Chapter 4 - The Signature Kendra Never Made
Thirty-five minutes later, Kendra walked into the offices of Price & Ellison carrying Paige’s photocopy and a flash drive containing every salon transaction she had downloaded.
Lena Price had handled Evelyn Dawson’s estate.
She had also drafted the trust amendments after Evelyn became ill.
At fifty-two, Lena had the unnerving habit of becoming quieter as problems became more serious.
She read the Northstar proposal twice.
Then she looked at Kendra.
“Where did you get this?”
“Adrian’s salon.”
“Has anyone approached you about selling Dawson Row?”
“No.”
“Have you signed anything concerning a sale?”
“No.”
“Any refinancing?”
“No.”
“Any change in beneficiary rights?”
“No.”
Lena took off her glasses.
“Then we need to determine what Brielle saw.”
Kendra told her about the affair.
For once, Lena’s professional expression broke.
“Your sister?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be yet.”
Kendra slid the transaction list across the desk.
“This may be worse.”
Lena studied the payments to Linden Advisory.
“Brielle owns this?”
“She says she does.”
“And she claims Adrian told her these transfers were connected to a property transaction?”
“Yes.”
Lena stood.
“I’m pulling the trust file.”
She returned carrying two thick binders.
Dawson Property Trust.
Kendra had seen them dozens of times.
Lena opened the governing instrument.
“Your mother designed this conservatively. You are trustee. Brielle is a beneficiary. Major dispositions of real estate require an independent appraisal and trustee approval.”
“Mine.”
“Correct.”
“What happens when Brielle turns thirty?”
“Her share becomes distributable in stages, but the trust does not automatically terminate.”
Kendra nodded.
She knew that.
Brielle apparently did not.
“Could Adrian buy Dawson Row without me?”
“No.”
“What if he had something with my signature?”
Lena’s face hardened.
“Then we find out what it is.”
She called the attorney representing the trust’s primary lender.
Twenty minutes later, Lena’s office printer began producing documents.
The first page carried the logo of Commonwealth Commercial Bank.
Kendra read the title.
CONSENT AND SUBORDINATION AGREEMENT.
Her name appeared at the bottom.
Kendra Mercer, Trustee.
Underneath it was a signature.
It looked almost exactly like hers.
Almost.
Her stomach twisted.
“That is not my signature.”
Lena leaned forward.
“You’re certain?”
“I am absolutely certain.”
The document stated that the trust consented to a new commercial financing arrangement involving Mercer Beauty LLC and acknowledged certain rights associated with the salon lease.
It did not sell Dawson Row.
But attached to it was something more dangerous.
A memorandum indicating that Northstar Holdings had entered preliminary negotiations for a future purchase, conditioned upon beneficiary approval and title review.
Brielle’s signature appeared there.
Kendra stared.
“She signed.”
“As beneficiary,” Lena said. “That alone cannot authorize a sale.”
“But someone wanted it to look as though both of us agreed.”
“Yes.”
Kendra flipped to the signature page.
There was a notary stamp.
Lena’s eyes narrowed.
“If you did not appear before this notary, we have potential fraud.”
Kendra remembered dozens of routine documents Adrian had brought home over the years.
Insurance renewals.
Lease notices.
Salon forms.
Things she had signed while cooking dinner.
Things she had trusted him to explain accurately.
“Could he have reused something I signed?”
“Possibly. Or copied a signature. We’ll need forensic review.”
Kendra sat back.
Lena looked at her carefully.
“Kendra, I’m going to ask something you may not want to hear.”
“Ask.”
“Does Adrian have access to your email?”
“He knows some passwords.”
“Your cloud storage?”
“Possibly.”
“Scans of identification?”
“Yes.”
“Trust documents?”
Kendra thought of the locked drawer.
“Yes.”
Lena immediately picked up the phone.
“We are changing access today.”
Kendra’s phone began ringing.
Adrian.
She silenced it.
Then a voicemail notification appeared.
A second.
A third.
Lena said, “Do not destroy anything. Do not threaten him. Do not tell him what we found yet.”
Kendra almost smiled.
“You think I’m going to threaten him?”
“I think you opened a door this afternoon and discovered two betrayals at once.”
Kendra stared at the forged signature.
“No.”
Lena waited.
Kendra looked toward the window.
“I think I discovered one betrayal.”
“What do you mean?”
“The affair and the money aren’t separate.”
Lena said nothing.
Kendra pointed at the date on the consent document.
Eight months earlier.
The same month Brielle said she began sleeping with Adrian.
Her sister had not merely entered Kendra’s marriage.
At exactly the same time, Brielle had entered Adrian’s financial scheme.
Kendra’s phone vibrated again.
This time it was a text from Adrian.
COME HOME. WE CAN FIX THIS BEFORE YOU MAKE IT WORSE.
Kendra stared at the words.
Then another message appeared.
YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUR MOTHER REALLY DID TO BRIELLE.
Kendra felt a new chill.
Lena saw her expression.
“What?”
Kendra handed her the phone.
Lena read the message twice.
Then she looked toward the trust binders.
“I think,” she said slowly, “we need to find the original Schedule C.”
Kendra frowned.
“Why?”
Lena opened the binder.
May you like
A plastic divider marked SCHEDULE C sat behind the trust amendments.
The pocket was empty.
