Chapter 5 - WHAT TESSA KNEW
I called Richard, but he didn’t answer.
Nora took one look at my face. “We should stay focused on the records. Let me handle the filing.”
I showed her the message. She read it and reached for her phone.
Twenty minutes later, Richard called back. Tessa had left Michael’s office, and he had followed her outside. She was sitting in her car a block away, crying.
“She didn’t know the license had your information on it,” he said.
“Can I speak to her?”
He handed her the phone.
“Emily?” Her voice shook. “Daniel told me I was signing as a witness. He said you’d agreed to let Michael borrow against the house.”
“Did he ask you to pretend to be me?”
“No. I sent them a scan of my license because they said they needed to verify everyone in the transaction. I never saw that fake one until Richard showed me.”
I thought of the woman at my wedding, standing a few feet from the family photographs while Daniel welcomed our guests. They had already been planning this.
“Why would you help them?” I asked.
“My brother works for Michael. He told me the company would close if the deal fell through. Daniel said he’d pay for my mom’s medical bills if I signed.”
“What did you sign?”
“I don’t know anymore.”
Tessa agreed to meet Nora. Before we ended the call, she said, “Michael told Daniel the lender was coming Monday. They needed everything finished before then.”
It was Saturday.
Nora arranged for copies of the recorded lien and related filings. I called the police officer who had taken my report and gave him the new information. He said a detective would review it.
By evening, my cheek had turned a dull purple. Rachel ordered takeout. I tried to eat, but every few minutes I checked my phone.
At eight, Daniel sent a photograph of Grandma June’s porch.
I’m here. The back window is open. I’ll close it so no one gets in.
I stood so fast my chair scraped the floor.
“I locked that window,” I said.
Rachel grabbed her keys. Nora answered my call before we reached the car and told us to call the police if we believed Daniel had entered the house.
We drove over together. A patrol car arrived while we waited across the street.
Daniel came out the front door carrying a cardboard box.
May you like
I knew the box. It had been under Grandma’s bed.
Inside were her will, her house papers, and every letter she had ever written me.
