I froze. «She takes heart medication and sleep pills. Every day.»
«Not anymore, she doesn’t,» Jake said, «unless they’re hiding them somewhere else.»
I looked toward the living room where I could just barely see Grandma’s shawl over the arm of her chair. «She’s not herself,» I whispered. «She called you Jack. She hasn’t made eye contact with anyone. She’s barely awake.»
Jake nodded grimly. «It’s like they’re trying to keep her sedated long enough to pull something off.»
Just then, we heard Sierra’s voice floating in from the hallway. «There you two are,» she said brightly. «We’re about to do cake and gifts. Don’t want to miss it.»
Jake smiled politely. «We’ll be right there.» As soon as she turned the corner, he leaned back in toward me. «I think your dad and sister are planning something with Grandma’s estate, maybe even trying to prove she’s mentally unfit.»
My head spun. «But why now?»
He hesitated. «Because all the legal power shifts when she turns 85. Maybe there’s something in her trust. A clause? I don’t know yet.»
I tried to catch my breath. «Jake, we can’t just accuse them of that. We don’t have proof.»
«I’m working on it,» he said. «I took photos of what I saw, but I need more time. I just need you to act normal until we leave.»
The words «act normal» hit me harder this time, because now I could feel it too. This wasn’t just a party. It was a setup. We went back into the living room. Sierra was lighting candles on a huge cake. Dad was standing beside her, arm around her shoulder, smiling like he’d won something.
Grandma’s head was tilted back, eyes half-open. I walked over and gently shook her arm. «Grandma?»
She blinked slowly and turned to me. «Oh. Hello, dear,» she mumbled.
«She’s tired,» Sierra said quickly, stepping in. «We’ll let her rest after cake.»
«We’re leaving after this,» Jake whispered in my ear. I nodded without thinking. The room erupted into a shaky chorus of «Happy Birthday.» But I couldn’t sing. All I could do was watch Grandma struggle to lift her head and wonder how I hadn’t seen this coming sooner.
The cake was barely cut when Jake touched my arm and gave me a quiet nod. It was time. He didn’t say anything; he didn’t have to. I knew the look on his face. It was the same one he’d had once when we had to leave a hotel in the middle of the night after he spotted a security risk: calm, sharp, certain.
I glanced at Grandma one last time. She was slouched a bit in her chair, her eyes unfocused as Sierra posed behind her for pictures like everything was perfectly fine. I whispered, «I’ll come back for her.» Jake didn’t respond. He just gently took my hand and led me through the side hallway that curved toward the front of the house.
We didn’t run. We didn’t even walk quickly. Jake made sure of that. Every move was calm and collected. When we passed my dad, Jake smiled and said, «Great cake.»
Dad clapped him on the back. «Thanks for coming, son.» That word, «son,» felt like acid in my ears.
We made it to the front door without stopping. I could feel my pulse thumping in my neck. Outside, the sun was starting to dip lower, and the air had a thick, quiet stillness. Our car sat just where we left it, in the far corner of the driveway. As soon as the house was behind us, Jake picked up the pace.
We reached the car, and he unlocked it quickly. «Get in,» he said quietly. I slid into the passenger seat and shut the door. Jake got in right after me and locked all the doors with one sharp click. Then he started the engine and backed out of the driveway slowly, like we were just heading out for a quick drive.
As we turned onto the main road, I finally exhaled. Then Jake said something that made my stomach flip. «They had sedatives in the kitchen drawer.»
I turned toward him. «What?»
«I found a small pill bottle behind the silverware, unmarked, crushed residue on the cap. And it wasn’t Grandma’s. It had a different dosage. Stronger.»
My heart started racing. «You think they’ve been drugging her?»
«I think they’ve been keeping her just awake enough to appear present in case anyone asked questions, but too out of it to speak up.» I covered my mouth with my hand. «Oh my god.»
Jake kept driving, eyes flicking between the road and the mirror. «There’s more. One of the guests? Not a guest. I checked his plate. Clean. Untouched. But he had a folder under his jacket. I saw paperwork sticking out, signatures, medical stuff. Looked forged.»
My head was spinning. «You think they’re, what, trying to make Grandma look incompetent?»
Jake nodded. «That’s the gist. If she’s declared mentally unfit, they can take full control of her estate, her house, her bank accounts, everything.»
«And we were just sitting there, eating cake,» I whispered.
«Not anymore,» Jake said. «We’re out.» He took a sharp right turn, off the main road.
«Why are we turning?» I asked.
«I saw one of those men, one of the quiet ones, step outside and start talking into a phone as we walked out. I don’t want them following us.» I looked behind us. Nothing but trees and an open field. Then I checked my phone. «I have no signal.»
