“I reviewed these earlier,” she said. “There are several conversations that matter. We can discuss them privately, or we can do so here.”
Petra took a step toward the laptop.
“Turn it off.”
Josephine did not move.
“Why?”
“Because this is a family dinner.”
“It stopped being a family dinner when you prepared to remove the homeowner from her own home.”
Dex closed his eyes.
“Play it,” he said.
“Dex,” Petra whispered.
“Play it.”
CHAPTER 2 – The Papers on the Table
The first recording showed Petra in my study three months earlier. She stood with her back to the camera, holding a document against the desk lamp.
Her voice was clear.
“If she signs this, we can refinance before the market changes.”
A man answered from somewhere near the door.
“What if she refuses?”
“Then we make her understand that refusal is selfish.”
The man was Carl Venn, the realtor whose card I had found in my cookbook.
The recording ended.
The next showed Petra at the kitchen counter, speaking to her mother while I was outside hanging laundry.
“She won’t sign if Dex is here,” Petra said. “He still thinks she can manage everything.”
Lenora’s recorded voice trembled.
“Petra, this is not your decision.”
“It becomes my decision when we are the ones cleaning up the consequences.”
“What consequences?”
“Her death. Her medical bills. The house sitting empty while Dex struggles.”
“She is not dying.”
“Everyone dies, Mom.”
Josephine stopped the recording.
