{"id":5272,"date":"2026-09-20T20:36:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T20:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/?p=5272"},"modified":"2026-09-20T20:36:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T20:36:59","slug":"part-9-mason-pike-had-kept-harolds-original-contract-for-years-but-the-missing-page-explained-why-someone-was-watching-my-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/?p=5272","title":{"rendered":"PART 9 \u2013 Mason Pike Had Kept Harold\u2019s Original Contract for Years, but the Missing Page Explained Why Someone Was Watching My House"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Richard did not wait for the dark SUV to return a third time.<\/p>\n<p>He photographed the rear of the vehicle as it disappeared beyond the trees, although the distance and evening glare made the license plate difficult to read. Then he called the non-emergency police number and reported what we had seen without embellishment.<\/p>\n<p>I locked the front door.<\/p>\n<p>The simple click of the deadbolt irritated me.<\/p>\n<p>Willow Creek had been mine for barely a week. I had spent years allowing grief, then convenience, then other people\u2019s preferences to reduce the dimensions of my life. I had finally chosen a home for myself, and now some stranger had managed to make me cautious inside it.<\/p>\n<p>Richard ended his call.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA patrol car will pass through tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWonderful. I\u2019m officially the suspicious old woman watching traffic through her curtains.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou own eighty-nine million dollars, disputed development land, and documents suggesting corporate misconduct.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you say it like that, I sound much more interesting than I feel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou should also consider security cameras.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds less amusing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I agreed.<\/p>\n<p>Not because I was frightened enough to abandon the house, but because Harold had taught me that refusing sensible precautions was not bravery.<\/p>\n<p>Richard stayed until almost nine.<\/p>\n<p>Before leaving, he placed Mason Pike\u2019s address into his phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe leave at seven tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can drive myself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounded patronizing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was intended to sound efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I pointed toward the door.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGo home, Richard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After he left, I sat in Harold\u2019s armchair.<\/p>\n<p>The room was silent except for the clock above the fireplace.<\/p>\n<p>I opened Harold\u2019s notebook again.<\/p>\n<p>Mason Pike\u2019s name appeared only twice.<\/p>\n<p>The second reference was three pages after the first.<\/p>\n<p>Mason understands why the original matters. Tom may not stop with pressure.<\/p>\n<p>Below that sentence Harold had drawn a line.<\/p>\n<p>Then another note:<\/p>\n<p>Keep Margaret outside this unless necessary.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at those words.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWonderful,\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n<p>Harold had spent our marriage insisting we were partners while quietly deciding which dangers I was allowed to know about.<\/p>\n<p>I understood the instinct.<\/p>\n<p>I did not appreciate it.<\/p>\n<p>The next morning, Richard and I drove north toward Sedona.<\/p>\n<p>As the landscape changed, I watched red rock formations rise beyond the highway and remembered traveling that road with Harold.<\/p>\n<p>He had always driven.<\/p>\n<p>I had always navigated badly.<\/p>\n<p>At one point Richard asked whether I wanted coffee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounded personal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m angry with my dead husband.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStill?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore efficiently now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard nodded as though that were a recognized stage of estate administration.<\/p>\n<p>Mason Pike lived in a low adobe house overlooking a wash.<\/p>\n<p>He answered the door using a cane he appeared to resent.<\/p>\n<p>His white hair was combed straight back, and his eyes were startlingly sharp.<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me for several seconds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou look like Margaret.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would hope so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarold showed me photographs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds slightly less strange.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He invited us into a study crowded with legal books, framed photographs, and document boxes.<\/p>\n<p>One box had already been placed on the desk.<\/p>\n<p>BRIGGS \/ CARTER.<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>Mason rested both hands on his cane.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour husband was stubborn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve heard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was also right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot signing the extension.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard opened his notebook.<\/p>\n<p>Mason waved at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou lawyers. Harold hated people taking notes while he was talking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard closed the notebook.<\/p>\n<p>Mason smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s why I did it whenever he annoyed me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I liked him immediately.<\/p>\n<p>He removed a file.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the original option agreement Harold signed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard put on reading glasses.<\/p>\n<p>I stood beside him.<\/p>\n<p>The document gave Carter Development limited rights to negotiate for the land under specific conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Those rights had an expiration date.<\/p>\n<p>That date had passed years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo automatic extension?\u201d Richard asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo renewal provision?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot without a new written agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Harold never executed one with you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mason produced another document.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is what appeared in the county records later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I compared them.<\/p>\n<p>At first they looked almost identical.<\/p>\n<p>Then Richard pointed to a paragraph near the end.<\/p>\n<p>The recorded version contained additional language granting Carter Development an extension and a preferential purchase price.<\/p>\n<p>My stomach turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd that\u2019s supposed to be Harold\u2019s signature?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I examined it.<\/p>\n<p>It looked convincing.<\/p>\n<p>Too convincing.<\/p>\n<p>Mason opened another folder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarold came to me after discovering the filing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t he challenge it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe intended to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat stopped him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mason looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExcuse me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot directly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He sat carefully.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour husband had begun investigating what happened. Then you had that cardiac scare.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I remembered.<\/p>\n<p>Not a heart attack.<\/p>\n<p>A frightening episode of chest pain that sent me to the hospital for two nights.<\/p>\n<p>Harold had been unbearable afterward.<\/p>\n<p>He checked my medications.<\/p>\n<p>Changed our diet.<\/p>\n<p>Followed me around the house asking whether I felt dizzy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe stopped working on the case?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor a while.