Chapter 11 - The Attack Outside the Grocery Store
Franklin met detectives the same afternoon.
The attack had occurred in a parking garage.
Two men shoved him against his truck, took his wallet and struck him several times.
They ignored his expensive watch.
They ignored the cash inside the center console.
They took only his phone and briefcase.
At the time, police believed it was a hurried robbery.
Brandon now claimed Amber had arranged it.
“She wanted the company authorization codes,” he said during a recorded interview.
Franklin stared through the glass partition.
“Did you know before it happened?”
Brandon looked down.
“I knew Cole wanted the briefcase.”
“That was not my question.”
“I didn’t think they would hurt you.”
Franklin felt something inside him go cold.
“You knew.”
“I thought they would scare you.”
“Why?”
“To delay the sale.”
The briefcase had contained preliminary inspection notes and a copy of the River Oaks property file.
Cole believed stealing it would stop the transaction.
But Franklin stored all company documents electronically.
The theft delayed nothing.
It only left a sixty-eight-year-old man bleeding beside his truck.
Amber had provided Franklin’s grocery schedule.
Cole hired two men through a subcontractor.
Brandon knew there would be a confrontation.
He chose not to warn his father.
Then, four days later, he slapped Franklin across the same injured side of his face.
Detectives recovered messages from Amber’s phone.
One read:
**Make sure they don’t damage him enough to bring attention.**
Another came from Brandon:
**He’ll panic and postpone everything.**
Franklin read the words twice.
The betrayal felt different from the forged loan.
Money could explain greed.
This required something worse.
They had treated his fear and pain as business tools.
Amber was arrested for conspiracy, aggravated robbery and financial fraud.
Brandon’s cooperation could not erase his knowledge.
Additional charges were added.
The men who attacked Franklin were identified and arrested.
Cole attempted to blame them for exceeding instructions.
One of the men produced a voice recording of Cole promising extra money if Franklin required hospitalization.
The entire structure began collapsing.
Every participant had kept evidence against someone else.
No one trusted anyone.
Franklin thought of the River Oaks living room.
Amber smiling after the slap.
Brandon saying, “Know your place.”
They believed his place was beneath the life he had built for them.
Now a jury would decide theirs.
Yet Franklin felt no victory.
He sat alone after the interview and removed the antique watch.
For the first time, he considered selling it.
Then he noticed a second engraving hidden beneath the strap.
It carried Brandon’s name.
May you like
Helen had added it years earlier.
👉 Helen had once believed Brandon could become worthy of the family watch—and Franklin had to decide whether that hope was truly dead.
