Chapter 31 - The Warehouse on Route 60
The warehouse had been abandoned for eleven years.
Dad still owned the building because every time Mom suggested selling it, he said he would “get around to cleaning it first.”
He never did.
The padlock took fifteen minutes to open.
Dad, Vaughn, Camille, and I entered wearing masks because the dust was biblical.
Rows of rusted shelving stretched beneath broken fluorescent lights.
Old company signs leaned against walls.
Blueprint tubes.
Invoices.
Boxes.
Thousands of boxes.
“This could take months,” Camille said.
Dad shook his head.
“My father had a system.”
He pointed toward a small office in the back.
The door still had faded gold letters:
GERALD TORRANCE SR. - PRESIDENT.
Inside sat a massive metal filing cabinet.
Empty.
Dad looked crushed.
“He cleared it.”
Camille said nothing.
I moved around the room.
The walls were paneled in cheap wood.
One section looked different.
Newer screws.
I tapped it.
Hollow.
“Vaughn.”
He came over.
Twenty minutes later, we removed the panel.
Behind it was a narrow steel door.
Dad stared.
“I never knew this existed.”
The lock was mechanical.
Camille crouched.
“Your grandfather had a hidden safe?”
“Apparently.”
We needed a locksmith.
Aunt Teddy knew one.
Of course she did.
By late afternoon, the safe opened.
Inside were twelve document boxes.
Camille stopped breathing.
Dad sat down.
We opened the first.
Tax returns.
The second.
Property deeds.
The third.
Company incorporation records.
Then Vaughn pulled out a blue folder.
“Elise Mercer.”
Camille made a sound I will never forget.
Half sob.
Half gasp.
She opened it.
Original photographs.
Original correspondence.
Payroll records.
Then the contract.
Not a photocopy.
The original.
Twenty percent ownership.
Signed.
Notarized.
Valid.
Dad covered his face.
“Oh, Dad.”
He wasn’t talking about himself.
He was talking about his father.
Camille’s hands shook.
“She was telling the truth.”
“Yes.”
We kept reading.
Then we found something unexpected.
A later document.
Six months after Elise left Virginia.
TRANSFER AND REDEMPTION AGREEMENT.
It stated Elise had voluntarily sold her twenty percent stake back to the company.
For $480,000.
Her signature appeared at the bottom.
Camille stared.
“She never received this.”
Dad read the page.
“The money was wired.”
“To where?”
An account number.
Camille shook her head.
“That wasn’t hers.”
We searched the box.
Another statement showed the account belonged to Mercer Family Holdings.
Camille had never heard of it.
Then I found a corporate registration document.
Mercer Family Holdings.
Authorized manager:
Diane Torrance.
My mother.
Nobody spoke.
I felt the floor shift beneath me.
“Mom?”
Dad took the page.
His face turned gray.
“No.”
Camille’s eyes hardened.
“You said your wife didn’t know anything.”
“She didn’t.”
“Her name is right there.”
Dad looked physically ill.
“It has to be forged.”
Camille laughed bitterly.
“Funny how every document becomes fake when it hurts your side.”
I understood her anger.
But I also knew Mom.
At least, I thought I did.
I pulled out my phone.
“We’re going home.”
Camille crossed her arms.
“To confront her?”
“Yes.”
Dad whispered, “Emmy.”
May you like
I looked at him.
“No more secrets.”