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause of me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said he wasn\u2019t spending whatever years he had left fighting developers while you were frightened about your health.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That sounded exactly like him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd afterward?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe resumed quietly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy quietly?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause by then Carter Development was preparing for sale. Harold believed challenging the filing immediately might lead to the evidence disappearing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard finally reopened his notebook.<\/p>\n<p>Mason allowed it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat evidence?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInternal correspondence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Harold obtain it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mason reached for another envelope.<\/p>\n<p>Inside was the letter he had mentioned on the telephone.<\/p>\n<p>Harold had written it to Mason.<\/p>\n<p>If Carter Development or any successor attempts enforcement after my death, provide Margaret with the original agreement and all correspondence. She is not to be pressured into accepting a false obligation merely because I am unavailable to contest it.<\/p>\n<p>My eyes burned.<\/p>\n<p>Harold had hidden the battle from me.<\/p>\n<p>But he had planned for the possibility that I would have to finish it.<\/p>\n<p>Richard read the next paragraph.<\/p>\n<p>His expression changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He handed me the page.<\/p>\n<p>Harold wrote that someone within Carter Development had privately warned him about altered records.<\/p>\n<p>The employee\u2019s name was not written in the letter.<\/p>\n<p>Instead Harold referred to \u201cD.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho is D?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Mason frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat problem?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere should be another page.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He searched the envelope.<\/p>\n<p>Then the folder.<\/p>\n<p>Then the box.<\/p>\n<p>His movements became quicker.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMason?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere were three pages.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have two.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mason looked genuinely shaken.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI checked this file after Harold died. All three pages were here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout eighteen months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho has accessed the files since?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNobody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard looked around the room.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCleaning staff?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA woman comes twice a week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFamily?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFormer colleagues?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I examined the envelope.<\/p>\n<p>Its edge looked worn.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould the page have been misplaced?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mason\u2019s voice sharpened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I don\u2019t misplace pages from evidence files.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard asked, \u201cWhat was on page three?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe identity of the employee who contacted Harold.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou read it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYears ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen who was it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mason closed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t remember the full name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My frustration escaped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou remember litigation from fifteen years ago but not the name?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m eighty-three, Mrs. Briggs. Memory has developed preferences.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I regretted my tone immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He waved it away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDiane. Diana. Denise. Something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast name?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStarted with an M, perhaps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard wrote it down.<\/p>\n<p>Mason continued searching.<\/p>\n<p>Then he stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was also a photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat photograph?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA copy of an internal memo with handwriting on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTom Carter\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor\u2019s husband.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did it say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mason stared toward the window, reconstructing the memory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomething about making the Briggs problem disappear before closing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClosing what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe company sale, presumably.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard and I exchanged a look.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas the photograph on the missing page?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. Separate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd that\u2019s missing too?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now even Mason looked frightened.<\/p>\n<p>Richard immediately began photographing every remaining document.<\/p>\n<p>I moved toward the bookshelf.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing seemed disturbed.<\/p>\n<p>Then I noticed a pale rectangle in the dust on a lower shelf.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMason.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He came over.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas something sitting here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA small file box.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was in it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOld correspondence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRelated to Harold?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen did you last see it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked toward the desk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard stopped photographing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore or after I called?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mason thought.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid anyone know we were coming?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnyone else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told my former secretary Harold Briggs\u2019s widow had resurfaced.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho is she?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCaroline Webb.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere did she work after you retired?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mason hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>Then he said, \u201cCarter Development.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room became very still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSix years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she work there during the company sale?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard closed the folder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to speak with her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mason reached for his phone.<\/p>\n<p>Caroline did not answer.<\/p>\n<p>He called again.<\/p>\n<p>Voicemail.<\/p>\n<p>Richard asked him not to leave another message.<\/p>\n<p>On our way back to Willow Creek, Daniel called.<\/p>\n<p>I answered through the car.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom, are you home?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The word sharpened every nerve.