Chapter 2 - THE SIGNATURE SHE NEEDED
Officer Daniels asked me to return to the house once Frederick was stable.
Amy refused to stay behind.
For the first time that night, I noticed something changing in her.
The fear was still there.
But underneath it was anger.
We returned just after two in the morning.
Most of the relatives were gone.
The decorations that had looked ridiculous earlier now looked sinister.
Gold balloons floated above half-empty bottles.
A banner reading HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY FREDERICK hung crookedly over the fireplace.
My mother had been taken downtown after shoving the officer.
Mason had been detained for questioning.
Betsy was sitting on my porch.
She stood when she saw me.
“You’ve completely overreacted.”
I walked past her.
“Leave.”
“Connor, your mother was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
Betsy glanced at Amy.
That glance told me everything.
“From people who might take advantage of you.”
Amy lowered her eyes.
I stepped between them.
“You mean my wife?”
Betsy folded her arms.
“You work twelve-hour days.”
“You don’t know what happens when you’re gone.”
“I’m beginning to.”
I closed the door in her face.
Officer Daniels showed us the papers recovered from Mason.
The deed transfer was only one document.
There was also an unsigned authorization giving Teresa broad access to my accounts.
A photocopy of my driver’s license.
Copies of my tax returns.
My Social Security number.
Even Frederick’s birth certificate.
I felt physically sick.
Then Daniels placed one more document on the table.
It was a letter from a private lender.
The lender was prepared to issue a $280,000 loan secured against my house.
The application named Teresa as an authorized representative.
The signature at the bottom looked almost exactly like mine.
Almost.
Amy covered her mouth.
I stared at the page.
“She forged my signature.”
Daniels nodded carefully.
“That is what we need to investigate.”
I suddenly remembered something.
Three months earlier, Teresa had called me at work.
She said my insurance company needed updated paperwork.
She asked me to send her photographs of my driver’s license and signature page because she was already handling some household paperwork for Amy.
I had done it without thinking.
I trusted my mother.
Now I knew what she had been collecting.
Not groceries.
Not bills.
Access.
The next morning, I called my bank.
Then my mortgage company.
Then my accountant.
By lunchtime, we discovered seven unauthorized attempts to access my financial information over the previous six months.
Five originated from Teresa’s email.
One came from Mason.
The seventh came from an address none of us recognized.
That afternoon, my accountant called again.
His voice sounded different.
“Connor, there is something else.”
I closed my office door.
“What?”
“Someone created a company four months ago.”
The company was called Bradley Family Holdings LLC.
And according to the filing documents, I was supposedly one of its managers.
May you like
I had never heard of it.
TOBE CONTINUED
