Chapter 15 - The Paper That Shouldn’t Exist
Tiana knew the memorandum was fake before she finished the first paragraph.
“No.”
Simone held up a hand.
“Tell me why.”
They sat in Simone’s conference room Monday morning.
Jordan, Alicia, Tiana, and Simone.
A printed copy of the memorandum lay in the center of the table.
Tiana pointed to the header.
“My dad never called Marcus ‘Marcus L. Price’ in personal documents.”
Simone nodded.
“Anything stronger?”
“The date.”
Jordan looked.
March 18.
“What about it?”
Tiana’s face tightened.
“Dad was in the hospital.”
Alicia frowned.
“He could still sign papers.”
“Yes. But not this.”
“Why?”
Tiana pulled out her phone.
“March eighteenth was the day after his stroke.”
Silence.
Jordan looked at the signature.
Tiana continued.
“He couldn’t use his right hand.”
Simone sat straighter.
“Do you have medical records?”
“I can get them. I was his health-care proxy.”
Jordan’s skin prickled.
Alicia asked, “Could he have signed left-handed?”
Tiana shook her head.
“Maybe a mark. Not that.”
The signature on the memorandum was smooth.
Confident.
Theodore Price.
Jordan felt sick.
“Dad forged Grandpa’s signature?”
Simone’s voice remained calm.
“We do not know who created this document.”
“It came from Dad’s lawyer.”
“Yes.”
“That lawyer got it from Dad.”
“Likely.”
Jordan stood.
“I need air.”
Simone stopped him.
“One more thing.”
Jordan turned.
She slid the memorandum beside Theodore’s handwritten letter.
“The signatures look similar.”
Tiana nodded.
“They’re supposed to.”
“But this one—”
Simone tapped the memorandum.
“—appears mechanically copied.”
Jordan stared.
“What does that mean?”
“Same proportions. Same unusual upward stroke on the P. Possibly scanned.”
Alicia whispered, “Oh, Marcus.”
Jordan sat again.
Simone folded her hands.
“I am going to give opposing counsel an opportunity to explain the document’s source before we escalate.”
“Why?”
“Because attorneys sometimes receive bad information from clients. We do not assume the lawyer knew.”
Jordan looked away.
Tiana said, “Marcus used to scan Dad’s estate papers for him.”
Everyone turned.
“When?”
“During the illness.”
Jordan closed his eyes.
Of course.
Simone asked, “Did he have access to signed documents?”
“Yes.”
“Copies?”
“Yes.”
Jordan felt something inside him fracture further.
“This isn’t about money anymore.”
Nobody corrected him.
That afternoon, Jordan returned to work because he needed ordinary things.
Belts.
Batteries.
Customers asking what oil their Honda used.
At 5:20, Marcus entered the store.
Jordan saw him immediately.
He wore the navy polo.
Gold watch.
Controlled expression.
Vernon looked from Marcus to Jordan.
“You want me nearby?”
Jordan shook his head.
Marcus approached the counter.
“We need to talk.”
“Not here.”
“You won’t answer me anywhere else.”
“I’m working.”
“I’ll wait.”
Jordan stared.
“That’s weird.”
Marcus’s face tightened.
“Five minutes.”
Jordan looked toward Vernon.
His manager nodded once.
Jordan walked with Marcus outside.
They stood near the loading bay.
“What?”
Marcus looked exhausted.
“Tell Simone to withdraw the forgery accusation.”
“She didn’t accuse you.”
“You know exactly what she implied.”
“Where did the memorandum come from?”
“Your grandfather.”
“He had a stroke the day before.”
“He signed documents in the hospital.”
“With his right hand?”
Marcus paused.
Jordan saw it.
“Dad.”
“You don’t understand his condition.”
“Tiana does.”
Marcus’s mouth hardened.
“Tiana has always resented me.”
“Why would she fake medical records?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Then explain.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“I found the memorandum in old estate files.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“Why didn’t Mom know about it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t Tiana?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why did Grandpa write me a letter saying the opposite?”
Marcus hesitated.
“He changed his mind.”
“After the stroke?”
“Before.”
“Then why is the memo dated after?”
Marcus’s eyes flashed.
“You think you’re very smart right now.”
Jordan went still.
“Is that what you came to say?”
“I came to tell you this has consequences beyond money.”
“You already did.”
“Your grandfather’s memory. My relationship with my sister. Your mother dragging private family matters into court.”
Jordan laughed softly.
“Still everybody else.”
“What?”
“You keep listing what everybody else is damaging.”
Marcus stared.
Jordan continued.
“You never say what you did.”
“I made financial decisions.”
“You used my name.”
“I already explained that.”
“You used Grandpa’s signature?”
Marcus’s face changed.
Too much.
Too quickly.
Jordan knew.
He whispered, “You did.”
Marcus’s mouth opened.
Jordan stepped backward.
“Oh, my God.”
“No.”
“You did.”
“I said no.”
“No, you said the wrong thing with your face.”
Marcus grabbed Jordan’s sleeve.
Not violently.
Reflexively.
Jordan looked at his hand.
Marcus released him immediately.
“I did not forge my father’s name.”
“Then tell your lawyer where the document came from.”
“I will.”
“Good.”
Jordan turned.
Marcus said, “I was trying to keep the property.”
Jordan stopped.
Marcus’s voice lowered.
“You think I enjoyed any of this?”
Jordan looked over his shoulder.
“The duplex was supposed to be something I could leave you.”
“Then why risk everything that was already mine?”
Marcus had no answer.
Jordan returned inside.
Vernon watched him.
“You good?”
“No.”
“Need to leave?”
Jordan looked through the window.
Marcus remained outside, head bowed.
“No.”
Jordan picked up a box of brake pads.
“I need to finish my shift.”
At 8:05, when the store closed, Marcus was gone.
A message waited from Simone.
Opposing counsel has withdrawn the memorandum pending authentication.
Jordan read it twice.
Then a second message.
Marcus’s attorney states he cannot verify where Marcus obtained it.
Jordan slipped the phone into his pocket.
His father had begun with a lie about a car.
Now a dead man’s signature had entered the story.
And Jordan finally understood the most dangerous thing about Marcus Price.
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He did not necessarily plan every lie.
Sometimes he simply kept building new ones because he could not tolerate standing inside the truth.
