Chapter 10 - Four O'Clock
Tessa began to cry before Nate asked another question.
"At the river?" Owen said.
"Last year Graham made me witness a contract," she whispered. "He said it was a loan between friends. I didn't read it. I needed work, and Sloane promised to pay my rent."
"What contract?"
"A land option on Willow Court. It lets Marsh Point claim the right to purchase if Harbor Light misses a payment."
Rachel stared at her. "We don't owe Marsh Point anything."
"That's the point," Owen said. "They invented the debt, then built a paper trail to make it real."
Tessa gave them the address of a rented office where Graham stored his files. Owen did not send Nate to break in. He forwarded the information to investigators and requested that records be preserved.
At 3:11 p.m., an official at the bank agreed to extend the disputed wire hold if Rachel filed sworn statements about her compromised account. Owen helped her do that, along with an inventory of forged documents and the Willow Court repair invoices.
Outside the bank reporters called Nate a jilted tycoon and asked if the wedding masked fraud. He thought of Mrs. Alvarez's grandsons waiting for safe stairs.
At 3:58, Owen's phone rang.
"The wire is suspended pending an investigation," he said. "The $2.4 million isn't leaving today."
Rachel covered her face. Nate felt his knees go soft for the first time since the dressing room.
Then Owen held up a hand. "There's something else."
The bank had discovered a second transaction. It wasn't a wire. It was a recorded lien, filed against Willow Court using the forged board resolution. If the lien was enforced, the property could be dragged into litigation even without the cash transfer.
Nate asked the amount.
May you like
"Four million dollars," Owen said. "And somebody has already served the first notice."
Across the street, a black sedan eased from the curb. Sloane sat in the passenger seat, watching him through the glass.
