Chapter 9
Claire stared at the page.
“I never signed that.”
Grant looked at her.
“Your initials are on every page.”
“I initialed the draft.”
“Then you knew the transfer was being prepared.”
“I thought it was a copy for review.”
“You said the estate needed protection.”
Maya stepped between them.
“Did my mother leave me this house?”
Grant adjusted his cuffs.
“That depends on the validity of the will.”
“Did she?”
“I can’t answer that until the dispute is resolved.”
“Then why did you tell Claire she had to pay a lien?”
“Because the property had outstanding obligations.”
“Show us the lien.”
He gave us a copy.
The document listed a debt of seventy-eight thousand dollars.
The creditor was Vale Family Holdings.
Eleanor read the dates.
“This debt was created after my father died.”
“Interest and maintenance expenses accumulated.”
“Who approved them?”
“The company.”
“Who owns the company?”
Grant closed the folder again.
“That information is not available today.”
I stepped closer.
“Then we’ll get it through the court.”
He offered a thin smile.
“Of course.”
Claire had been watching him.
“You told me the lien was from my father’s estate.”
“I told you it needed to be resolved.”
“You said Eleanor could lose the house.”
“She could.”
“You said the money would be returned when the property sold.”
“Eventually.”
“Where did the first payment go?”
His expression hardened.
“I’m not discussing your private banking decisions.”
“Where did it go?”
He looked toward the door.
“I think this meeting is over.”
“Not for me,” Eleanor said.
She took out the old hospital paperwork and placed it beside the deed.
“What does a baby’s wristband have to do with my father’s property?”
Grant looked at the papers.
His eyes moved to Claire.
For the first time, he looked unsettled.
Eleanor noticed.
“You know what happened.”
“I don’t.”
“You saw the wristband.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Maya held it up.
“Why does it have my name on it?”
“It doesn’t.”
“It says Vale.”
“It’s an old hospital record.”
“Then why does it matter to you?”
Grant said nothing.
Brooke had been looking through the file he left open. She pointed at a page.
“Dad, this has Grandma’s name.”
I took the sheet.
It was a payment authorization from Hawthorne House. The guarantor listed was Claire’s mother, Ruth Weller. The account had been paid from a trust connected to Vale Family Holdings.
“Your mother paid the lien?” I asked Claire.
Claire read the page.
“I didn’t know.”
Grant reached for it.
I held it back.
“Why would Ruth Weller guarantee a property loan?”
“I can’t speak for her,” Grant said.
“Where is she now?”
“At Hawthorne.”
“Was she involved in the company?”
“No.”
Claire’s face had changed.
“She told me she had never met you.”
Grant looked at her.
“I met your mother once.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“Before or after she was admitted?”
He did not answer.
Eleanor leaned over the table.
“My father left this property to both of us. Maren could not have signed a deed after she died.”
“That document was prepared while she was alive,” Grant said.
“Then show us the original.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s in the company archive.”
“Where?”
He shut the folder and picked it up.
Maya stepped in front of the exit.
“You keep saying you can’t answer.”
“Move.”
“No.”
“Maya,” I said, gently.
She stepped aside but kept her eyes on him.
“Don’t think this ends here.”
He walked past her.
Claire sank onto a chair after the door closed.
“I thought he was saving the house.”
“You trusted him,” I said.
“So did Eleanor’s father.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“Dad trusted Grant with the estate.”
“Maybe Grant told him there was a lien.”
“Maybe he created one.”
A car door slammed outside.
Brooke moved to the window.
“Someone’s here.”
A dark sedan pulled into the driveway.
A woman stepped out, carrying a leather document case.
She looked around fifty, with short silver hair and a burgundy coat.
Eleanor stood.
“Tessa?”
The woman nodded.
“Ms. Vale. I’m sorry I’m late.”
I recognized the name.
The bank investigator.
“You said you’d send the records,” I said.
“I did. But I found something else.”
She looked at the empty doorway.
“Did Grant Mercer leave?”
“Yes.”
“Then we have to act quickly. He filed a petition this morning to sell the house and distribute the proceeds.”
Eleanor grabbed the edge of the table.
“What?”
“He claims the property is collateral for an unpaid debt.”
“That debt is fake.”
“I believe you,” Tessa said. “I also found a document in the bank file that may prove the claim was fabricated.”
She set her case down.
“What document?” I asked.
“A notarized letter from Maren.”
Maya’s breath caught.
“Can we see it?”
Tessa removed a sealed plastic sleeve.
Inside was a handwritten letter. The paper was dated four months before Maren died.
The first line read:
“To whoever is handling the Vale property after my death, do not allow Grant Mercer to sell it.”
Eleanor covered her mouth.
May you like
Maya took the letter and read the next line.
“He told me the debt was paid.”
