David turned toward her.
“No, you didn’t.”
Victoria’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
David lifted another sheet.
“And because the amount was one hundred fifty thousand dollars, the institution escalated the attempted withdrawal.
They preserved the transaction records and notified the appropriate investigators.
An emergency hold was placed on the disputed activity and related transfers while they determine who prepared the paperwork and who attempted to use it.”
There it was.
The order Victoria wanted gone.
Not an order taking her freedom.
Not a magical switch I could flip because I was angry.
A formal preservation and hold process triggered by her own conduct.
Victoria stared at me as if I had betrayed her.
“You knew this would happen.”
“I knew someone was testing the twins’ account,” I said.
“I didn’t know you were foolish enough to walk into my house carrying forged papers.”
Her face reddened.
“They weren’t forged.”
I glanced at the folder.
“Then you shouldn’t be worried about the review.”
David looked down, and for the first time I noticed how badly his hands were shaking.
He was angry, but beneath the anger was something else.
Shock.
He had grown up with Victoria and Catherine.
He knew their insults.
He knew Catherine disliked me.
But dislike was one thing.
Finding me injured while his sister tried to empty his children’s trust was something else entirely.
“Where’s your mother?” I asked.
Victoria’s eyes flicked toward the hallway.
David answered.
“She’s downstairs talking to investigators.”
Victoria snapped toward him.
“You let them question Mom?”
David stared at her.
“I didn’t ‘let’ anyone do anything.
They came because my pregnant wife was taken from our house after an assault and because somebody tried to move one hundred fifty thousand dollars with fraudulent paperwork.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
I felt something cold settle inside me.
“How was it?”
Victoria looked at the security officer, then at David.
“You fell.”
The room became very still.
I remembered lying on the hardwood.
My water breaking.
Victoria’s hand twisted in my hair.
Catherine entering the room and asking, Is it done?
I looked at my sister-in-law.
“You’re saying I fell?”
“You were upset.
You slipped.
I tried to help you.”
David stared at her with disbelief.
Victoria rushed on.
“And then you became hysterical about the account.
