I pressed the intercom button and said one word. “No.” My mother laughed as if I had told a joke. Then Brock grabbed the gate and shook it hard, while Delaney shouted that I owed them everything after the years they had put up with me. The children went silent behind the bars. My mother lowered her voice and said, “We sold the duplex, Camille. We have nowhere else to go.”

I did not answer. On the second monitor, a white truck rolled up the gravel road behind their moving van, and a deputy’s car followed close behind it. A woman stepped out holding a thick folder and walked straight to the gate. My mother stared at her and went pale. “Camille,” she whispered, “who is that?” I leaned toward the microphone and answered quietly. “Someone who knows exactly what you did with Grandma’s savings.”