Chapter 11 - The Woman Who Was Never Admitted
"I haven't been admitted anywhere," I told Ava when I called her back. "I'm at a friend's apartment. I can prove it."
"I believe you enough to stop the file from moving without a review," she said. "But I need your attorney to contact our compliance department."
Nina was already awake. She arranged a three-way call while Tessa gathered receipts from the pharmacy, the urgent-care center, and the takeout place we'd visited that afternoon. The false document described a hospital three counties away, where I had never been a patient.
"Who sent it?" Nina asked Ava.
"A user credential belonging to Grant Pike. He's our senior closing coordinator."
I remembered Janine Cross naming him as the man who handled her old files.
Ava paused. "Grant has scheduled the release of funds for eleven tomorrow. I placed an internal hold, but I want compliance and counsel to confirm it."
Nina thanked her. Then she explained that a title hold and a disputed loan weren't the same as a court judgment. We still had to preserve proof, challenge the lien, and establish who had created the documents.
"This won't be fixed with one phone call," she said.
I looked at my bandaged hand. "I figured that out Friday."
At midnight, my own phone rang. Daniel.
I let it go to voicemail.
His message was almost tender. "Come home, Em. Mom's upset, and Dad's making everything worse. We can sort out the money if you'll stop listening to outsiders."
After a pause, he added, "Just tell Nina to hold off until Tuesday."
Tuesday. The day after the closing.
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I forwarded the recording to my lawyer. A minute later Ava sent a screenshot from the escrow system: the false hospital document had been uploaded from a workstation at Stonefield at 10:06 p.m.
Grant Pike was still at his desk on Christmas weekend, working very hard to prove I wasn't capable of speaking for myself.
