Chapter 6 - The Condemnation Order.
Mason moved toward the front door before Emma could stop him.
Sloane caught his arm.
"If Grant still thinks you left her, do not ruin that advantage because a man knocked loudly."
Mason looked like he wanted to argue.
Emma stepped between them.
"This is my house, so I will answer my door."
She switched on the camera on her phone before unlocking the deadbolt.
Mason noticed.
"Good."
Emma gave him a cold look.
"I was not asking for your approval."
She opened the door but kept the chain latched.
Two men stood on the porch wearing navy jackets with COUNTY INSPECTIONS printed across the chest.
The taller man held a clipboard.
The shorter man carried a red plastic case.
Neither wore an identification badge.
"Ms. Reed?"
"Yes."
"We have an emergency order requiring immediate evacuation due to structural instability."
The taller man raised a sheet of paper toward the gap.
Emma did not touch it.
"Who signed the order?"
"Chief Building Officer Daniel Barrett."
Sloane quietly pulled out her own phone behind Emma.
"What was the complaint?"
"Roof failure, electrical hazard, and foundation movement."
Emma looked over her shoulder at the dark hallway.
The mansion certainly looked capable of all three.
Still, Clara had warned her that a safety declaration could end her occupancy.
"When was the inspection performed?"
The man blinked.
"Earlier today."
"By whom?"
"Our department."
"Interesting."
Emma lifted her phone higher.
"Because I have been here all day, and no building inspector entered this property."
The man's friendliness disappeared.
"Ma'am, you can cooperate voluntarily or we can request law enforcement assistance."
Mason stepped into view.
The two men immediately looked at him.
That reaction told Emma more than their paperwork did.
The shorter man's hand moved toward his jacket pocket.
Mason's voice remained calm.
"You should probably request it."
"Mason," Sloane warned.
The taller man stared at him.
"We were told you were no longer residing here."
Emma felt Mason go still behind her.
"Who told you that?"
The man glanced down at his clipboard.
"It is in the file."
Emma smiled for the first time that evening.
"Then the file should also tell you that I am recording this."
She turned the phone so he could see the red timer.
"Please state your full name and county employee number."
The two men exchanged a look.
Neither answered.
Emma kept recording.
"You said you are county inspectors, so identification should be easy."
The shorter man stepped back.
The taller one folded the paper and put it beneath the clipboard.
"We will return with law enforcement."
"Excellent."
Emma's smile widened.
"I would also like Chief Barrett to come personally."
The men left without another word.
Sloane watched them walk toward an unmarked pickup truck parked beyond the fountain.
"No county plates."
Mason took Emma's phone and zoomed in on the truck as it turned around.
"Hale Development sticker on the rear window."
Emma took the phone back.
"So Grant sent fake inspectors."
"Or someone wants us to think he did," Sloane said.
Emma looked at her.
"You really do not trust anyone."
"It saves time."
Mason checked the front windows before turning to Emma.
"You need to leave for tonight."
"No."
"They will come back."
"Then I will record them again."
"Emma, this is not a social media argument."
She stared at him.
"Do not talk to me like I am stupid."
"I am not."
"You spent years keeping me ignorant and now you are worried about my judgment."
Mason flinched.
Emma hated that part of her still noticed.
Sloane interrupted before the fight grew larger.
"There is another option."
She held up her phone.
"I called the actual county building department."
Emma stared at her.
"At ten at night?"
"Their emergency line."
"And?"
"Daniel Barrett retired eighteen months ago."
Mason swore.
Sloane continued.
"The current chief is Melissa Tran, and there is no condemnation order for this address."
Emma exhaled slowly.
For the first time that night, the fear became useful anger.
"Send me the number."
"Why?"
"Because tomorrow morning I am requesting a legitimate inspection."
Mason shook his head.
"That could backfire."
"So could hiding in the dark until Grant invents a real violation."
"The house is not ready."
"Then help me make it ready."
The words escaped before Emma could stop them.
Mason looked at her.
The room went quiet.
Emma corrected herself.
"Not as my husband."
She pointed toward the doorway.
"As a contractor who owes me several years of truth."
Sloane cleared her throat.
"That sounds fair."
Mason almost smiled.
Emma did not.
They spent the next three hours inspecting doors, covering exposed wiring, placing warning tape near weak floorboards, and moving the cot away from a cracked section of ceiling.
Mason knew exactly where the old electrical runs were located.
He knew which staircase step was hollow.
He knew how to open a concealed service panel beside the kitchen pantry.
Each discovery made Emma more certain that the mansion had been part of his life in ways he had deliberately hidden.
At one in the morning, Sloane fell asleep in a chair.
Emma found Mason alone in the library tightening a temporary brace against a warped window frame.
"Why did you tell me you grew up in Ohio?"
He kept working.
"Because after my father died, my mother moved us there."
"That was not my question."
Mason set down the drill.
"Briarstone was the place where everything in my family went wrong."
"So you erased it."
"I tried."
"Until my name showed up in the trust."
He looked at her.
"Yes."
Emma sat on the edge of an old desk.
"Did you marry me because of this property?"
Mason's face changed so quickly that she knew the question hurt him.
"No."
"You lied about everything else."
"Not that."
"How am I supposed to know?"
He had no answer.
Emma looked away first.
A notification appeared on her phone.
Unknown number.
She opened the message.
A photograph filled the screen.
It showed Mason sitting in a restaurant booth across from Grant Hale.
The timestamp was from two nights earlier.
Grant was sliding a thick envelope across the table.
Mason's hand rested on top of it.
Beneath the image was a message.
YOUR HUSBAND HAS ALREADY CHOSEN HIS SIDE.
A second image arrived.
This one showed Mason leaving the same restaurant with Clara Voss.
Clara had one hand on his chest.
Their faces were inches apart.
Emma looked up slowly.
Mason saw the photographs.
His expression went blank.
"That is not what it looks like."
May you like
Emma laughed once.
"You need a new sentence."
