Chapter 18 - Eleven Fifty-Nine
Claire opened the attachment. It was a scan of the deed bearing her name, a notary stamp, and a fingerprint-shaped smudge. She looked at the date and almost laughed.
"She used the night I gave birth. I was in surgery then."
Theo called the hospital records department. The time of Emma's delivery, the medication chart, and the attending staff made it impossible that Claire had appeared before any notary that evening.
"It's another forgery," Ortiz said. "And now we have evidence she tried to use it after she knew the first one was false."
The escrow agent refused to accept the document. Pike's lawyer protested, then stopped speaking when Ortiz informed him his client was in custody. The money couldn't be released, and the deadline couldn't be stretched by a counterfeit signature.
At 11:56, Vanessa called from a gas-station pay phone. Claire took the call on speaker with Ortiz beside her.
"I sent the deed," Vanessa said. "Just tell them it's real. Please."
"You asked me to trade my daughter for a house," Claire answered. "Now you're asking me to lie for you."
"I can't go to prison."
"You should have thought about that before you lifted Emma."
Vanessa began crying. For the first time Claire could remember, she didn't rush to soothe her. She loved the sister who had braided her hair in grade school. She could not excuse the woman who had hurled her child through a window.
"Go to the police station," Claire said. "Tell them everything. That's the only choice you have left."
On the wall clock, the second hand crossed twelve. It was midnight. The contract had expired without Claire's consent.
May you like
Vanessa said nothing. Then her voice came through, small and stripped of anger.
"There's one person you still need to question. The city inspector who approved the fake drainage plans. Pike paid him too."
