Chapter 9 - A SIGNATURE IN MY NAME
The loan hadn't been funded. The lender had paused it because the ownership records didn't match the application. A miracle wrapped in ordinary due diligence.
June spread copies over her desk. The applicant had used a forged authorization letter and a scan of my identification from a file I kept locked at our marital house.
"Who had access?" she asked.
"Ryan knew where the safe was. He didn't have the combination."
"Somebody opened it."
I pictured Derek Shaw standing at the estate gate with his black case.
"A locksmith," I said.
We told Detective Mills. She asked for the original work order, the lender's records, and the information showing how the documents had been obtained. None of it was proof by itself, she reminded us. It was a trail.
I wanted to drive to Ryan's office and demand answers. Instead I drove to the playground with Emma and Oliver. They chased bubbles while my phone filled with legal messages.
Oliver stopped beside a swing. "Daddy said Grandma's bad," he told me.
"Grandma isn't bad."
"Daddy said you leave 'cause you don't like us."
I crouched until our eyes were level. "I go to work, buddy. I always come back. And I love you every single day."
He considered that, then pushed a bubble against my nose. It popped. He laughed for the first time since I'd returned.
At the car, my phone rang. It was a number I'd blocked once already, but the caller ID showed a different line.
Vivian didn't bother saying hello.
"You think that mansion makes you better than us? Your husband can still make this ugly."
"Don't call me again."
"Margaret will tell the court she fell. She knows what happens if she doesn't."
I let the call record finish and saved it for my attorney.
May you like
Then Vivian said something I wasn't prepared for.
"Ask your mother what Ryan promised her in exchange for that thirty thousand."
