I looked from Evelyn to my mother, the rain soaking through my collar. “What did they do to you?” I asked.

“They declared me mentally incompetent,” Evelyn said, her voice steady and cold.

“They forged the medical evaluations to lock me away so they could take control of the restaurant trust.”

“It was the only way to save the company,” Arthur stammered, stepping back toward his SUV.

“It was fraud,” Evelyn said. “And it carries no statute of limitations when it involves kidnapping and forced confinement.”

She turned her sharp eyes on Helen.

“If you try to stop Emily tonight, or if you interfere with Daniel, these papers go straight to the federal prosecutor.”

Helen clutched her leather handbag to her chest as if it could shield her.

“You wouldn’t do that to your own family,” Helen said.

“You stopped being my family the night you signed those papers,” Evelyn said.

The silence on the dock was heavy, broken only by the rhythmic sloshing of the tide against the wooden pilings.

My phone vibrated again, a long, continuous buzz.

The caller ID showed Brooke’s name.