Chapter 7 - The Phoenix Infiltration
The flight to Phoenix was agonizingly slow.
I rented an unassuming car at the airport and drove to my old neighborhood.
The streets were dark, quiet, and suffocatingly familiar.
I parked two blocks away and walked toward the house I had spent ten years trying to escape.
The driveway was empty, confirming that my family was at the rehearsal dinner.
I crept around to the backyard, careful to avoid the motion sensor lights near the garage.
I reached under a loose brick near the patio, praying my father had not changed his hiding spot.
My fingers brushed against cold metal.
I pulled out the spare house key and quickly unlocked the back door.
The house smelled exactly the same, a mix of stale vanilla air freshener and old secrets.
I walked silently upstairs to my parents' master bedroom.
I pulled back the corner of the heavy Persian rug and found the small metal hatch in the floor.
The digital keypad on the safe glowed a faint green in the darkness.
I typed in Beth's birthday, knowing my mother favored her golden child above all else.
The safe clicked open with a soft, satisfying mechanical thud.
I reached inside and pulled out a thick stack of manila folders.
I found the forged power of attorney documents immediately.
But sitting right underneath them was a freshly updated life insurance policy on my life.
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My mother was listed as the sole beneficiary for a payout of five million dollars.
Suddenly, the bedroom door handle clicked, and the overhead lights blazed on.
