Chapter 4 - Someone Had Already Scheduled the Sale
I didn't sleep.
At six in the morning, I made coffee I never drank.
At seven, I called my attorney.
At seven fifteen, she called me back.
Eleanor Price had handled my family's legal affairs for twenty-one years. She was sixty-three, sharp-eyed, impatient with drama, and one of the few people alive who had known both my husband and my father well enough to tell me when I was being foolish.
"Do not go to the lake house," she said.
"I wasn't planning to."
"Good."
"I'm lying."
"I know."
I almost smiled.
"Somebody scheduled a final walk-through."
"That phrase does not mean they own anything."
"They had documents from my purse."
"That concerns me."
"It concerns me too."
"Have you signed a contract with Richard Vale?"
"No."
"Letter of intent?"
"No."
"Option?"
"No."
"Authorized Daniel?"
"No."
"Vanessa?"
"Absolutely not."
"Then legally nobody can sell your property."
Relief started to rise.
Eleanor killed it.
"Unless someone has forged your authorization."
I stared at the kitchen table.
"What?"
"I'm not saying that happened."
"You wouldn't say it unless you thought it could."
"I am saying we verify everything."
"How?"
"I'll run the county record filings. You send me photographs of every page in that envelope."
"I can drive them over."
"No. Keep the originals with you."
Her tone had changed.
"Margaret, where is Daniel?"
"Hotel."
"Call him."
"He'll be here at eight."
"And Vanessa?"
"I don't know."
"Keep it that way for now."
At eight twelve, Daniel arrived.
He had changed out of his wedding suit.
Jeans.
Gray sweatshirt.
Same face I had seen after his father died.
Not because he looked equally devastated.
Because he looked equally lost.
For a moment, we simply stood in my hallway.
Then he hugged me.
Hard.
"Mom."
I wrapped my arms around him.
His body shook once.
Only once.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"I know."
"I should've seen it."
"We'll talk about what you should have seen later."
He pulled back.
"That sounds threatening."
"It is."
He almost laughed.
That mattered.
I made eggs.
He didn't eat.
I didn't either.
We sat across from each other at my kitchen table while the wedding envelope rested between us.
Daniel turned Richard Vale's card over in his fingers.
"I met him twice."
"Tell me."
"Commercial development dinners. Vanessa came to the second one."
"When?"
"About nine months ago."
"Did they know each other?"
He frowned.
"I didn't think so."
"Think harder."
He leaned back.
"She said she'd heard his name."
"From where?"
"Her father."
That made sense.
Vanessa's father, Gregory Shaw, owned a regional construction firm.
"Would they work together?"
"Possibly."
"On Lake Marion?"
"I don't know."
Daniel pulled out his phone.
"Last night I downloaded our shared financial statements."
"And?"
"Vanessa transferred twenty-five thousand dollars into an account I didn't know about."
I stared at him.
"When?"
"Three deposits. Starting six months ago."
"From where?"
"Her personal checking."
"That's her money."
"Yes."
"Then why does it matter?"
"Because the account's mailing address belongs to a company."
"What company?"
"Vale Holdings."
My stomach tightened.
"Daniel."
"I know."
"Could it be an investment?"
"Maybe."
"Ask before assuming."
He looked at me tiredly.
"You keep trying to find innocent explanations."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because if we are wrong, accusations will destroy your marriage."
He stared at me.
"And if we're right?"
I had no answer.
At nine twenty-three, Eleanor called.
"I need both of you in my office."
My heart sank.
"What did you find?"
"Not over the phone."
"Eleanor."
"Now, Margaret."
We were there thirty minutes later.
She had three folders open across her desk.
Daniel sat beside me.
Eleanor pushed one page forward.
It was a copy of a document titled LIMITED PROPERTY MANAGEMENT AUTHORIZATION.
My name appeared at the bottom.
So did my signature.
I had never seen it.
"That's fake."
"I know."
Daniel leaned closer.
"What does it authorize?"
"Preliminary negotiations, site inspections, appraisal access, title review."
"Sale?"
"No. Not yet."
"Who filed it?"
"Vale Holdings submitted it to a private title company six weeks ago."
I stared at the signature.
It looked like mine.
Very close.
Close enough to fool somebody who didn't know me.
Daniel's voice became quiet.
"Who notarized it?"
Eleanor pointed.
I read the name.
MELANIE SHAW.
Daniel stopped moving.
"Who's that?" I asked.
He looked at me.
"Vanessa's aunt."
The room disappeared for a moment.
Not physically.
But my sense of where the walls were seemed to shift.
"Could she have notarized it without knowing it was forged?"
Eleanor gave me a look.
"A notary is supposed to witness the signer."
"I didn't sign."
"Exactly."
Daniel stood.
"I'm calling Vanessa."
"No," Eleanor said.
He looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because if there has been document fraud, we preserve evidence before confronting anyone."
"She's my wife."
"That changes family law. It does not change evidence."
He paced once across the office.
"What do we do?"
"I contacted the title company. They have paused all activity."
"Richard Vale?"
"They have not reached him yet."
"Call the police."
Eleanor looked at me.
"We may."
"May?"
"We have a forged document. We do not yet know who created it."
"The notary—"
"May have been deceived, compromised, or involved. We don't speculate."
Daniel put both hands against the window ledge.
"I married her yesterday."
Nobody answered.
His phone rang.
Vanessa.
He stared at the screen.
It stopped.
Then rang again.
He silenced it.
A text appeared.
I couldn't read it from where I sat.
His face changed.
"What?" I asked.
He handed me the phone.
PLEASE DON'T LET YOUR MOTHER TURN THIS INTO SOMETHING IT ISN'T. COME HOME. I CAN EXPLAIN EVERYTHING.
I looked at Daniel.
"She knows."
"Knows what?"
"That we're investigating."
Eleanor sat straighter.
"Did you tell anyone you were coming here?"
"No."
"Location sharing?"
Daniel checked.
His face tightened.
"Vanessa and I share location."
"Turn it off."
He did.
Too late.
Another text arrived.
This time from an unknown number.
Daniel opened it.
A photograph filled the screen.
It showed the lake house.
Taken that morning.
A black SUV was parked beside the dock.
Three people stood on the porch.
One was Richard Vale.
One was Gregory Shaw.
Vanessa's father.
The third person had her back to the camera.
White dress.
Dark hair pinned low.
Daniel zoomed in.
My blood turned cold.
Vanessa was still wearing her wedding gown.
May you like
And beneath the photograph were six words:
THEY'RE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE RIGHT NOW.
