Chapter 12 - What My Father Signed
Daniel led us to a records room on the seventeenth floor.
"Dad kept legacy matters off the main system," he said. "Paper only."
I stayed several feet away from him.
Every instinct I had once used to read suspects now turned toward my husband.
He opened a locked cabinet.
Inside were folders labeled by surnames.
Bennett was third from the bottom.
My father's file held pension statements, letters, and a settlement agreement dated nine years earlier.
Thomas Bennett had signed it.
For $75,000, he agreed to withdraw his complaint against Northstar and release all claims against unnamed affiliated parties.
My throat tightened.
"He took money."
Evelyn shook her head.
"That doesn't sound like him."
Maya examined the signature.
"It may not be him."
I knew my father's handwriting.
At first glance, it looked right.
Then I saw the B.
Dad always closed the lower loop.
This one was open.
"It's forged."
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
"Claire, there's more."
A photocopy of a driver's license was clipped behind the settlement.
Wrong address.
Wrong expiration date.
Someone had built an identity package around my father's name.
Then I found a handwritten note from Victor Sloan:
BENNETT DAUGHTER BELIEVES HE DROPPED MATTER. MAINTAIN THAT ASSUMPTION.
They had watched me too.
Before Daniel met me.
"How long?"
Daniel said nothing.
I looked at him.
"How long has your family known who I am?"
"Dad knew from the conference attendee list."
"That's not what this says."
I held up the note.
It was dated four years before I met Daniel.
Evelyn whispered, "Claire..."
A photograph slid from the folder.
It showed my father standing outside a diner.
Across the table from him sat Evelyn.
May you like
On the back, in my father's handwriting, were six words:
EVELYN CARTER SAYS SHE WILL HELP.
