Chapter 2 - THE FAKE LEASEVictoria stared at Ethan as though she had never seen a federal officer in her life.
Maybe she hadn't.
She recovered quickly.
“This is a misunderstanding.”
Ethan said nothing.
Victoria pointed toward the screen.
“She owns this apartment.”
“No,” Ethan replied.
“She gave it to me.”
“No.”
“My mother told me I could move in.”
“That doesn't answer my question.”
Victoria's voice sharpened.
“Who are you?”
Ethan showed his credentials.
“Ethan Vance. United States Marshals Service.”
The room went silent.
Even Mason stopped playing with his toy truck.
Victoria laughed nervously.
“That's impossible.”
Ethan held out his hand.
“Lease.”
She hesitated.
“Why?”
“Because you presented one at the door.”
Victoria looked toward the table.
The fake lease was sitting beneath her purse.
She picked it up.
Her hands were shaking.
I watched everything through the security feed.
Ethan read the document.
“Term of occupancy. One year.”
Victoria nodded.
“You see?”
He kept reading.
“Monthly payment. One dollar.”
Victoria lifted her chin.
“My sister wanted to help my family.”
Ethan looked at the signature.
“Lauren Bennett.”
My jaw tightened.
The signature looked like mine.
Almost.
Whoever forged it had studied my handwriting.
But there was something strange.
The date.
The lease was supposedly signed three days ago.
I had been in London.
The signature had been notarized.
In Washington.
I opened my passport records.
Then my email.
Then the hotel reservation.
The evidence was overwhelming.
I hadn't been anywhere near D.C.
Yet the document claimed I had signed it.
Ethan noticed it too.
“Who notarized this?”
Victoria pointed to the bottom.
“Margaret Cole.”
Ethan immediately took out his phone.
He made a call.
“Check Margaret Cole. Washington, D.C. Notary.”
Victoria started pacing.
“This is ridiculous. My mother told me Lauren agreed.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Your mother told you she had authority to transfer possession of a property she didn't own?”
Victoria's face changed.
“She said Lauren owned it.”
“She doesn't.”
Victoria stared at him.
“Then why did Lauren give me the code?”
I watched her say it.
Calmly.
Confidently.
Like she'd finally found the trapdoor in the room.
Ethan glanced at the access log.
“She didn't give you a tenant code.”
Victoria frowned.
“She gave me a code.”
“Yes.”
“It opened the door.”
“Yes.”
“So I'm allowed to be here.”
Ethan almost smiled.
“No.”
Victoria's face reddened.
“Then why did you let me in?”
I finally spoke through the intercom.
“Because you asked me to.”
Victoria looked at the screen.
My recorded feed displayed my face.
Her eyes narrowed.
“You set me up.”
“No.”
“You knew this would happen.”
“I knew you would enter.”
Her expression hardened.
“You wanted me arrested.”
“No.”
“What, then?”
I leaned closer to the camera.
“I wanted you to stop pretending you had a right to take things that aren't yours.”
Victoria's eyes filled with rage.
“You've always hated me.”
I shook my head.
“No. I stopped trusting you.”
Ethan's phone rang.
He listened.
Then looked toward me.
“Margaret Cole is not licensed as a notary.”
I froze.
“What?”
“She lost her commission fourteen months ago.”
Victoria's mouth opened.
“That can't be.”
Ethan held the document higher.
“This lease was notarized using credentials belonging to a dead notary.”
My blood ran cold.
Victoria looked at the paper.
“No.”
Ethan continued.
“There's more.”
He pointed to the property address.
“The legal description isn't for this penthouse.”
Victoria blinked.
“What does that mean?”
“It means whoever created this lease used a property description copied from another deed.”
My mother's voice suddenly came through Victoria's phone.
“Victoria? What is happening?”
Ethan looked at the phone.
“Put her on speaker.”
Victoria hesitated.
Then answered.
“Mom, there's a problem.”
My mother's voice became sharp.
“Lauren did this.”
I frowned.
“Excuse me?”
“She knows exactly what she's doing.”
Ethan stepped closer to the phone.
“Mrs. Bennett, this property belongs to my client.”
My mother's tone changed.
“Who is this?”
“Ethan Vance.”
Silence.
Then my mother said something I would remember for the rest of my life.
“That name…”
She sounded frightened.
Not confused.
Frightened.
“Why does that name matter?” I asked.
She didn't answer.
Ethan looked at me.
My mother's silence had said more than words could.
He whispered, “Do you know why she recognized my name?”
“No.”
He lowered his voice.
“Because I used to investigate your family's financial adviser.”
My heart stopped.
“Who?”
Ethan looked at Victoria.
Then at the lease.
Then at me.
“Daniel Mercer.”
The man who had handled my inheritance when I was twenty-two.
The man my mother had always told me to trust.
The man who disappeared from our lives three years later.
May you like
And suddenly the fake lease didn't look like a family dispute.
It looked like the latest move in a game that had started years ago.
