Chapter 8 - The Signature Rebecca Never GaveGrace called an emergency meeting the next morning.
Rebecca arrived without Mark.
That fact required no explanation.
Daniel placed both hands on the conference table.
“Two affidavits were prepared.”
Grace frowned.
“You signed one.”
“Yes.”
“The second?”
“Supposedly Rebecca’s.”
Rebecca stared.
“Supposedly?”
“I saw it once.”
“When?”
“At Mark’s office.”
“And you never told me?”
“I thought you signed it.”
Rebecca’s laugh was bitter.
“You keep saying that.”
“I did.”
“What did it say?”
Daniel closed his eyes, remembering.
“That Dad intended to move the property into Carter-Hayes so the company could seek rezoning.”
“I never signed anything like that.”
Grace asked, “Was it notarized?”
“Yes.”
“Same notary as Samuel’s deed?”
“I don’t remember.”
Rebecca opened her laptop.
“Who was the notary on Dad’s?”
Grace checked.
“Laura Benton.”
Rebecca froze.
“I know her.”
“How?”
“She worked for Carter-Hayes.”
Mark had hired Laura as an executive assistant eighteen months earlier.
Six months ago, Laura resigned without notice.
Nobody had heard from her since.
Grace searched Virginia’s notary database.
Laura Benton’s commission remained active.
Anna asked, “Can we contact her?”
“We can try.”
Rebecca already had her phone out.
The old number was disconnected.
Her personal email bounced.
Daniel said, “Mark probably paid her.”
Grace answered, “Maybe. Don’t turn suspicion into fact.”
Rebecca smiled sadly.
“My father would have liked that sentence.”
Meanwhile, Eli spent the morning with Pastor Matthew at St. Andrew’s because Anna did not want him inside another meeting about fraud.
Matthew let him help organize hymnals.
Eli asked, “Do adults lie more than kids?”
Matthew considered.
“Adults are better at explaining why they lied.”
“That's not what I asked.”
Matthew smiled.
“No.”
“Grandpa lied to Mom about Dad’s money.”
“Yes.”
“Dad lied.”
“Yes.”
“Aunt Rebecca’s husband lied.”
“Looks that way.”
“Did Grandpa go to Heaven if he lied?”
Matthew stopped sorting books.
He sat beside Eli.
“What do you think Heaven is for?”
“Good people.”
“That’s what many children think.”
“Is it wrong?”
“Not exactly. But faith isn't a scoreboard where God counts mistakes and only perfect people qualify.”
Eli frowned.
“Then everybody can lie?”
“No.”
Matthew smiled gently.
“Forgiveness never means lies don’t matter. It means the truth does not have to be the end of love.”
Eli thought about Jesus’ words.
Love doesn’t disappear.
“Grandpa still did something wrong.”
“Yes.”
“And Dad did too.”
“Yes.”
“Can I love them if I’m mad?”
Matthew nodded.
“That may be one of the hardest kinds of love.”
Later that afternoon, a courier delivered a package to Grace Holloway’s office.
No return address.
Inside were photocopies.
Rebecca’s alleged affidavit.
Samuel’s disputed deed.
Bank wires.
A handwritten note:
Ask Mercer why they hired a handwriting expert before Samuel died.
Grace immediately contacted Mercer Urban Partners through counsel.
The company responded within three hours.
They denied wrongdoing.
They confirmed, however, that during due diligence, concerns had been raised about discrepancies in Samuel Carter’s signatures.
They had therefore commissioned an independent handwriting review.
Grace demanded the report.
Mercer refused, citing privilege.
Rebecca stared at the email.
“If they suspected the deed was fake, why keep going?”
“Money,” Daniel said.
Grace corrected him.
“Possibly money. Possibly they expected another valid conveyance later. We need evidence.”
Anna studied the anonymous package.
“Who sent this?”
Daniel said, “Laura.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“I don’t. But who else?”
Grace examined the photocopies.
“Someone with internal access.”
At the bottom of Rebecca’s alleged affidavit was a signature.
It looked convincing.
Very convincing.
Rebecca herself stared at it.
“That looks like mine.”
Daniel whispered, “That’s why I believed it.”
Rebecca traced the air above the paper.
“I sign hundreds of documents.”
Grace asked, “Could Mark have had access to a scanned signature?”
“Of course.”
“Would Laura?”
“Yes.”
The room went quiet.
Anna noticed the notary stamp.
“Same notary.”
Grace nodded.
Laura Benton.
Then Rebecca spotted the date.
“No.”
“What?” Daniel asked.
“This says I signed it on October twelfth.”
“So?”
“I was in Denver.”
Mark had traveled with her.
They had attended a development conference.
Grace asked, “Can you prove it?”
“Flight records. Hotel receipts. Conference photos.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Could you have signed it in Denver?”
Rebecca stared at the notarization.
“It says Commonwealth of Virginia.”
Grace's expression sharpened.
“A Virginia notary may notarize only within Virginia.”
Rebecca exhaled.
“So if Laura notarized me here while I was in Colorado…”
“The notarization is false.”
Daniel looked almost relieved.
Then Grace added, “But that alone does not prove who created the document.”
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Grace Holloway.”
Silence.
Then a woman spoke.
“Ms. Holloway?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Laura Benton.”
Everyone stopped moving.
Laura's voice trembled.
“I think Samuel Carter left you records involving me.”
Grace put the phone on speaker.
“He did.”
Laura began crying.
“I didn’t forge his signature.”
Grace waited.
“But you notarized it?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“Did you notarize my signature too?”
Laura hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Without me present?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca whispered, “Why?”
Laura’s next words made everyone look toward Daniel.
“Because Mark Hayes told me Daniel Carter had already agreed to take responsibility if anyone asked.”
Daniel stood.
“That is a lie.”
Laura answered immediately.
“I know.”
Silence.
“Mr. Carter,” she continued, “I know because Samuel recorded Mark saying it.”
Daniel's face emptied of color.
Grace leaned toward the phone.
“Where is that recording?”
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Laura took a shaky breath.
“I stole it from Mark’s safe last night.”
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