She slid bank statements across the desk toward me. “He has been bankrupt for two years,” she added.
“He has been patching holes with money that belonged to you,” she said.
“My mother’s inheritance?” I whispered.
“Every single cent of it is gone,” Sarah confirmed.
I felt a surge of rage that was sharper than the fear. “And now?” I asked.
“Now he owes close to half a million dollars to people who do not take excuses,” she said.
“How does burning the house help him pay that?” I asked.
Sarah looked me in the eye. “Life insurance. You have a policy for three million dollars,” she noted.
“And he is the sole beneficiary,” she added.
Toby’s whisper at the airport echoed in my mind. He had heard his father say he was finally going to be free.
“But we did not die,” I said.
“No, and he does not know that yet,” Sarah replied.
“What happens when he finds out we are alive?” I asked.
“He will panic or he will try to finish the job,” she said plainly.
I swallowed hard. “Can we go to the police?”
“Not yet. He has too much influence and time to spin a story about your mental health,” she warned.
She looked at Toby sleeping on the couch. “We need to build a case that he cannot charm his way out of,” she said.
