Chapter 3

The Delta Parish courthouse smelled of old paper and lemon polish. Renee parked behind the bank at eight ten the next morning, before the clerk’s office filled with oil-and-gas men and title searchers. She had not slept. She had spent the night listening to the twenty-eight seconds on her phone, hearing Cece’s voice say loose end until the words lost meaning and became pure sound.

The clerk, a woman named Doreen with reading glasses on a beaded chain, knew Renee from the foundation grants. She didn’t ask questions when Renee requested the conveyance records for the west grove.

It took eleven minutes to find it.

Blue Heron Holdings, LLC. Deed dated August second. Seller: Augustus Vandermeer. Signature: a wavering G. Vandermeer. Notary: Cece’s personal attorney. Witness: Paul Vandermeer.

Renee stared at her husband’s name. The signature was his. She had seen it on birthday cards, on school forms, on the back of checks. It was not forged. It was Paul’s hand, slanting hard to the right, the P always a little top-heavy.

She photographed every page. Then she drove home.

Paul was in the kitchen, coffee untouched, Theo watching cartoons in the den. Junie was at the table with a book she wasn’t reading. Her chin had a butterfly bandage. Renee kissed her head, then tilted her chin toward the hall.

Paul followed her into the laundry room. She closed the door.

“August second,” she said. “Blue Heron Holdings. West grove. Gus’s signature. Your signature as witness.”

Paul’s face went gray. “I told you. I signed loan papers.”

“This is a deed, Paul. A sale. You witnessed your father selling the west grove.”

“He wouldn’t.”

“He didn’t.” Renee pulled up the photo on her phone. “Look at the date. You were at the hunting camp that weekend. You came home drunk. You told me you signed something for your mother and you didn’t remember what.”

Paul took the phone. His hand trembled. “I didn’t read it.”

“You witnessed it.”

“She said it was routine.”

“It was a land sale.” Renee’s voice rose. “The same land our daughter saw surveyors staking six weeks ago. The same land Cece is talking about on a hidden recorder. She used you.”

Paul set the phone on the dryer. He pressed both palms to his eyes. “She’s my mother.”

“She’s not protecting you. She’s protecting herself. And if this comes out, you’re not just a witness. You’re the man who signed off on a fraudulent deed.”

“I didn’t know.”

“Then help me prove it.” Renee grabbed his wrist. “But understand something. I will not let her use you as a shield. Not when Junie is standing behind you.”

Paul looked at her. For a second, he was the man she married-tired, decent, afraid. Then his face closed. “You don’t know what she’s capable of.”

“I’m starting to.”

From the den, Theo called for juice. Junie appeared in the laundry doorway, book clutched to her chest. “Mom?”

Renee let go of Paul’s wrist. “Yes, baby?”

“Grandma called. She said you should bring the thing Daddy took.” Junie’s eyes were too old for ten. “She said if you don’t, she’ll tell everyone I’m a liar.”

Renee knelt. “You are not a liar.”

“I saw the stakes.”

“I know.”

“And the white truck.”

“I know.”

Junie’s chin quivered. “She said Grandpa Gus is sick and I made him worse.”

Renee pulled her close. Over Junie’s shoulder, she looked at Paul. “Go call your mother,” she said. “Tell her we’ll meet at Bellrose tomorrow.”

Paul nodded. He didn’t look relieved. He looked like a man walking toward a cliff.