Chương 10
Maya did not touch the paper.
She sat with both hands flat on the dining table as if the wood might move beneath her.
“How can there be a lien on an apartment we don’t own?”
Aaron looked at Evelyn.
Evelyn answered.
“It isn’t a mortgage lien.”
“Then what is it?”
“A private claim tied to collateral Mark represented as part of a business agreement.”
Maya stared at her.
“That sounded like English, but I didn’t understand any of it.”
Aaron pulled the document closer.
“Mark appears to have represented that Harbor Point had a financial interest connected to improvements, furnishings, and certain leasehold rights in the apartment.”
“He doesn’t own the building.”
“No.”
“He barely owns the toaster.”
“That is part of the problem.”
I leaned over the filing.
“Who is the lender?”
“Northstar Private Capital.”
“Legitimate?”
Aaron’s mouth moved slightly.
“Legitimate enough to have lawyers.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“It’s a small private lender that works with distressed businesses.”
Maya looked at him.
“Distressed?”
“Businesses banks consider risky.”
“Harbor Point has existed six months.”
“Yes.”
“And somebody gave Mark almost two hundred thousand dollars?”
“Not exactly.”
Aaron arranged three pages side by side.
“The one hundred eighty-six thousand appears to be a secured obligation associated with a larger financing structure.”
“How large?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Maya laughed.
It came out sharp and breathless.
“Of course we don’t.”
Liam began crying from the portable bassinet near the window.
Maya stood too quickly.
I started to move.
She pointed at me without looking.
“Don’t.”
I stayed where I was.
She crossed the room slowly, lifted Liam, and tucked him against her shoulder.
His crying stopped before she reached the couch.
Nobody spoke while she sat down.
Aaron began gathering the papers into neater stacks.
It was an unnecessary task, but I understood why he did it.
Some rooms need movement when nobody has anything useful to say.
After a minute, Maya asked, “Can they take our things?”
Evelyn folded her arms.
“Not tonight.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
Evelyn sat beside her.
“But it is the part I need you to hear first.”
Maya adjusted Liam’s blanket.
“What’s the rest?”
“The filing can be challenged.”
“Because Mark lied?”
“Possibly.”
“Because I didn’t agree?”
“Possibly.”
“Can you stop saying possibly?”
“No.”
Maya shut her eyes.
Evelyn continued.
“If your signature was obtained under circumstances that undermine consent, that matters.”
“I was four days out of surgery.”
“Yes.”
“I was taking pain medication.”
“Yes.”
“I thought I was signing insurance papers.”
“Yes.”
“Then how is this complicated?”
“Because courts do not erase documents simply because one person says they misunderstood them.”
Maya’s eyes opened.
“I’m not lying.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“You sound like you think they won’t believe me.”
“I think belief and proof are different things.”
The sentence landed hard.
Maya looked at me.
I had said versions of it throughout her childhood without realizing how cruel it sounded when you were the person who needed to be believed.
Evelyn seemed to notice the same thing.
She softened her voice.
“We build proof.”
Maya looked down at Liam.
“How?”
“Medical records showing what medication you were prescribed.”
“Okay.”
“Messages from Mark about the documents.”
“Okay.”
“Any drafts, emails, or texts he sent before you signed.”
“I don’t remember.”
“You don’t have to remember right now.”
Aaron added, “We also compare the signatures, timestamps, notary information, and application materials.”
Maya turned toward him.
“Notary?”
“The financial authorization was notarized.”
Her expression changed.
“I never met a notary.”
Aaron stopped moving the papers.
Evelyn looked at me.
I felt the same shift she did.
“Are you certain?” she asked.
Maya nodded.
“I didn’t leave the apartment that day.”
“A mobile notary could have come to you.”
“No one came.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Who was there?”
“Mark.”
She frowned.
“Denise, I think.”
“Anyone else?”
“No.”
Evelyn pulled the document back out.
The notary seal was clear.
She read the name.
“Patricia Lorne.”
Aaron opened his laptop.
“I can check the commission.”
“Do that.”
Maya watched him type.
I walked to the kitchen and filled a glass with water I did not want.
My hands had started to feel too warm.
A questionable signature was one thing.
A notarization Maya denied participating in was another.
Aaron found the public record within minutes.
“Active commission.”
“Address?”
He read it aloud.
Maya looked up.
“I know that street.”
“Why?”
“Denise lives near there.”
Aaron clicked through another record.
Then he stopped.
“What?”
Evelyn asked.
“I need to verify this.”
“Verify what?”
He typed again.
His eyebrows rose slightly.
“Patricia Lorne is Denise Carver’s sister.”
The room went silent.
Maya’s grip tightened around Liam.
“How do you know?”
“Property records and an obituary.”
“An obituary?”
“Their mother’s.”
Aaron turned the laptop toward us.
A photograph showed two women standing beside an older woman outside a church.
Denise was younger, but unmistakable.
The other woman was identified as Patricia.
Maya stared at the picture.
“She was in the apartment.”
“When?”
I asked.
Maya’s face went pale.
“The day I signed.”
Evelyn leaned forward.
“You said no one else was there.”
“I didn’t know who she was.”
“What did she do?”
“Nothing.”
Maya rubbed her forehead.
“She came in with Denise.”
“Did she speak to you?”
“No.”
“Did you sign anything in front of her?”
“I don’t know.”
“You need to be careful with that answer.”
“I was half asleep.”
Her voice rose.
“I had staples in my stomach, my breasts hurt, Liam wouldn’t stop crying, and Mark kept putting papers in front of me.”
Liam startled.
Maya immediately lowered her voice.
“I don’t know.”
Evelyn nodded.
“That’s fine.”
“It doesn’t feel fine.”
“It’s honest.”
Maya looked at the photograph again.
“She was sitting at the kitchen island.”
“Patricia?”
“I think so.”
“Did you show identification?”
“No.”
“Did she ask whether you understood the documents?”
“No.”
“Did she watch you sign?”
Maya pressed her lips together.
May you like
“I signed some pages in the bedroom.”
“Was she there?”
