Calvin handed him the pen.
Then he and Tabitha moved between the camera and the desk.
For almost a minute, all we could see were their backs.
Papers rustled.
A chair scraped.
My father demanded that they leave.
When they finally stepped aside, the document was gone.
Kyle was holding it against his chest.
The video jumped ahead twelve minutes.
Dad sat alone in the study, breathing heavily.
He looked directly toward the camera hidden inside the bookcase.
“Penelope,” he said, “they brought a false codicil.
I refused to sign it.
Kyle copied my signature after Calvin threatened to expose his debts.
Let them believe I did not see.
Let them present it publicly.”
He paused to catch his breath.
“Paige must not confront them before the reading.
She has spent too many years cleaning up Calvin’s damage.
This time, I want him to reveal himself.”
I covered my mouth.
Penelope reached for my hand, but before she could speak, a car door slammed beyond the garden wall.
Calvin’s voice came from the front porch.
“Paige, open the door.
We need to discuss tomorrow.”
A key entered the lock.
Penelope closed the laptop and slipped the memory card into her briefcase.
I grabbed the certified deed while she called the police.
The front door opened.
Calvin walked into the house as though he still belonged there.
Kyle followed him, pale and sweating.
I met them in the entrance hall.
“That key belonged to my father,” I said.
Calvin smiled.
“He gave it to me years ago.”
“Then you should have returned it when he died.”
“Tomorrow, I may need it again.”
He wore the same navy suit he had worn to several of Dad’s medical appointments.
I remembered thanking him for visiting, believing his presence comforted my father.
Now I understood that every visit had been surveillance.
Kyle could not meet my eyes.
“Why are you here?” I asked him.
“We wanted to avoid a scene tomorrow,” he said.
“Tabitha already made one.”
Calvin’s expression changed.
“What did she tell you?”
I remembered Dad’s note.
THEY WILL LIE.
LET THEM FINISH FIRST.
I forced my voice to remain calm.
“She said you expect to inherit the house.”
“Not inherit,” Calvin replied.
“Manage.
Everett made me executor because he knew Kyle and I could handle the estate responsibly.”
“And me?”
