Chapter 6 - Gwen’s Signature)
The document arrived forty minutes later.
Howard printed it in Gwen’s library.
Three pages.
A personal guarantee.
Six million dollars.
The signature on the final page looked exactly like Gwen’s.
Even Gwen stared at it longer than she wanted to.
“That’s good,” Howard said.
Gwen looked at him.
“The forgery.”
She nodded.
“Very.”
Dylan stood near the window.
“I never saw that.”
Howard glanced at him.
“You expect us to believe that?”
“Yes.”
Pamela sat opposite Gwen.
Her mother had been moved to another room after repeatedly interfering with the officers.
Pamela looked exhausted.
“What does the guarantee mean?”
Howard answered.
“Someone wanted the lender to believe Gwen personally stood behind the transaction.”
“For six million?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Dylan had no ownership interest sufficient to secure the loan.”
Dylan said, “I told them my mother would probably support it.”
Howard looked at him.
“Probably?”
“I thought once everything was approved, I could explain.”
Gwen stared.
“You planned to ask me after you arranged a six-million-dollar loan?”
“I thought if you saw the business plan…”
“What business plan?”
Dylan hesitated.
Howard noticed.
“What business plan?”
Dylan sat down.
“The development.”
Pamela frowned.
“What development?”
Dylan closed his eyes.
“Papillion.”
Gwen knew immediately.
A large tract south of Omaha.
Caldwell Development had pursued it two years earlier.
The deal failed.
Maren had blamed county politics.
Gwen suddenly understood.
“You were financing Maren’s project.”
Dylan shook his head.
“It wasn’t like that.”
Pamela stood.
“You invested in my mother’s company?”
“Not exactly.”
“How much?”
“Pamela.”
“How much?”
Dylan whispered, “Three million.”
Pamela’s mouth fell open.
Gwen felt anger sharpen into something almost surgical.
“You were borrowing six million against my signature to invest three million with Maren?”
“The other three refinanced existing obligations.”
Howard looked stunned.
Even after decades practicing law, Dylan had managed to surprise him.
Pamela walked toward the wall.
“You gave my mother three million dollars?”
“I was supposed to receive an ownership share.”
“In what?”
“The development entity.”
“That project died.”
“Not completely.”
Gwen looked at him.
“Explain.”
Dylan rubbed his forehead.
“Maren said she had a new route for approvals.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were investing three million dollars and didn’t know who controlled approvals?”
“She said Victor had connections.”
Gwen’s eyes narrowed.
“Victor?”
“Yes.”
Howard leaned forward.
“Victor Lane was an accountant.”
Dylan shook his head.
“He knew investors.”
Pamela whispered, “This is insane.”
Gwen picked up the forged guarantee.
“Who gave this to the lender?”
“I don’t know.”
“Dylan.”
“I swear.”
“Who assembled the package?”
He hesitated.
Gwen’s voice hardened.
“Who?”
“Maren.”
Pamela closed her eyes.
Howard sat back.
The room went quiet.
The deal suddenly looked very different.
Dylan had debt.
Maren had a failed development project.
Victor had stolen confidential information.
And someone had forged Gwen’s signature.
Howard asked the question Gwen was already thinking.
“Did the lender fund anything?”
Dylan shook his head.
“Not the six million.”
“Anything?”
Dylan looked away.
“Dylan.”
“There was a bridge advance.”
Gwen’s fingers tightened.
“How much?”
“One point two.”
Howard stood.
“Based on the forged guarantee?”
“I don’t know.”
“How much remains?”
Dylan did not answer.
Howard walked closer.
“How much remains?”
“All of it.”
Pamela gasped.
Gwen remained motionless.
Howard asked, “Where did the money go?”
Dylan stared at the floor.
“To the development entity.”
“Maren’s company?”
“No.”
Gwen frowned.
“What entity?”
Dylan finally looked at her.
“Blue Heron Holdings.”
Gwen had never heard the name.
Howard searched quickly on his laptop.
Nebraska registration.
Formed fourteen months earlier.
Manager listed through a nominee service.
Address attached to a law office.
Howard’s expression changed.
“I know this address.”
Gwen looked over.
“So do I.”
The law office had once represented Victor Lane.
Howard opened another database.
“Blue Heron received the money?”
“Yes.”
“Who instructed that transfer?”
“Maren.”
Pamela whispered, “Mom stole it.”
Dylan shook his head.
“No. It was part of the investment.”
“Did you receive shares?”
Dylan went silent.
Howard stared at him.
“You transferred one point two million dollars into a company without receiving equity documentation?”
“I received a letter.”
“Where?”
“In the locked cabinet.”
Howard searched the collected documents.
Nothing.
Dylan stood.
“It was there.”
“It isn’t now.”
Gwen looked at him.
“Who had access to that room?”
“Me.”
“Anyone else?”
“No.”
Pamela said, “Mom did.”
Everyone turned.
Dylan frowned.
“What?”
Pamela looked at him.
“She knew the code.”
“How?”
“I gave it to her once.”
Dylan stared.
“Why?”
“She said she needed tax documents while you were traveling.”
Dylan’s face collapsed.
Howard asked, “When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
The room fell silent again.
The same week Gwen’s investigators noticed Victor Lane contacting an offshore corporate service.
Gwen stood.
“Where is Maren?”
One officer answered from the doorway.
“Drawing room.”
“Has she used a phone?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Gwen walked out.
Maren was sitting elegantly on the sofa as though waiting for tea.
She looked up.
Gwen placed the forged guarantee on the table.
Maren glanced at it.
Then smiled.
“That does look like you.”
Gwen sat opposite her.
“Who forged it?”
“I have no idea.”
“The loan package came through you.”
“According to Dylan.”
“Blue Heron Holdings.”
For half a second, Maren stopped breathing.
Gwen saw it.
“Who owns it?”
“No idea.”
“Where is the one point two million?”
“No idea.”
“You’re running out of answers.”
Maren leaned forward.
“No, Gwen.”
Her voice dropped.
“You’re asking the wrong questions.”
Gwen studied her.
“What should I be asking?”
Maren smiled.
“How did someone know your signature well enough to make a lender believe it?”
Gwen’s expression did not change.
Maren continued.
“You keep looking at me.”
May you like
She leaned back.
“You should start looking at the people who sit at your own table.”
