Rachel Bennett took one look at Maggie's wrist and stopped smiling.

They were inside a curtained examination room at Riverton Community Hospital.

Ethan stood near the door with his arms folded.

Rachel had been halfway through saying how good it was to see him when Maggie removed her coat.

Now Rachel's attention was entirely on his mother.

"Mrs. Carter, I'm going to ask you something directly."

Maggie nodded.

"Did someone do this to you?"

Maggie looked at Ethan.

Rachel followed her gaze.

"Ethan, could you give us a minute?"

"I'm staying."

"Ethan."

It had been two years since Rachel had said his name that way.

Apparently, some things survived a breakup.

Maggie touched his hand.

"It's okay."

He left reluctantly.

Twenty-five minutes later, Rachel found him beside a vending machine.

"She's going to be okay."

Ethan exhaled.

"That's not what I asked."

"No fractures. Her wrist is badly bruised. There are other bruises."

His head lifted.

"Other?"

Rachel hesitated.

"Some are older."

Ethan stared at her.

"How old?"

"I can't give you an exact timeline."

"Rachel."

"Days. Maybe longer."

He looked toward the examination room.

"She told me this never happened before."

Rachel didn't answer.

She didn't have to.

When Maggie was discharged, Ethan drove her to Linda Parker's house.

Linda had been Maggie's closest friend for nearly twenty years.

She opened the door wearing slippers and a cardigan.

The moment she saw Maggie, she covered her mouth.

"Oh, Maggie."

Ethan noticed.

Not surprise.

Recognition.

He filed that away.

Linda led Maggie inside.

"I'll make tea."

"No tea," Ethan said. "We need to talk."

Maggie sat at the kitchen table.

"Ethan."

"Richard is trying to take the house. Start there."

Linda stopped beside the counter.

Maggie stared at her hands.

"The house was paid off after your father died."

"I know."

"Thomas made sure of it."

"I know that too."

"Richard moved in three years ago."

"I also know that."

Maggie closed her eyes.

"About a year ago, he started saying it wasn't fair."

"What wasn't fair?"

"That he paid bills for a house that would never belong to him."

Ethan laughed once.

There was no humor in it.

"So he wanted his name on the deed."

"Yes."

"And you said no."

"At first."

Ethan leaned forward.

"At first?"

"I never signed anything."

"That's not what I asked."

Maggie rubbed her forehead.

"He kept bringing me documents. He said it was only to protect him if something happened to me."

"Did you sign them?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

Her eyes flashed.

"I'm not confused, Ethan."

"I didn't say you were."

"You were thinking it."

"No. I'm thinking Richard has spent three years convincing you that you need permission to make decisions in your own house."

Maggie looked away.

Linda quietly placed a cup of water in front of her.

Ethan noticed Maggie's hands shaking.

He sat back.

"Okay. One thing at a time."

The following morning, Claire Donovan met them at her office downtown.

Claire was forty-one, direct, and spoke with the calm precision of someone accustomed to people bringing chaos through her door.

She reviewed the documents Maggie had brought.

Then she opened the county property database.

Her expression changed.

"Mrs. Carter, did you file a transfer-on-death designation in May?"

"No."

Claire turned her laptop around.

A scanned document appeared.

Maggie leaned closer.

Ethan read the page twice.

The property listed was 418 Maple Street.

Owner: Margaret Carter.

Beneficiary: Richard Hale.

At the bottom was Maggie's signature.

Maggie went pale.

"I didn't sign that."

Claire looked at her.

"You're certain?"

"Absolutely."

Ethan pointed at the screen.

"Then it's forged."

"Possibly."

"Possibly?"

"I don't use that word casually until a document examiner has seen it."

Maggie touched the signature on the screen.

"It looks like mine."

"That's usually the point."

Ethan stood and paced toward the window.

"So he wasn't trying to get her to sign anymore."

Claire nodded.

"He may have decided he didn't need her cooperation."

Maggie suddenly whispered, "The drawer."

Ethan turned.

"What?"

"Thomas's desk."

"The envelope?"

She nodded.

Claire looked between them.

"What envelope?"

Maggie explained.

Claire immediately advised them not to return alone.

"If there's any chance Mr. Hale has become violent, you do not confront him over documents."

Ethan gave a short laugh.

"I wasn't planning on asking politely."

Claire looked at him.

"Then I'm speaking specifically to you."

His phone vibrated.

Unknown number.

Ethan answered.

"Hello?"

Richard's voice came through.

"Tell your mother to stop wasting money on lawyers."

Ethan's body went rigid.

"How do you know where we are?"

Richard laughed softly.

"Riverton isn't Chicago."

"What do you want?"

"My home back."

"It's not your home."

"We'll see."

The call ended.

Claire watched Ethan lower the phone.

"Document everything."

He nodded.

That afternoon, Claire requested certified copies of the property records.

By five o'clock, she called Ethan.

"There is another problem."

He put her on speaker.

Maggie and Linda were sitting nearby.

"What problem?"

"The document was notarized."

"So?"

"So a notary certified that your mother personally appeared and signed it."

Maggie stood.

"That's impossible."

"I believe you."

"Who notarized it?"

Claire gave them the name.

"Patricia Wells."

Maggie frowned.

"I don't know anyone named Patricia Wells."

Ethan looked at Linda.

Linda had gone strangely still.

"You know her?"

"No."

The answer came too quickly.

Ethan stared at her.

Linda picked up her coffee.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because you look like you've seen a ghost."

"I've never met that woman."

Maggie touched Ethan's sleeve.

"Stop."

Claire continued over the phone.

"There is something else. Whoever prepared this document had access to information that wouldn't necessarily be public."

"What information?"

"Your husband's original estate file number."

Maggie sat down again.

Ethan felt the room change.

"Who knew that number?"

"Thomas's attorney. Me. Maybe Linda."

Linda looked up.

"And Richard?"

Maggie shook her head.

"I never gave it to him."

"Where was the paperwork kept?"

"In Thomas's desk."

Ethan already knew the answer to his next question.

"Who had access to the desk?"

Maggie didn't respond.

"Mom."

She looked at him.

"Richard did."

"Anyone else?"

Silence.

Then Maggie glanced toward Linda.

Linda's coffee cup stopped halfway to her mouth.

Ethan looked from one woman to the other.

"What aren't you telling me?"

Maggie whispered his name.

"Ethan..."

"What?"

She took a breath.

"Richard wasn't the only person who knew where I kept those papers."