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a black SUV parked down the street from your house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI came by to fix that loose gate latch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I had mentioned it once.<\/p>\n<p>He remembered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you approach the vehicle?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wasn\u2019t planning to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard asked for the plate.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel read it.<\/p>\n<p>Richard entered it into his notes.<\/p>\n<p>Then Daniel said, \u201cIt\u2019s leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid the driver see you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did they look like?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWoman. Maybe fifties. Dark hair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard and I looked at each other.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel,\u201d I said, \u201cgo home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom, what is happening?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll explain later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His voice changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou keep saying later. Somebody is watching your house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you get involved in?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost laughed at the absurdity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI bought a house and inherited land.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sentence should not require surveillance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI agree.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Richard.<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCome to Willow Creek at six,\u201d I said. \u201cAlone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy alone?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I asked you to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We arrived home shortly after four.<\/p>\n<p>The SUV was gone.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing appeared disturbed.<\/p>\n<p>Richard walked around the property while I entered through the front.<\/p>\n<p>On the kitchen island sat the mail I had brought inside that morning.<\/p>\n<p>Except I remembered leaving it near the sink.<\/p>\n<p>I stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps I had moved it.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps.<\/p>\n<p>Then I noticed Harold\u2019s notebook.<\/p>\n<p>It was open.<\/p>\n<p>I had left it closed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRichard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He came in immediately.<\/p>\n<p>I pointed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you touch that yesterday?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Neither had Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>My skin went cold.<\/p>\n<p>Richard told me not to touch anything.<\/p>\n<p>We checked the doors.<\/p>\n<p>The back door was locked.<\/p>\n<p>The windows were closed.<\/p>\n<p>Then we reached the small mudroom beside the garage.<\/p>\n<p>The narrow window above the utility sink had been pushed open less than an inch.<\/p>\n<p>No broken glass.<\/p>\n<p>No obvious damage.<\/p>\n<p>Just enough evidence to make uncertainty impossible.<\/p>\n<p>Someone had entered my house.<\/p>\n<p>Police arrived within minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing valuable appeared missing.<\/p>\n<p>My jewelry remained upstairs.<\/p>\n<p>My purse was untouched.<\/p>\n<p>The television and electronics were exactly where they belonged.<\/p>\n<p>Only Harold\u2019s notebook had clearly been disturbed.<\/p>\n<p>The officer asked what it contained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInformation about an old property dispute.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything worth money?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>Richard answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPotentially several million dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The officer\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n<p>He took the report more seriously after that.<\/p>\n<p>By six, Daniel arrived.<\/p>\n<p>He saw the patrol car leaving.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomeone got inside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face drained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you okay?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He hugged me before I could answer further.<\/p>\n<p>I let him.<\/p>\n<p>Then I told him almost everything about the land.<\/p>\n<p>The original contract.<\/p>\n<p>The altered filing.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Carter.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor.<\/p>\n<p>Mason Pike.<\/p>\n<p>The missing page.<\/p>\n<p>I did not mention the lottery.<\/p>\n<p>One secret remained mine.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel listened without interrupting.<\/p>\n<p>When I finished, he walked to the window.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Dad knew somebody might come after the land.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd he kept you out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds like him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd now somebody is searching for whatever evidence he kept.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen you shouldn\u2019t stay here alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The old instinct rose immediately.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel deciding.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel protecting.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel arranging my life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomebody broke into your house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I\u2019m installing security.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis isn\u2019t stubbornness time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou sound like your father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat should worry you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt does.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard interrupted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can arrange overnight security without Margaret relocating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked relieved enough that I knew he had expected a larger fight.<\/p>\n<p>Then my phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>Unknown number.<\/p>\n<p>I answered.<\/p>\n<p>No voice.<\/p>\n<p>Only breathing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHello?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>Then a woman spoke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMrs. Briggs?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy name is Caroline Webb.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard moved closer.<\/p>\n<p>Mason\u2019s former secretary.<\/p>\n<p>The woman who later worked for Carter Development.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI heard you were asking about me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t take Mason\u2019s missing page.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen who did?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow did you know it was missing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n<p>Caroline exhaled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I know what was on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I gripped the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t over the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause the person who altered Harold\u2019s contract is still alive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Richard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline\u2019s next words made the room go cold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Thomas Carter wasn\u2019t the one who did it.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/?p=5273\">Click here to continue reading: PART 10: Caroline Webb Named the Person Behind Harold\u2019s Altered Contract, and the Truth Forced Eleanor to Reconsider Her Husband\u2019s Final Years<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Richard did not wait for the dark SUV to return a third time. He photographed the rear of the vehicle as it disappeared beyond the trees, although the distance and &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feel-one-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5300,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5272\/revisions\/5300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}