Chapter 5 - The Signature
The signature looked perfect.
That was the problem.
I knew my own name.
It was mine.
But I had never signed the waiver.
Lena examined the metadata.
“Digital certificate.”
“What does that mean?”
“Someone used your verified signature token.”
Martin had retired two years ago.
I called him.
He did not answer.
Lena called his firm.
His assistant said he had left town that morning.
Of course he had.
Emma sat on the couch feeding Ava a bottle.
Every few seconds she looked at me as though waiting for me to disappear.
I wanted to tell her I was her father.
I couldn’t yet.
So I said the next best thing.
“I didn’t sign that paper.”
She stared at me.
“You didn’t?”
“No.”
“Mommy said maybe you didn’t.”
My throat closed.
Camille finally returned through her attorney.
Not physically.
By statement.
Then she made one mistake.
Her statement said:
Ms. Grant has been attempting to exploit the Hale descendant trust for years.
Lena read the sentence twice.
Then looked at me.
“The descendant trust isn’t public.”
Charles knew.
Camille knew.
Olivia knew.
I had barely known.
How?
We searched Olivia’s recovered messages.
One text from three months earlier came from an unknown number.
STOP CONTACTING ALEXANDRE. THE TRUST DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU.
Olivia replied:
It belongs to Emma if he is her father.
The unknown number answered:
THAT IS EXACTLY THE PROBLEM.
Lena traced the number through a subpoena request.
It belonged to a prepaid phone.
Purchased using a corporate card.
Whitmore Capital.
Then the detective entered the room.
“We found Olivia Grant.”
I stood so fast my chair fell.
“Where?”
He paused.
“She’s alive.”
I almost collapsed.
Then he added, “But she was admitted to a hospital under a different name after a car accident this morning.”
Emma looked at me.
“Can I see Mommy?”
The detective’s face tightened.
“There’s one problem.”
May you like
“What?”
“Someone already signed paperwork claiming to be her husband.”
