Chapter 9 - THE DOCTOR AT TABLE SEVEN
Dr. Samuel Keene had treated Howard after a minor car accident two years earlier.
He was not Howard’s regular physician, but he had performed a neurological examination when Howard complained of headaches.
The letter Alexander showed Loretta claimed that Howard had developed memory loss, confusion, and impaired judgment.
Every statement was false.
Yet the document contained Dr. Keene’s signature.
“Is he working with Franklin?” Loretta asked.
“I don’t know,” Alexander said.
“Where did you get this?”
“Brittany’s computer.”
“You have access?”
“I installed the document system she uses.”
Loretta studied him.
“You are committing crimes while warning me about crimes.”
“I’m trying to understand what happened to my father.”
“That does not excuse this.”
“No. But it explains why I cannot simply walk away.”
Loretta took a photograph of the medical letter and sent it to Naomi.
“Dr. Keene is invited to the wedding,” she said.
“Table seven.”
“You memorized the seating plan?”
“I have memorized everything connected to this transfer.”
Alexander looked almost ashamed.
Loretta lowered her voice.
“Then tell me exactly what will happen.”
“The apartment deed will be submitted electronically on the wedding morning. The medical letter will support your authority to sign for the trust. A remote notary certificate will confirm your identity.”
“Using a recording of my voice.”
“And copies of your passport.”
“What happens after the transfer?”
“The apartment moves to L.M. Holdings. Vale Meridian Partners immediately places a loan against it.”
“How much?”
“$8 million.”
“The property is worth only $2.5 million.”
“The apartment is not the only collateral listed.”
“What else?”
Alexander hesitated.
“Miller Urban Development’s future rights connected to the Hawthorne property.”
Loretta understood the danger.
The apartment deed would serve as a bridge, linking the old company to Howard’s modern business.
“And Austin agreed to this?”
“Austin believes the apartment will transfer directly to him. Brittany told him the company is temporary.”
“Why would he forge my signature?”
“Because she convinced him Howard would never release control.”
Loretta closed her eyes.
She could imagine every conversation.
Brittany telling Austin that his parents did not respect him.
Brittany describing the trust as a cage.
Brittany promising independence.
But Austin still had to choose to sign.
He had still chosen deception.
“Will you testify?” Loretta asked.
“Not until I know what happened to my father.”
“Franklin will never tell you voluntarily.”
“He might if he thinks he has won.”
Loretta looked across the café.
“You want us to let the wedding happen.”
“I want you to let him complete enough of the plan to expose himself.”
“My family could lose everything.”
“Your legal team can block the financing once the transfer is recorded.”
“Recorded?”
“The apartment must leave the trust before Franklin believes he has succeeded.”
Loretta stood.
“No.”
Alexander looked up.
“You asked how to stop him.”
“I asked how to protect my family.”
“Sometimes those are different things.”
Loretta left the café.
That afternoon, Howard and Naomi confronted Dr. Keene.
He denied writing the medical letter.
He also denied signing it.
Naomi compared the signature with his professional records.
It was an excellent forgery.
Dr. Keene agreed to attend the wedding and cooperate.
He would say nothing unless Franklin attempted to use the letter.
Howard wanted to have Brittany and Austin arrested immediately.
Loretta stopped him.
“We have copies and recordings, but we do not know the whole plan.”
“We know our son is forging documents.”
“We know Brittany told him to.”
“That does not make him innocent.”
“I didn’t say it did.”
Howard looked at her.
“What are you asking me to do?”
“Give me until the wedding.”
“To do what?”
“To find out whether Austin can still choose us when he understands the truth.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
Loretta thought of the decorative pond surrounded by white roses.
“Then we stop protecting him from the consequences.”
Three days before the wedding, Austin finally came to the Miller home.
He looked exhausted.
Loretta invited him into the kitchen, where they had eaten breakfast together when he was a child.
“Are you happy?” she asked.
Austin gave a tired laugh.
“That’s why you asked me here?”
“Yes.”
“The wedding is in three days. Of course I’m happy.”
“You did not answer.”
He looked toward the doorway.
“Where’s Dad?”
“At work.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want another lecture.”
Loretta placed the childhood photograph from the anonymous envelope on the table.
Austin looked at it.
“Where did you get this?”
“I kept it.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Loretta frowned.
Austin turned the photograph over.
“This copy came from my apartment.”
The message was no longer on the back.
Someone had replaced the photograph.
Loretta looked toward the kitchen doorway.
May you like
A faint click came from the hallway.
Someone had been listening.
