Chapter 8 - The Storage Unit
The next morning, the deputy obtained access to the storage unit after Patricia’s attorney confirmed she would cooperate.
Daniel came with me.
Inside the narrow unit were Patricia’s extra furniture, boxes of family china, and the black metal case engraved with my initials.
The lock had been cut.
Most of the documents remained, but three folders were missing.
Daniel checked the inventory list my father had placed inside.
“Missing: the original marital occupancy agreement, the corporate transfer ledger, and the sealed beneficiary amendment.”
“What amendment?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Your father told me never to discuss it unless the seal was broken.”
“It’s gone.”
He nodded grimly.
We found copies of emails between Patricia and someone identified only as M.C.
M.C. had instructed her exactly which folders to remove.
One email said:
Blake believes the amendment gives him control after divorce. Do not correct him.
Another said:
Keep Claire emotionally reactive. The custody narrative depends on it.
Someone had manipulated both Blake and Patricia while targeting me.
At the bottom of one printed email was a Seattle office address.
Carrington Development occupied that building.
But the suite number belonged to another company.
Morrow Capital Partners.
Daniel knew the name.
“They purchase distressed companies, strip their assets, and force personal guarantees.”
“Did Blake borrow from them?”
“Possibly. But if they knew about your trust, they may have financed him specifically to reach it.”
Behind a stack of boxes, the deputy discovered a small audio recorder.
Patricia admitted she had used it during family conversations.
The final recording captured Blake and an unidentified man.
The man said, “Remove Claire before Friday, or Carrington Development becomes ours.”
Blake answered, “And the house?”
“When she breaks, she’ll sign anything.”
I recognized the other voice.
May you like
I had heard it at my father’s funeral.
👉 The man controlling Blake’s scheme was someone Claire’s father had once trusted enough to invite into their family’s grief.
