I moved quickly, placing myself between the guard and my mother.

“Do not touch her,” I said, my voice dropping to a hard, military tone.

The guard stopped, his eyes flicking to the brass eagles on my uniform shoulders.

He hesitated, recognizing the rank, but he did not retreat.

“I am carrying out the owner’s instructions, Colonel,” the guard said.

“Your owner is hiding a criminal investigation,” I said, looking past him to Denise.

Denise’s face tightened, a flicker of anger crossing her perfect makeup.

“You have no power here, Natalie,” Denise said. “Your little military career won’t protect you.”

“We only want the old boxes of letters in the study,” Eleanor pleaded.

She looked past the guards, her eyes searching the high windows of the house.

“Those letters belong to Daniel,” Eleanor said. “They have nothing to do with Gregory.”

“Everything in this house belongs to Gregory,” Denise said.

She turned her back to us and walked toward the heavy oak front doors.

“Get them off the property,” Denise called over her shoulder.

The guard with the scarred jaw looked at me again.