Chapter 1 - The Book They Buried
The rain had stopped just before the funeral ended, but the ground at Oakfield Cemetery was still soft enough for Chloe Henderson’s shoes to sink into the mud.
She stood beside her grandmother’s open grave in a borrowed black dress, watching the last handful of dirt strike the polished wooden casket.
Margaret Henderson had been the only person in Chloe’s family who had ever made her feel safe.
Now she was gone.
The pastor closed his Bible.
“Amen.”
Everyone began walking toward the cars.
Everyone except Richard Henderson.
Chloe’s father remained beside the grave, his black gloves tucked neatly into one hand. He stared at the casket without a trace of grief.
Then he reached into his coat.
He pulled out a small blue passbook.
Chloe recognized it immediately.
Her grandmother’s savings book.
Richard looked at it, then at Chloe.
“Here,” he said.
He tossed it onto the casket.
The little book landed against the polished wood with a dull slap.
Chloe stared.
“What are you doing?”
Richard smiled.
“There’s your inheritance.”
Susan, his wife, covered a laugh behind her sunglasses.
Tyler, Chloe’s half-brother, grinned.
Richard pointed at the blue book.
“That old thing isn't worth anything. Your grandmother spent her whole life counting pennies. Let it rot with her.”
Chloe felt something inside her snap.
“You had no right to take that.”
Richard shrugged.
“She didn't leave anything worth taking.”
“That isn't yours.”
His expression hardened.
“You want it?”
Chloe stepped forward.
Richard kicked dirt over the edge of the grave.
“Go dig for it.”
Tyler laughed.
Several cousins joined him.
Chloe looked around.
No one defended her.
Not one person.
Then she remembered Grandma Maggie’s final words.
Two nights earlier, Chloe had sat beside her hospital bed while rain tapped against the window.
Margaret had looked frightened.
Not sick.
Frightened.
She had squeezed Chloe’s hand.
“Chloe…”
“I’m here.”
“If anything happens to me, don't trust Richard.”
Chloe had frowned.
“My dad?”
Margaret nodded.
“He'll tell you I left nothing.”
“Why would he?”
“Because he wants you to believe that.”
She had reached beneath her pillow and touched Chloe’s wrist.
“There is something you must find.”
“What?”
“The blue book.”
“The savings book?”
Margaret’s eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
“What's in it?”
“Proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Margaret had looked toward the hospital door.
Then she whispered:
“Your father has been stealing from this family for years.”
Now, standing beside the grave, Chloe looked at the blue passbook.
Her father walked away.
“Come on, Susan.”
Susan followed.
Tyler called over his shoulder, “Don't forget your inheritance!”
Their laughter disappeared into the rain.
Chloe waited.
Then she looked around.
Everyone was gone.
She dropped to her knees.
Her fingers sank into the cold mud.
She dug.
The dirt packed beneath her nails.
She found the passbook beneath a layer of wet soil and pulled it free.
Her dress was ruined.
She didn't care.
She opened the cover.
The first pages looked ordinary.
Small deposits.
Fifty dollars.
One hundred.
Three hundred.
Five hundred.
Then she reached the final pages.
Her breathing stopped.
There were withdrawals.
Thousands of dollars.
Tens of thousands.
Transfers.
Repeated initials.
R.H.
Richard Henderson.
Chloe stared at the ink.
Her father had lied.
But then something else fell from the passbook.
A folded piece of paper.
Chloe opened it with trembling fingers.
Her grandmother's handwriting covered the page.
If you're reading this, he knows I died.
Do not go home.
Do not confront Richard.
Go to First Oak Bank.
Ask for the account marked with the red stamp.
At the bottom was one final sentence.
And Chloe… what he stole from me wasn't only money.
She read it twice.
Then a third time.
What had her father stolen from her?
She didn't know.
But she suddenly understood why her grandmother had been afraid.
Chloe stood.
She put the passbook inside her handbag.
Then she looked toward the road where her father's car had disappeared.
May you like
For the first time in her life, she wasn't afraid of Richard Henderson.
She was afraid of what she might discover.
