Chapter 7: When He Thought He Was Winning
Brandon showed up at Renata's house.
Renata called me while he was still standing on her porch.
Her voice was low and tight.
"He's here, Charlotte.
He says he knows Skylar stayed here yesterday and he wants to know where you are.
I haven't said anything."
"Don't open the door."
"He's been knocking for four minutes."
"Call the non-emergency line and tell them there's someone at your door who won't leave.
I'm calling Grace right now."
I hung up and called Grace.
She picked up mid-ring.
"Brandon is at my colleague's house trying to locate Skylar."
"Is Skylar with you?"
"Yes.
She's here."
"Good.
Stay where you are.
Do not tell him your location.
I'm filing for an emergency protective order right now — this behavior, combined with the custody motion, gives us the grounds." Grace's voice didn't waver.
"Charlotte, this is him panicking.
The fraud investigation is moving and he knows it.
He's trying to create a scene that makes you look like you're hiding."
"He's going to say I'm keeping Skylar from him."
"And I'm going to show the court a man who drove to a private residence to pressure a third party into revealing a child's location, the day after filing a tactical custody motion, while under investigation for financial fraud." A pause.
"Let him keep going.
Every move he makes right now is evidence."
I sat with that.
Then I called Renata back.
"Is he still there?"
"He left two minutes ago.
But Charlotte — before he left, he said something." Her voice was careful.
"He said, *'Tell Charlotte that Gertrude has already spoken to a family court advocate.
They know what's best for Skylar, and it isn't a hotel room.'*"
I was quiet for a moment.
"Thank you, Renata.
I'm sorry he came to your door."
"Don't apologize.
Just protect that little girl."
I looked at Skylar, who was at the desk again with her notebook, drawing something I couldn't see from where I sat.
That afternoon, Grace and I met with Investigator Paulson again.
He had new information.
"We subpoenaed Meridian Capital this morning," he said.
"Their records show the loan application was submitted using a digital signature platform.
The account used to submit the application was created with an email address that belongs to your husband.
But the IP address logged at the time of submission —" he turned his legal pad to face me — "belongs to a device registered to Gertrude Mercer."
I looked at the address.
It was my home address.
"She submitted it," I said.
"She submitted it.
Brandon's name is on the application as co-applicant, but Gertrude appears to have been the one operating the account at the time of filing."
I thought about Gertrude raising her glass.
*To the future,* she had said.
I had assumed she meant dinner.
"She knew exactly what she was doing," I said.
"The evidence suggests she was not a passive participant." Paulson recapped his pen.
"Mrs.
Mercer, we're going to be requesting that both your husband and his mother come in for questioning.
I want you to be prepared for the possibility that they will retain separate legal counsel and that their stories may conflict."
"You mean one of them might turn on the other."
"It's not uncommon in cases like this."
I thought about Brandon and Gertrude sitting across from each other in separate rooms, each deciding how much to protect the other.
I almost felt something for him.
Almost.
Then I remembered Skylar on that stool in the dark kitchen, trying to hide the instant soup behind her back.
The feeling passed.
That evening, Brandon sent one final message before his lawyer ordered him to stop all contact.
*"You want to destroy this family, Char?
Fine.
But when Skylar asks why her parents aren't together, you're the one who's going to have to answer her."*
I read it once.
May you like
Then I forwarded it to Grace with a single line: *For the record.*
What happened the next morning was the moment everything shifted — not because of anything I did, but because of something Gertrude said in that questioning room that she could never take back.
