.
“I agree. The signature and notarization require further investigation.”
“Who received the interest?”
There was a pause.
“Brianna Vale’s company.”
Naomi felt the room close in around her.
Then Daniel added one more detail.
“The transfer was apparently approved by a witness whose name appears on another document connected to your family’s records.”
“Who?”
“Thomas Bell.”
Miriam’s face turned white.
“No,” she whispered.
Naomi looked at her.
“Mom?”
Miriam rose so quickly her chair scraped across the floor.
“Thomas Bell wasn’t just our lawyer.”
She looked at the photograph of Evelyn.
“He was the last person who saw my sister alive.”
Before Naomi could ask another question, someone knocked on the apartment door.
Three slow, deliberate knocks.
Then a woman’s voice came from the hallway.
“Naomi? My name is Claire Bennett. I believe I’m your cousin.”
Miriam dropped her mug.
It shattered against the floor.
And through the closed door, Claire said the words that would change everything.
“I know where Evelyn is.”
Chapter 3 – THE COUSIN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Naomi didn’t open the door immediately.
A woman claiming to be her cousin, appearing at midnight after an anonymous threat, was not someone she intended to trust without questions.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Naomi called through the door.
“You don’t,” the woman answered. “But your mother will recognize this.”
Something slid beneath the door.
Naomi crouched and picked up a small silver locket.
Miriam made a strangled sound.
“That’s Evelyn’s.”
She reached for it with shaking hands. The locket had a tiny engraving of two intertwined letters: E and M.
“Evelyn gave me this on my eighteenth birthday,” Miriam whispered. “She never took it back.”
Naomi looked through the peephole.
The woman outside appeared to be in her early thirties. She wore a dark coat and held a leather folder against her chest. Her eyes were red, as though she had been crying.
Naomi opened the door but kept the security chain attached.
“Your full name?”
“Claire Bennett.”
“Your mother’s name?”
Claire swallowed.
“Evelyn Parker.”
Miriam pressed a hand over her mouth.
For thirty years, she had believed her sister was dead or had chosen to abandon her.
Now her niece stood outside her apartment.
“Let her in,” Miriam whispered.
Naomi removed the chain.
Claire stepped inside, and the moment she saw Miriam, her composure broke.
“Aunt Miriam?”
Miriam stared at her.
“You have her eyes.”
“And you have her voice.”
They embraced, both crying so hard that neither could speak.
Naomi watched them, overwhelmed by the realization that a whole branch of her family had existed beyond everything she had been taught.
Eventually, Claire opened the leather folder.
“I wanted to come sooner. But I needed to be certain I could protect you.”
“Protect us from whom?” Naomi asked.
“Brandon Cole. Brianna Vale. And a man named Thomas Bell.”
Claire explained that her mother had not simply disappeared thirty years earlier.
Evelyn had discovered that several people were attempting to transfer ownership of Parker House through forged documents. The building had belonged to their grandmother, who intended for it to remain in the family.
