Chapter 3
I confronted Carol after Madison fell asleep.
She had changed clothes.
Fresh blouse.
Dry hair.
Jewelry restored.
That annoyed me more than it should have.
She stood in the dining room as if the afternoon had inconvenienced her.
“The orchard belongs with the family.”
“It is with the family.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No.”
I leaned against the table.
“Say it clearly.”
Her eyes hardened.
“A child should not control two hundred acres.”
“She doesn’t.”
“You do.”
“Until she’s old enough.”
“And then?”
“Then she does.”
Carol laughed.
“That is exactly the problem.”
There.
Not paperwork.
Power.
The orchard sat between two routes my organization used for private movement between properties. I had deliberately stopped using the land after Emily died because I did not want Madison’s inheritance absorbed into Mafia infrastructure.
Carol hated that.
“You shut down the north road.”
“Yes.”
“You forced men to drive forty miles around.”
“Yes.”
“You weakened the family over sentiment.”
I stared.
“Sentiment.”
“Emily is dead.”
My voice became colder.
“Say her name again like that.”
Carol paused.
Good.
Then she continued.
“Emily knew what she married into.”
“The orchard came from her mother.”
“And then she became a Holloway.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“She remained herself.”
Carol’s face tightened.
That was an old argument.
She believed marriage converted ownership, loyalty, even memory into family property.
Emily never did.
That was one reason they hated each other.
I placed the forged transfer in front of her.
“Who copied my signature?”
“No one.”
“Wrong.”
Silence.
“Was it you?”
Nothing.
“Dennis?”
She scoffed.
“Your father could barely sign birthday cards without smudging them.”
True.
Then I noticed something.
A tiny ink mark near the bottom.
Initials.
R.H.
My cousin Raymond Holloway.
Senior route captain.
The man who would benefit most if the orchard road reopened.
I looked at Carol.
“Raymond.”
Her expression changed.
Small.
Enough.
May you like
The forged signature had not begun with family resentment.
It began with someone who wanted a road.
