Chapter 9 - Before the First DateDana met Franklin at the warehouse.
Not on a dating app.
Not through friends.
I had known that.
I had never thought it mattered.
After my father died, Walker Industrial Property Trust hired a management company to handle the building.
The original tenant left three years ago.
Franklin worked as operations manager for that tenant.
When the lease ended, he contacted Dana about “keeping the building productive.”
He proposed starting Mercer Freight there.
That was their first meeting.
Three months later, they began dating.
Eight months later, married.
At the time, it seemed romantic.
A widow meeting someone who understood the property that carried her worst memories.
Then investigators obtained old emails from Franklin’s business account.
Six weeks before his first dinner with Dana:
FRANKLIN TO COMMERCIAL BROKER:
Who owns 8120 Harding now?
Broker:
Walker Industrial Property Trust. Beneficiary is son of former owner.
Franklin:
Minor?
Broker:
Believe so.
Then:
Who acts for trust?
Broker:
Mother and attorney.
Three weeks later:
FRANKLIN:
If trustee approves a long term operating lease, can beneficiary challenge later?
Broker:
Depends trust terms. Get counsel.
Another search:
minor beneficiary commercial real estate Indiana trustee lease authority.
Then:
marrying trustee conflict of interest.
I read that one twice.
Dana left the room.
I did not stop her.
Naomi remained careful.
“Search history does not prove why he pursued her personally.”
Correct.
Maybe he liked her.
Maybe both.
Then Franklin’s former business partner, Seth Cole, agreed to speak.
He had left Mercer Freight before it launched.
Why?
Franklin wanted the warehouse lease.
Seth thought terms were “too good to be honest.”
He remembered Franklin saying:
“Dana can sign. The kid won’t control anything for years.”
Seth replied:
“Her lawyer will stop it.”
Franklin:
“Not if she trusts me more than the lawyer.”
Then Seth said something investigators made him repeat.
“Franklin joked once that marrying the trustee was cheaper than leasing the building.”
A joke.
Maybe.
But he said it before wedding.
Dana heard later.
She went completely silent.
Then her own memories changed meaning.
Franklin encouraged her to stop using Martin Shaw.
“He charges too much.”
He offered to handle property tax mail.
He switched insurance broker.
Changed home Wi-Fi passwords.
Opened joint account.
He did not isolate her immediately.
He made himself useful.
Then essential.
Then controlling.
Exactly how he had done with me.
Dana returned to my room that evening.
No cardigan.
She had changed clothes.
She looked exhausted.
“I think he used me.”
I stared at ceiling.
“I know.”
“I thought he loved me.”
“He might have.”
She looked at me.
“How can you say that?”
“Because loving you doesn’t make what he did impossible.”
She cried.
I had learned that from watching her.
People want financial predators to be incapable of real affection.
Reality can be uglier.
Franklin may have loved Dana.
He may also have seen a warehouse.
A trust.
A woman he could influence.
Those truths could coexist.
Then she whispered:
“I let him hurt you.”
I turned.
“Yes.”
Not always physically.
But by explaining.
Minimizing.
Signing.
Staying quiet.
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
“Will you forgive me?”
“Not today.”
She nodded.
Then left.
Later, Officer Ruiz returned with news.
Franklin had been charged initially with battery and interfering with medical care.
Financial charges required more investigation.
But his attorney wanted bail.
Protective order would prohibit contact with me.
Dana?
Unless she requested.
Ruiz asked:
“Does your mother have somewhere safe?”
I said:
“My aunt Laura.”
Dana’s sister in Bloomington.
She had stopped visiting after Franklin called her “toxic.”
Of course.
Dana called Laura that night.
First time in nine months.
Laura said:
“Come now.”
No questions.
Then one more thing.
Franklin’s laptop contained a folder titled:
ETHAN 21.
May you like
Inside were documents dated almost two years into the future.
He had been planning for the day I gained control.
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