“The deed is frozen,” she said. “He can’t touch it, and his accounts are locked pending the criminal investigation.”

I looked down at the bassinet where Evelyn lay, her tiny fingers curled near her cheek.

I had protected her heritage, but the look on Grant’s face at the storage facility still haunted me.

I lifted the digital recorder.

“My father left this in the chest,” I told Naomi.

“It has his handwriting on it, dated while I was overseas.”

Naomi frowned, stepping closer to the bed.

“Everett was very meticulous,” she said. “If he hid that, he wanted only you to find it.”

General Vale closed the door to the hospital room, sealing us off from the quiet hallway.

“Play it, Tessa,” he said.

My finger pressed the small rubber play button on the side of the device.

A soft hiss of static filled the room, followed by the sound of a clearing throat.

Then, the familiar, raspy voice of my father came through the tiny speaker.

The voice was thin, punctuated by a dry cough that I remembered all too well.