Chapter 2 - The Moving Truck
The truck arrived at 8:03 a.m.
Claire had been standing on the porch since seven thirty with two police officers and her attorney waiting nearby in an unmarked car.
Ryan stepped out of the passenger side carrying a clipboard.
Three movers climbed from the back.
He had labeled several boxes with the names of rooms inside Claire’s house.
MASTER BEDROOM.
STUDY.
LAKE ROOM.
He had not even waited to see whether his key worked.
Ryan told the movers their father had transferred the property to him.
He claimed Claire was refusing to leave because she was emotional.
The movers exchanged uneasy glances when they saw the officers.
Claire asked Ryan to produce the deed.
He tapped the folder beneath his arm.
“You’ll see it after my things are inside.”
That was the first mistake he made on camera.
The lead officer told him no one would enter until ownership was verified.
Ryan laughed.
“My father built this house.”
That was not true.
Their father, William Mercer, had found the property.
Claire had purchased it six years earlier using money from the design company she created after college.
William helped negotiate the price.
Ryan later began telling relatives that their father had bought it for the family.
Claire corrected him at first.
Then she stopped.
She never imagined the lie would become the foundation of an attempted takeover.
Ryan pointed toward the movers.
“They’re being paid by the hour.”
Claire answered quietly.
“Then you should send them home.”
May you like
Instead, Ryan walked toward the lock.
And every camera on the porch captured what happened next.
