Chapter 2 - THE SIGNATURE
The ambulance carried Claire away twenty minutes later.
Deputy Reed rode behind them with another patrol car.
Adrian remained at the vineyard property.
For the first time in their marriage, Claire left him without wondering whether he was angry.
She no longer cared.
At the hospital, doctors closed the cut near her temple with five stitches.
A CT scan showed no skull fracture.
But she had suffered a concussion.
While Claire waited for discharge instructions, Deputy Reed entered the room.
He carried a clear evidence bag.
Inside it was the forged transfer document.
“We need to ask you several questions.”
Claire nodded.
“Ask everything.”
Reed placed the evidence bag on the table.
“Have you ever given your husband power of attorney?”
“No.”
“Have you ever authorized him to sign property documents on your behalf?”
“No.”
“Does he have access to your personal financial accounts?”
“He has access to one joint household account.”
“What about your primary investment accounts?”
“No.”
Reed studied her.
“Are you certain?”
Claire hesitated.
Six months earlier, Adrian had asked her to sign several forms.
He claimed they were documents connected to refinancing a vacation property they owned together.
She remembered signing three pages.
She remembered him becoming irritated when she tried to read the entire packet.
Her stomach dropped.
“I signed documents he gave me.”
Reed leaned forward.
“Did you keep copies?”
“No.”
“That may matter.”
Claire closed her eyes.
How many times had she trusted him simply because he was her husband?
A knock came at the door.
Maya entered.
She looked exhausted.
Her children were with her sister.
Nathan still had not appeared.
“I need to tell you everything.”
Claire gestured toward the chair.
Maya sat.
“Two years ago, Charles started having financial problems.”
Claire stared at her.
“Charles owns half a dozen commercial properties.”
“He used to.”
Maya rubbed her palms together nervously.
“Some investments collapsed.”
“Why didn’t Adrian tell me?”
“Because your money became their solution.”
Claire felt something cold settle inside her.
Maya explained that Adrian had begun loaning money to his parents.
At first, the amounts were relatively small.
Twenty thousand.
Then fifty.
Then one hundred.
Eventually, Eleanor and Charles began treating Claire’s income as though it belonged to the entire family.
“But Adrian couldn’t reach my private accounts.”
Maya looked at Reed.
“That’s why they needed documents.”
Claire’s heartbeat increased.
Maya continued.
“Nathan told me Charles wanted your condo transferred before you discovered the debt.”
“What debt?”
Maya hesitated.
“More than four million dollars.”
Claire stared at her.
Four million.
Suddenly the dinner made sense.
The condo was worth almost three million.
The monthly demand was not simply greed.
It was desperation.
“What does Nathan have to do with this?”
Maya looked down.
“He works for Charles’s holding company.”
Claire remembered Nathan joking that his job consisted mostly of signing whatever his father put in front of him.
The joke suddenly seemed less funny.
“There’s more,” Maya whispered.
Reed opened his notebook.
“Go ahead.”
“Last year, Nathan came home drunk.”
Maya looked toward Claire.
“He told me Adrian had already used Claire’s identity once.”
Claire’s skin went cold.
“For what?”
Maya shook her head.
“He wouldn’t tell me.”
Deputy Reed’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed almost immediately.
“When?”
Claire watched him.
Reed stood.
“Secure the property.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?” Claire asked.
Reed looked at her.
“Someone left the vineyard approximately ten minutes before officers arrived.”
“Who?”
“We believe it was Nathan.”
Maya stood abruptly.
“No.”
Reed continued.
“A vehicle registered to your husband was captured by a traffic camera heading south.”
Maya reached for her phone.
No messages.
No calls.
Nothing.
Then Claire’s phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
She opened the message.
There were only seven words.
YOU SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THE DEAL, CLAIRE.
Below it was a photograph.
It showed Claire’s condominium door.
Taken less than five minutes earlier.
May you like
Someone was already inside her home.
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