Chương 9
Inside the envelope on the dresser was the trust accounting.
Inside Julian’s hands, apparently, was another version of her life.
She lowered herself into the chair.
“When was the document supposedly signed?”
Paper rustled on the other end of the line.
Officer Ruiz answered.
“According to the date on it, eleven months ago.”
Audrey felt Thomas move behind her.
Mara said nothing.
Eleven months ago, Audrey had been in Denver for a four-day audit.
Julian had stayed home.
Her personal laptop had stayed home too.
Audrey looked at the second phone.
A memory surfaced.
Not dramatic.
Not hidden.
Just stupidly ordinary.
She had returned from Denver and found Julian sitting at the kitchen table with her old laptop open.
He had said his battery was dead.
She had given him the password because they were married.
Audrey pressed her fingertips against her bruised jaw.
For the first time that morning, she was no longer trying to understand what Julian wanted.
She was trying to determine how long he had been planning to take it.
Audrey opened the fire-resistant pouch and pulled out the original deed.
The paper felt absurdly ordinary in her hands.
White pages.
Blue recording stamp.
Her name typed where it had always been.
AUDREY L. MERCER, UNMARRIED WOMAN.
She traced the recording number with one finger.
Mara leaned over the table.
“Do you have access to the county property records from a public website?”
“Yes.”
“Use your phone, not your work laptop.”
Audrey opened the county recorder’s site.
Her connection stalled twice.
The little circle on the screen spun while Thomas paced behind her.
“Could you stop moving?”
He stopped immediately.
That irritated her too.
The search page finally loaded.
Audrey entered the parcel number.
Three records appeared beneath the deed she already knew.
A tax lien release from the prior owner.
Her mortgage satisfaction from two years earlier.
And a document recorded eleven months ago.
Audrey stared at the description.
QUITCLAIM DEED.
Grantee: JULIAN HALE.
Grantor: AUDREY MERCER.
Her skin prickled from her scalp to her wrists.
Mara pulled a chair beside her.
“Open it.”
Audrey tapped the image link.
The scanned document appeared.
It transferred a fifty-percent interest in the townhouse to Julian.
At the bottom was her signature.
Not merely similar.
Good.
Very good.
Better than the signature on the home-equity application.
The capital A was correct.
The slant was correct.
Even the little break she made before the final r was there.
Audrey enlarged it.
“I didn’t sign this.”
Mara studied the page.
“Do you recognize the notary?”
Audrey scrolled.
A rectangular stamp sat beneath the signature.
Patricia Nolan.
Commission number.
Expiration date.
Thomas leaned closer.
“Do you know her?”
“No.”
Mara took out her own phone.
“Don’t contact her.”
Audrey looked at her.
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You were thinking about it.”
“Yes.”
Mara typed the name into a search bar.
Thomas said, “Can a forged deed just get recorded like that?”
“Recorder offices generally record documents that meet formal requirements.”
Mara’s eyes stayed on her screen.
“They do not conduct a trial over authenticity at the counter.”
Thomas muttered something.
Mara ignored him.
Audrey scrolled to the second page.
There was a return address.
Not their home.
A commercial mailbox two towns away.
She recognized the street immediately.
“Eleanor’s accountant is there.”
Mara looked up.
“You’re sure?”
“I dropped off tax papers once.”
“What’s the name?”
“Brenner Financial Services.”
Mara wrote it down.
Thomas’s face had tightened again.
“That’s not a coincidence.”
Mara said, “Probably not, but we don’t call it anything until we verify.”
Audrey kept staring at the notary stamp.
Something bothered her.
The name itself meant nothing.
The date did.
The deed had supposedly been signed on October seventeenth.
Audrey searched her personal calendar.
Denver.
She had flown out October sixteenth and returned late on the twentieth.
“I wasn’t even in the state.”
Mara held out her hand.
“Show me.”
Audrey turned the screen.
Her calendar entry showed the audit location, hotel confirmation number, and outbound flight.
Thomas exhaled through his nose.
“That’s something.”
“It is.”
Mara nodded slowly.
“Travel records can help.”
Audrey kept scrolling through email.
She found the airline receipt.
Hotel folio.
Ride-share charge from the airport to the Denver hotel.
A picture she had texted Julian that evening of a ridiculous room-service hamburger.
All of it fixed her hundreds of miles from the notary acknowledgment.
Mara said, “Save copies somewhere Julian cannot access.”
“I already have a secure cloud account.”
“Does he know the recovery email?”
“No.”
“Does he know the security questions?”
“I don’t use security questions.”
Mara gave the first approving nod Audrey had seen from her.
“Good.”
Thomas said, “What about the notary?”
Mara looked at him.
“We let the police and, if necessary, civil counsel deal with her.”
“You’re civil counsel.”
“I’m Audrey’s attorney today.”
“That sounds evasive.”
“It’s accurate.”
Audrey almost smiled.
Her phone rang before Thomas could answer.
Officer Ruiz again.
Mara motioned for speaker.
“Ms. Mercer, are you available to meet?”
“Yes.”
“We can take your statement at the central precinct.”
Mara asked for thirty minutes.
Officer Ruiz agreed.
Then he added, “Mr. Hale has left the residence.”
Audrey’s stomach tightened.
“With Eleanor?”
“No.”
“Where did he go?”
“He did not provide that information.”
Mara said, “Was he instructed not to contact Ms. Mercer?”
“We advised him that continued unwanted contact could become relevant.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No, ma’am.”
Audrey looked at the clock.
11:06.
“Is Eleanor still there?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She says she has permission from Mr. Hale to remain.”
Audrey closed her eyes.
Of course she did.
Mara asked, “Was Ms. Mercer’s ownership claim discussed?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“Mr. Hale presented the recorded deed.”
Audrey felt anger rise through the exhaustion.
“I want her out of my house.”
Officer Ruiz’s voice stayed calm.
“Given the disputed ownership interest, we’re not going to adjudicate possession on scene.”
“It isn’t disputed by me.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
May you like
Mara touched Audrey’s wrist.
Audrey pulled away before she could stop herself.
