“This is disgusting,” she said. “She was ill. She wasn’t in her right mind.”
Grandma folded the letter halfway, then reached back into the box.
There was something else beneath the velvet.
A small black flash drive.
Grandma held it up.
“She was in her right mind when she made the recording too.”
Dad moved so fast I didn’t process it until he was already across the room.
He grabbed Grandma’s wrist.
“Give it to me.”
I yelled, “Dad!”
The room erupted.
One of his coworkers stood. The wedding planner backed into the wall. Valerie shouted something I couldn’t understand.
Grandma didn’t flinch.
She looked straight into Dad’s eyes and said, “Jack, if you bruise me, I’ll add assault to the list.”
He let go.
But I had seen his face.
It wasn’t grief. It wasn’t shock.
It was fear.
Grandma reached into her purse and pulled out a second flash drive.
“This one is a copy.”
Then another.
“And this one is going to my attorney.”
Then a third.
“And this one is already with Detective Marsh.”
Valerie went still.
That name meant something to her.
Dad noticed. So did I.
“Detective?” Dad asked.
Grandma’s voice became very quiet.
“Yes. Detective.”
Valerie laughed, but it came out cracked.