Chapter 5 - THE HIDDEN CAMERA
I sat in the driver's seat of my car, the engine idling in the driveway, trying to process what Betsy had just said.
"What do you mean she sold it?" I demanded. "My name is on the deed. She can't sell a house she doesn't own."
"She had a power of attorney drawn up," Betsy said, her voice shaking. "She bragged about it at dinner last week. She said she was going to transfer the deed to an LLC she created. The buyers are coming for the final walk-through on Monday. She needed Amy out of the way, making her look unstable so you wouldn't believe her."
I hung up the phone. My mother was trying to steal my entire life.
I drove back to the hospital. Frederick’s test results had come back clear; it was just a severe viral infection, and his fever was manageable now. He was sleeping peacefully in his stroller. Amy was sitting in the waiting room chair, staring blankly at the wall.
"Let's go to a hotel," I said gently, handing her the wallet. "We aren't going back to that house tonight."
She looked up, her eyes wide. "What did she do, Connor?"
I told her everything. The forged signature, the fake debt from my father, the stolen money, and the power of attorney.
Amy didn't cry. Instead, a strange, calm resolve settled over her features. She reached into the diaper bag and pulled out Frederick’s old baby monitor. The one with the video screen that we had stopped using a month ago.
"I knew something was wrong," Amy said softly. "Last week, I caught her in my bedroom going through my jewelry box. When I confronted her, she told me I was hallucinating. So, I hid the camera behind the books on the living room shelf. It records to an SD card."
We checked into a quiet motel a few miles from the hospital. While Amy put Frederick down in the travel crib, I took the SD card from the monitor and slid it into my laptop.
There were dozens of video files. I clicked on one from yesterday afternoon.
The video showed my mother sitting on our couch, drinking coffee with a man in a sharp grey suit.
"The wife is a problem," the man said. "If she contests the transfer, the title company will flag it."
"She won't contest anything," my mother replied smoothly. "She's terrified of me. And Connor is too busy working to notice the paperwork. Just get the LLC finalized. I want the cash by Friday."
I paused the video and zoomed in on the man's face.
It wasn't a real estate agent. It was my mother’s new boyfriend, a man she introduced to us as a retired teacher named Paul.
Only, Paul wasn't a teacher. I recognized the logo on his briefcase. He was a disbarred lawyer who had been on the local news three years ago for real estate fraud.
"We have them," I whispered to Amy.
May you like
But then I clicked the next video file, and the blood ran cold in my veins. My mother was holding Frederick, whispering to him while Amy was in the other room.
"Don't worry, sweet boy," she cooed to my son. "Once your useless mother is gone, Grandma is going to take you far away from here."
