Chapter 13 - Unit Twenty-Nine
Owen insisted they take the key to the investigators rather than rush into the storage facility. Nate argued for nearly ten minutes before admitting Owen was right.
"You don't get to break laws because someone else did," Rachel told him.
"I know. I just can't stand sitting still."
"Then help me move families out of unsafe units. That is something useful."
In a faded sweatshirt, Nate helped volunteers move boxes. Mrs. Alvarez showed him a rocking chair whose armrests her late husband had carved.
"It's not much," she said.
"It matters to you. That makes it much."
Investigators legally accessed Unit Twenty-Nine and found original invoices, false minutes, and bank statements linking Graham's shell company to Sloane.
Owen found a recorded covenant requiring Willow Court to remain affordable housing without a supermajority vote by independent trustees. Graham's forged resolution could not erase that restriction.
"This gives us a strong argument against the sale," Owen said. "Not instant victory. But a foundation to stand on."
Rachel called a meeting with independent trustees who had been excluded from the supposed board vote. Every one of them denied approving the transaction.
That evening Nate returned to the hotel for the first time since the failed wedding. The ballroom staff were packing unused flowers into boxes for delivery to a hospital.
Marta stopped him beside the elevator. "Mr. Whitcomb, a man was asking about you."
"Graham?"
May you like
"No. He said he was a maintenance contractor. He wanted to know whether your mother kept a safety deposit box."
Nate felt his stomach drop. His mother had kept one. And the only spare key was inside the velvet box he had left on a cart before the wedding.
