Chapter 16 - The Brother's Pen
Ryan's chest heaved in shallow, jagged gasps as he pressed the receiver back to his ear.
"She lied to me my entire life," he choked out, his voice cracking down the middle. "Every school, every house, every corporate meeting... she told me I owed everything to her."
"You owed her nothing, Ryan," I said, resting my palm flat against the cold divider. "She used your name to siphon forty million dollars from an estate that belonged to Miriam's children."
"What do you want, Nora?" he sobbed, his head bowing low against the stainless steel shelf. "I don't have anything left."
"I want the biometric signature," I said. "Arthur Vance and Julian Mercer are attempting to file a fraudulent succession deed at the probate court tomorrow. They need to prove Miriam died without living male issue."
"And if I sign?"
"I submit a certified mitigating statement to the Dallas County District Attorney," I told him plainly. "You still face sentencing for facilitating the false report. But you won't serve twenty years for chemical conspiracy. And Lily grows up knowing her father wasn't entirely a coward."
Ryan looked up at me, his hazel eyes swimming with tears—the same eyes that stared back at me from old photographs of my mother on our mantle in Austin.
"Bring the tablet, Nora," Ryan whispered, his jaw trembling with a strange, sudden resolve. "Bring the damn tablet."
Ten minutes later, the custodial deputy slid a hardened administrative screen through the security slot.
May you like
Ryan pressed his thumb against the optical scanner and spoke the twelve-word archival authentication phrase into the microphone.
The tablet screen chimed once, flashing bright emerald green: DECRYPTION SUCCESSFUL. ARCHIVAL DOCKET 1985-VANCE FULLY UNLOCKED.
