Chapter 17 - What Lorraine Said After Midnight
Samuel’s lawyer immediately interrupted.
“My client is describing an alleged statement made years ago. He cannot verify whether it was truthful.”
Alicia nodded.
“Understood.”
Tasha wanted to scream.
Instead she gripped the arms of her chair.
“What exactly did she say?” Alicia asked.
Samuel looked miserable.
“We had been arguing.”
“About?”
“The loan.”
“Why?”
“She wanted more money than the lender was comfortable approving.”
Tasha’s jaw tightened.
Samuel continued.
“I told her the whole situation was messy.”
“What situation?”
“Her daughter living there. The old woman’s will. The timing.”
Alicia leaned forward.
“And Lorraine responded?”
“She said I worried too much.”
“What were her words?”
Samuel swallowed.
“She said, ‘Mama didn’t sign a damn thing. She was too stubborn to do what made sense.’”
Tasha’s eyes filled.
Marcus looked at her.
Samuel added quickly, “Then she said she was joking.”
Alicia wrote something down.
“Did you believe her?”
“I didn’t know what to believe.”
“You proceeded with the loan.”
Samuel looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“The title company cleared title.”
“And because you were romantically involved.”
“Yes.”
The admission hung heavily.
After the interview, Tasha walked into the hallway.
Marcus followed.
She leaned against the wall.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“You want water?”
“No.”
“You want me to stop asking?”
“Yes.”
Marcus stood beside her without speaking.
Eventually Tasha said, “She said Grandma never signed.”
“Yes.”
“She joked about it.”
“We don’t know the context.”
Tasha turned.
“Don’t lawyer me.”
“I’m trying not to let you fall apart over something we still have to prove.”
“I’m allowed to fall apart.”
Marcus nodded.
“You are.”
That was the right answer.
Tasha covered her face.
“I paid her for seven years.”
“I know.”
“I thanked her.”
“I know.”
“I defended her.”
Marcus stayed silent.
“I made my children call her when they were scared because I thought she was safe.”
“Tasha.”
“She used Jayden to deliver rent notices.”
“I know.”
“And I still feel guilty for doing this to her.”
Marcus looked at her.
“That’s what control does.”
She stared.
He continued.
“It makes you feel cruel for resisting it.”
Tasha’s eyes filled again.
“When did you get wise?”
“About forty-eight hours after realizing I took five thousand dollars from an account meant for my son because I thought my plan was automatically smarter than yours.”
That pulled a laugh through her tears.
Marcus smiled faintly.
Then his expression became serious.
“I’m sorry.”
“For which part?”
“All of it.”
“That’s broad.”
“I’m working my way through the list.”
They returned to Alicia’s office.
The lawyer had more.
“Samuel’s statement is useful, but we need corroboration.”
“Like what?”
“Original documents. Communications. Witnesses.”
“What about Curtis?”
“Dead.”
Tasha sighed.
“I know.”
“But not unreachable.”
Marcus frowned.
“How do you question a dead man?”
“You don’t.”
Alicia turned her laptop.
“You question his records.”
Curtis Vale had operated a small mobile notary service.
After his death, his daughter had boxed the business files and stored them.
She had agreed to let Alicia review them with proper authorization.
“Did he keep journals?”
“Not consistently.”
“So maybe nothing.”
“Maybe.”
Two days later, Alicia called.
“I found a calendar.”
Tasha sat down.
“What’s in it?”
“Appointments.”
“Was Grandma listed?”
“No.”
Her heart sank.
“But Lorraine was.”
Tasha stopped.
“When?”
“The day before the deed date.”
“For what?”
“The entry says: ‘L.B. — property paperwork question.’”
Marcus, listening beside her, swore softly.
Alicia continued.
“There’s also a handwritten note.”
“What does it say?”
Alicia read it.
Client asking whether signature by mark can be notarized if signer has limited capacity. Explained signer must appear, understand act, and demonstrate willingness. Declined remote stamp request.
Tasha closed her eyes.
“Remote stamp request.”
“Yes.”
“What does that mean?”
“Someone apparently asked him to notarize without the signer appearing.”
“Lorraine.”
“The initials are L.B.”
“That’s her.”
“Likely.”
Marcus asked, “If Curtis declined, how did his stamp end up on the deed?”
“That is now the central question.”
Alicia sent a photograph of the note.
Tasha stared at the handwriting.
Curtis had documented the problem before it happened.
Then Alicia said, “There’s one more thing.”
Tasha almost laughed.
“There’s always one more thing.”
“Curtis wrote a phone number beside the initials.”
“And?”
“It wasn’t Lorraine’s.”
Marcus frowned.
“Whose?”
Alicia gave them the last four digits.
Tasha knew them.
She had not heard the number in years.
Her Uncle Raymond.
The man whose restaurant received thirty thousand dollars from the home-equity loan.
Tasha whispered, “Ray was involved.”
Marcus looked at her.
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The betrayal was no longer one mother and one daughter.
The entire family structure around Lorraine was beginning to show its hidden beams.
