“I know you have the Delaware files,” he said.

“They don’t mean what you think they mean.”

“If you show those to Kelsey, you’ll ruin her life.”

“Is that what you want?”

He was trying to play on my guilt.

He wanted me to believe he was protecting her.

But the documents in my lap proved the exact opposite.

He had systematically cleaned out her personal trust fund.

I looked down at the dark outline of the folder.

My sister had spent the last year accusing me of selfishness.

She had stood by him while he dragged me through mediation.

She believed he was building a future for them.

The truth would break her.

Outside, the footsteps began to recede.

He was walking back toward the cabin.

I waited, counting the seconds in the dark.

The wind continued to howl through the gaps in the stone.

I turned the flashlight back on, shielding the lens with my fingers.

I needed to see the signature on the last page.

It was a loan application for a two-million-dollar development project on this ridge.