We drove to a hotel on the other side of town.
Colin insisted we use separate cars until we were close, then park in different areas and enter through different doors.
I thought he was being paranoid.
Then I saw the photograph.
Someone had captured us leaving my house.
They knew when we moved.
They knew where we lived.
They knew about the envelope.
Paranoia suddenly seemed like a reasonable response.
Brynn sat beside me in the back seat after we switched cars.
She had stopped crying.
That worried me more than tears would have.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Are we in trouble?”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“That's not true.”
I sighed.
“No. Not exactly.”
“Did Mallory hurt me because of that envelope?”
“I don't know.”
“But she gave me the money.”
“Yes.”
“She said she was helping me.”
“I know.”
Brynn looked down at her hands.
“She wasn't.”
“No.”
“She was using me.”
I reached for her hand.
“Yes.”
She nodded slowly.
“I knew something felt wrong.”
“Why?”
“She didn't talk to me like a stepmother.”
“How did she talk to you?”
“Like she was interviewing me.”
I looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“She asked questions and waited for me to answer.”
“What kind?”
“Where you went. What time you got home. Whether you locked the back door. Which room you used as an office.”
I felt a chill.
“Anything else?”
“She asked if you kept old papers.”
“Did you tell her?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Brynn was quiet.
Then she said, “I did tell her about the blue folder.”
My heart sank.
“When?”
“Before she gave me the money.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That you'd kept it in your desk.”
I closed my eyes.
“I'm sorry.”
“You didn't know.”
“I should have.”
“You were trying to protect me.”
She looked at me.
“Like Dad.”
I had no answer.
When we reached the hotel, Colin was already waiting.
He had booked two rooms under different names.
That detail frightened me.
He handed me a key.
“I called someone.”
“Who?”
“An investigator.”
“You trust him?”
“I've used him before.”
“For this?”
“Yes.”
“What's his name?”
“Marcus Hale.”
I nodded.
“What's he going to do?”
“Trace the account number.”
“And Ethan?”
“Find him.”
“Can he?”
“If Ethan is alive.”
Brynn looked at her father.
“Dad?”
He crouched in front of her.
“What?”
“Were you scared of Mallory?”
He hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Why did you stay?”
Colin looked ashamed.
“Because I thought I could control the situation.”
Brynn shook her head.
“You couldn't.”
“No.”
“You should have told Mom.”
“I should have.”
She walked into her room.
Colin stood.
“I deserved that.”
“Yes.”
He almost smiled.
“I know.”
We sat in the hotel lobby for several minutes.
Neither of us touched the coffee.
Finally I said, “What happened between you and Ethan?”
Colin looked at his hands.
“We built the company together.”
“I know.”
“He was like a brother.”
“What changed?”
“Money.”
“That's always the answer.”
“Not always.”
“Usually.”
He nodded.
“Ethan started spending more than he earned. Expensive cars. A new house. Trips.”
“You suspected him.”
“Yes.”
“But the payments went to an account you couldn't identify.”
“Yes.”
“Could Mallory have been the middle person?”
“Possibly.”
“Then who was giving the orders?”
“I don't know.”
My phone rang.
Marcus.
I answered.
“Hello?”
“Colin gave me the account number.”
“Yes.”
“I found something.”
I put him on speaker.
“What?”
“The account was opened under a trust.”
“Whose trust?”
“That's the problem.”
He paused.
“The beneficiary was listed as a minor.”
I looked at Colin.
“Who?”
“Brynn.”
My daughter.
The room seemed to tilt.
“That can't be right.”
Marcus continued.
“The trust was established six years ago.”
“By whom?”
“The signature on the paperwork belongs to Colin.”
I looked at my ex-husband.
He was already shaking his head.
“No.”
“Colin?”
“I never established a trust for Brynn.”
Marcus said, “That's what makes this interesting.”
“What else?”
“The account received regular deposits.”
“How much?”
“Enough to matter.”
“From where?”
“Several companies.”
“Which ones?”
He named three.
None were familiar to me.
Then he named a fourth.
I knew it.
It was one of the firms that had competed against Colin's company.
I looked at Colin.
He was staring at the floor.
“Why would someone create a trust in Brynn's name?”
“I don't know.”
Marcus spoke carefully.
“There is more.”
“What?”
“The trust was used as a pass-through.”
“For what?”
“Payments.”
“From whom?”
“Companies connected to the same network.”
My throat tightened.
“Is Mallory connected?”
“I haven't finished tracing it.”
“Do it.”
“I need one more thing.”
“What?”
“The original document.”
I looked at the envelope.
“You mean the letter?”
“No. The trust agreement.”
“We don't have it.”
Marcus was silent.
Then he said, “You do.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“The original was filed with the county under your name.”
I looked at Colin.
“My name?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
The call ended.
I sat there in silence.
Colin finally spoke.
“This is impossible.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“It isn't.”
“What are you thinking?”
“That someone has been using our daughter.”
He nodded.
“For years.”
I thought about the questions Mallory had asked Brynn.
The house.
The papers.
The office.
Then I remembered something.
“Brynn's birth certificate.”
“What about it?”
“When we divorced, you asked for a copy.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He looked confused.
“I don't remember.”
“You don't remember?”
“No.”
“I gave it to you.”
“Why would I need it?”
“I don't know.”
He stood abruptly.
“I'll check my records.”
“Where?”
“At the office.”
“It's midnight.”
“I know.”
“You're not going alone.”
He stopped.
Then nodded.
We woke Brynn.
She protested at first, but when I told her we needed to leave again, she dressed without arguing.
As we walked through the hotel parking lot, a black sedan pulled away from the curb.
Colin froze.
“That's the car.”
“What car?”
“The one I saw outside the office.”
He grabbed my arm.
“Get inside.”
We moved quickly.
The sedan disappeared around the corner.
We drove toward Colin's office.
When we arrived, the police tape was still across the side entrance.
But the front door stood open.
Colin stared.
“I locked this.”
We entered carefully.
The office was dark.
Nothing seemed disturbed.
Then the lights flickered on.
A computer monitor glowed on Colin's desk.
There was one file open.
A scanned document.
The heading read:
TRUST AGREEMENT — BRYNN REYNOLDS.
My daughter whispered behind us.
“Why is my name on Dad's computer?”
Colin walked toward the screen.
I followed.
At the bottom of the document was a signature.
Mine.
I stared.
“That isn't my signature.”
Colin shook his head.
“I know.”
Then I noticed the date.
It was seven months before Brynn was born.
I looked at him.
“This trust existed before our daughter was born.”
He didn't answer.
And for the first time, I wondered whether the person manipulating us had been preparing for Brynn long before she ever entered the world.
Click here to continue reading: PART 7: The Trust Predated Our Daughter’s Birth, and the Signature Carrying My Name Opened a Door Into a Past I Had Never Questioned
My Daughter Came Home Hiding Her Face, and One Sentence About Her Father’s New Wife Changed Everything I Thought I Knew
Part 6 of 20
