Chương 12
“That is a normal question.”
“It never sounded normal.”
“What did it sound like?”
“Like there was a correct answer.”
Robert opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
Franklin quietly began packing his papers.
He knew when a room no longer needed a lawyer.
Tyler rubbed the back of his neck.
“Dad said if I quit school, I could work with him full-time.”
“Did you want that?”
“At first.”
“And now?”
Tyler looked toward the dark window.
“Now I don’t know what anything is.”
Robert’s face softened.
“That part is allowed.”
Tyler looked at him.
“What?”
“Not knowing.”
“You don’t act like it.”
Robert gave a tired nod.
“That is apparently another problem.”
My phone buzzed with Emily’s flight notification.
Delayed again.
I showed Robert.
He sighed.
“Airlines remain the only institution less efficient than families.”
Franklin gathered the last legal pad.
“I need to go file a few things before offices close.”
“What things?”
“Not dramatic things.”
Robert looked disappointed.
“Then why bother?”
Franklin ignored that.
“I am sending a preservation notice to Daniel and Melissa instructing them not to delete or alter relevant records.”
“Will they listen?”
“They will understand the consequences if they do not.”
“And the house?”
“I am preparing a challenge to the transfer.”
“How long?”
“Longer than you want.”
Robert’s face tightened.
“Can Daniel’s lender take it?”
“Not immediately.”
“Could they eventually?”
“If their interest is valid and the debt defaults, we may have a fight.”
Robert stared at the monitor.
Franklin lowered his voice.
“This is serious.”
“But serious is not the same as lost.”
Robert nodded once.
After Franklin left, Tyler stood near the door.
“I should go.”
Robert looked at him.
“Where?”
“Friend’s place.”
“Which friend?”
“Grandpa.”
Robert stopped himself.
The habit was visible now.
He inhaled.
“Do you have somewhere safe?”
“Yes.”
“Do you need money?”
Tyler’s expression changed.
“No.”
“Because I can—”
“No.”
Robert leaned back.
“Fine.”
Tyler picked up his backpack.
At the door, he paused.
“I’m sorry I didn’t pick you up.”
Robert looked at him.
“I was angry.”
“You had every right.”
“I was also afraid.”
Tyler nodded.
“I know.”
Robert’s voice softened.
“I do not want you confusing those two things.”
Tyler stood very still.
Then he crossed the room and hugged him.
Robert reacted awkwardly at first, arms hanging at his sides.
Then he put one hand on the back of Tyler’s head.
“Your hair is disgusting.”
Tyler laughed against his shoulder.
“Good night, Grandpa.”
“Call me when you get wherever you’re going.”
Tyler pulled back.
He gave Robert a look.
Robert raised both hands.
“Not because I am tracking you.”
“That sounded convincing.”
“Go.”
After Tyler left, Robert watched the door for several seconds.
“He quit school.”
“So he says.”
“I didn’t know.”
“He probably didn’t want you to.”
“That is not a compliment.”
“No.”
Robert rubbed his face.
“I thought being involved was the same thing as paying attention.”
I had no answer that would improve the sentence.
At seven forty, Melissa arrived.
She stopped outside the room when she saw me.
Her eyes were swollen.
She had changed out of whatever she had been wearing earlier and now had on jeans, sneakers, and a gray sweatshirt with her daughter’s middle-school logo across the front.
Robert saw her through the glass.
His face closed.
I stepped into the hallway.
“He told you not to come.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you here?”
She held up a manila envelope.
“Because this can’t wait.”
“What is it?”
“Something Daniel gave me.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
I did not take it.
“Why didn’t you give it to Franklin?”
“I didn’t know what it was until after he called.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
She looked past me toward Robert’s room.
“I wanted to tell Dad myself.”
“He may not want to hear it from you.”
“I know.”
Her mouth tightened.
“He probably won’t believe me anyway.”
“What’s in the envelope?”
Melissa finally held it out.
Inside were photocopies of bank statements, loan documents, and a handwritten page covered in numbers.
I recognized Robert’s name near the top of one form.
Then I saw another name.
Linda Harrison.
I looked at Melissa.
“Your mother has been dead six years.”
“I know.”
The document was dated eight months earlier.
My skin prickled.
“What is this?”
Melissa pressed her lips together.
“I think Daniel used Mom’s name on an old guarantee.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I know.”
“Why would anyone accept a signature from a dead woman?”
“They didn’t.”
She pointed at the page.
“He didn’t sign her name.”
I read more carefully.
It was a personal financial statement referencing a guaranty executed years earlier, when Linda had still been alive.
An extension agreement had later been attached.
Robert’s signature appeared at the bottom.
“Did your dad sign this?”
“I don’t know.”
Melissa shook her head.
“Daniel told me it was proof that Dad was already exposed to the business debt.”
“Is that true?”
“I don’t know.”
“Franklin will.”
“I know.”
She looked through the glass again.
Robert was watching us now.
I opened the door.
“Melissa brought something.”
Robert did not invite her in.
She entered anyway.
For several seconds, father and daughter simply looked at each other.
Melissa placed the envelope on the rolling table.
“Daniel gave me these because I kept asking why we needed the LLC.”
Robert did not touch them.
“What did he tell you?”
“That if his company failed, creditors could come after you because you had guaranteed an old line of credit.”
Robert’s expression changed.
“No.”
“He said you signed.”
“No.”
Melissa pulled out the extension.
“This.”
Robert looked at the signature.
His face lost color again, though the monitor did not change.
“That is my name.”
“Is it your signature?”
Robert lifted the page closer.
He studied it.
“No.”
Melissa closed her eyes.
Robert looked at me.
Then back at the document.
“No.”
His voice sharpened.
“I did not sign this.”
May you like
Melissa whispered, “I thought you had.”
“Where did Daniel get it?”
