Chapter 8 - THE FAMILY SIGNING
I told Claire I would attend the family signing.
Not the wedding.
"That means a lot."
I almost admired the performance.
Saturday morning, I wore an old charcoal suit I had made fifteen years earlier.
No new suit.
No ceremony.
Just paperwork.
Rosewood Hall looked beautiful.
White flowers.
String lights.
My money had paid for both.
Michael waited in the library with Claire and Jason Turner.
Sabrina stood near the window.
Nathan was nowhere.
Good.
He was with Miriam and a fraud investigator downstairs.
Michael pushed the papers toward me.
"Routine trust housekeeping."
"You've said that before?"
"Just sign."
Claire touched my arm.
"Harold, don't make this difficult."
"Dad..."
She could stop it.
Instead she said:
"Can we please just get through today?"
There it was.
One more choice.
I picked up the pen, then placed it down.
"No."
Claire went cold.
"Harold."
Original deeds.
Trust agreement.
Bank records.
Forged signatures.
I laid them across the table.
"The house, workshop, and Rosewood Hall are not marital property."
"They belong to the Reed Family Craft Trust."
"I am sole trustee."
Jason backed toward the door.
Nathan opened it from the other side.
Miriam stood behind him.
Beside her was Detective Aaron Cole from the financial crimes unit.
"You set us up."
"No."
"You scheduled your own closing."
Detective Cole collected the paperwork.
Michael looked at Sabrina.
"Tell them Harold approved this."
She looked at me.
For one second, I thought she might lie.
Instead she whispered:
"He didn't."
Michael's eyes hardened.
"What?"
"He never approved any of it."
"Sabrina."
My daughter looked at her mother.
"You told me he would."
Then Jason Turner ran for the side door.
Police caught him in the hall.
Inside his briefcase were two wire instructions.
One for $900,000.
The second for $600,000.
May you like
Destination:
Lisbon.
