Chapter 6 - THE DOCUMENT IN LORETTA’S NAME
Howard wanted to confront Franklin immediately.
Naomi stopped him.
“If Franklin knows we found L.M. Holdings, he may accelerate whatever he is planning.”
“He is already using my property as a corporate address.”
“Then we document it.”
Loretta was less patient.
“I want to know why my name appears in a thirty-year-old company.”
“It is not legally your name,” Naomi reminded her.
“It is close enough to frighten me.”
The three of them met inside Naomi’s law office after business hours. She had pulled every available record connected to L.M. Holdings.
The company had been inactive for twenty-eight years.
Eleven days earlier, someone filed documents to restore it.
The filing named a new director.
Alexander Reed.
The name meant nothing to Howard.
It meant something to Loretta.
She opened her handbag and removed the anonymous message from the night before.
The envelope’s return address contained only the initials A.R.
Howard looked from the envelope to the corporate filing.
“You think Alexander Reed sent the photograph.”
“I think he wants us to know he exists.”
Naomi searched the name.
There were hundreds of possible matches, but one stood out.
Alexander Daniel Reed, age twenty-eight.
His mother was listed as Rebecca Reed.
There was no father recorded on the public birth certificate.
Howard sat very still.
“Rebecca changed her surname.”
Naomi nodded.
“Alexander was born approximately nine months after she and Daniel disappeared.”
Loretta felt the pieces moving into place.
“You may have a nephew.”
“And Franklin may have another relative involved in this.”
Howard looked at Alexander’s photograph.
He had dark hair, a narrow face, and eyes that resembled Daniel’s.
Naomi opened his employment history.
Alexander had worked for a digital property-recording company for four years. The company processed electronic deeds for several New York counties.
“He knows exactly how to transfer property,” Naomi said.
Howard’s expression hardened.
“Find him.”
Loretta pointed to the screen.
“He may be the person warning us.”
“He may also be the person forging documents.”
“Both could be true.”
The next day, Loretta visited the apartment without telling Howard.
She still had an access code because the residence remained in the family trust.
The elevator opened directly into the living room.
Furniture had been delivered, but the apartment did not look like a home. It looked like a showroom prepared for sale.
Several framed photographs of Brittany and Austin stood on a console.
There were none of the Miller family.
Loretta walked toward the study.
The door was locked.
She entered the trust’s emergency override code.
Inside, she found filing boxes, a printer, and a portable document scanner.
One box contained wedding contracts.
Another contained financial statements for Vale Meridian Partners.
A third box was empty except for a strip of blue paper.
Loretta recognized it as the top edge of a Miller Family Trust document.
She turned on the scanner.
The recent-file history showed seven documents.
Emergency Transfer Authorization.
Remote Notary Certificate.
Apartment Deed Amendment.
Miller Trust Signature Page.
A scanned copy of Howard’s driver’s license.
A scanned copy of Loretta’s passport.
And one file titled LMA Signature Practice.
Loretta’s heart began pounding.
She opened it.
The document contained twenty-three versions of her signature.
Some were clumsy.
Others were nearly perfect.
She took photographs of every screen.
A sound came from the living room.
The private elevator had opened.
Loretta quickly switched off the scanner and moved behind the study door.
Brittany entered the apartment with a man Loretta did not recognize.
He was tall, dark-haired, and carrying a black laptop bag.
Alexander Reed.
Brittany placed her keys on the table.
“Howard suspects something.”
Alexander answered, “Then you waited too long.”
“Austin needed time.”
“You said he was ready.”
“He is ready. He is just afraid of his father.”
Alexander walked toward the locked study.
“What about Loretta?”
Brittany laughed softly.
“She still thinks kindness can fix people.”
Loretta pressed one hand over her mouth.
Alexander unlocked the study and entered.
Brittany remained in the living room.
“The transfer happens on the wedding day,” she said. “Howard will be distracted, Austin will sign, and by the time anyone notices, the apartment will belong to the company.”
Alexander stopped.
“That was not our agreement.”
“It is now.”
“You said the property would go to Austin.”
“It will. Eventually.”
Alexander’s voice became colder.
“You are changing the plan.”
Brittany turned toward him.
“No, Alex. I’m finishing what our families started.”
Loretta remained hidden behind the door.
Then Alexander looked directly toward the narrow gap where she stood.
For one impossible second, Loretta believed he could see her.
May you like
He said nothing.
Instead, he reached behind him and deliberately dropped a small brass key onto the floor.
