Chapter 5 - The Signature That Wasn’t His
Victor stared at the beneficiary form until the letters blurred.
“That’s my signature,” he said.
Marcus placed an older contract beside it.
“Looks like it.”
Clara shook her head. “Look at the V.”
Victor turned toward her.
She pointed carefully.
“Your real signature always starts lower. I’ve seen you sign school forms for Ethan. This one is copied from something else.”
Victor looked again.
She was right.
The forged signature was flawless because it was not written. It was reproduced.
Daniel Kline entered the library carrying a laptop.
“I checked the document server. Somebody accessed scanned copies of Victor’s signatures from the executive archive.”
“When?” Marcus asked.
“Six weeks ago.”
“Whose credentials?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Mine.”
The room changed.
Marcus took one step toward him.
Daniel raised both hands. “I didn’t do it.”
Victor’s voice was flat. “Then someone used your credentials to forge my name, drug my child, and build a guardianship case around Serena.”
Daniel swallowed. “Yes.”
Clara studied him.
He looked frightened.
Not guilty, she thought.
Frightened.
A message appeared on Victor’s phone.
Unknown number.
STOP DIGGING OR THE NEXT FALL WON’T BE AN ACCIDENT.
Beneath the message was a photograph.
Clara recognized the nursery window.
The picture had been taken from outside the hospital parking garage less than ten minutes earlier.
Victor looked up sharply.
“Where is Ethan?”
Clara stood so fast her chair hit the floor.
“In imaging with the nurse.”
They ran.
The imaging room was empty.
A nurse lay unconscious in the supply alcove.
May you like
Ethan was gone.
On the floor beside the gurney was one of Serena’s diamond earrings.
