Chapter 10 - THE MAN I HAD TRUSTED
“Victor,” I said.
Mika didn’t look surprised.
That frightened me more than if she had.
Victor Salcedo had handled bookkeeping for my early property ventures.
He knew the company structure.
He knew where old signature samples lived.
He had sent flowers when my father died.
“I found his email in the loan file this morning,” Mika said.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wanted to know whether someone had used his identity too.”
Now we knew.
I replayed his voice.
Just get her signature.
For years, I had trusted Victor because he never seemed interested in drama.
Apparently, he preferred paperwork.
The forged board resolution used a template from our archives.
The corporate certificate carried an outdated address only a former adviser would likely have copied.
And the signature came from a scanned identity file Victor had once requested.
Mika called the lender’s counsel.
Their own review had found exceptions that should have stopped the loan.
Someone had pushed the file through.
That someone was now refusing calls.
By evening, Rafael’s claim that he owned the house looked less like arrogance and more like a plan that had stalled halfway through.
He had my mother’s coerced authorization.
Victor had manufactured company approval.
The loan provided money.
A proposed sale was supposed to cover the loan.
I stared at Mika.
“Sale?”
She turned her laptop toward me.
A draft agreement.
A buyer’s deposit.
A closing scheduled for Friday.
Three days away.
“Can they sell it?”
“They cannot convey valid ownership with invented authority,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean they can’t take more money or create a bigger mess.”
I leaned back.
Rafael had not simply been enjoying my house.
He had been packaging it.
The paintings moved for “restoration.”
The records burned.
My mother nearly sent away.
They were clearing the stage.
My phone rang.
Victor.
Mika switched on the recording function after telling him she was present and that we were preserving the call.
He paused.
Then spoke anyway.
“Andrea, I’ve made some mistakes.”
“That’s a small word.”
“I can explain everything.”
“Then explain.”
“Not over the phone.”
He wanted a meeting the next morning, at his office, with counsel present.
Mika agreed to coordinate it.
Before hanging up, Victor said, “Your brother doesn’t know the whole story.”
I looked at the sale agreement again.
Bianca’s name appeared on the deposit instructions.
Rafael’s did not.
“What doesn’t he know?”
May you like
Victor’s voice dropped.
“His wife already has the money.”
