Three Weeks After Lucas Was Gone, Charles Claimed the House on Maple Street

Clara had her fist wrapped around my thumb when Samantha set the blue envelope on the tray.

“Franklin opened it in the vault room with both of us watching,” she said.

“I didn’t read past your name.”

The name was written in Lucas’s thick black ink.

Victoria Gallagher and Clara Gallagher, Maple Street.

Samantha stayed in the chair by the window.

She clicked her silver pen once, then stopped herself.

“Two documents,” she said.