Chapter 6 - A Signature That Didn't Belong to HimNathan drove to Dina Patel's office that afternoon while Eli stayed with a longtime family friend.
Before leaving, he sat beside his son on the living room rug.
“I'm going to speak with someone who helps families solve problems.”
Eli looked up from his building blocks.
“Like a police officer?”
“Not exactly. She's a lawyer.”
“Am I in trouble?”
“No. And you haven't done anything wrong.”
Eli considered that.
“Will Audrey get in trouble?”
“I don't know yet. That's something other people may have to decide.”
The boy nodded.
Then he asked, “Do I get to decide if I talk about it?”
Nathan crouched beside him.
“You get to tell me when you need a break. And we won't make you tell the story to everyone just because they want to hear it.”
Eli appeared relieved.
At Dina's office, Nathan spread the wedding documents across a conference table.
Dina studied the childcare authorization.
“This is one piece of the puzzle,” she said. “But we need to distinguish what you know from what you suspect.”
Nathan nodded.
“We know you didn't approve the transfer. We have Eli's note. We have the planning schedule. What we don't know is who made the false signature or why.”
“Brooke handled the paperwork.”
“That makes her someone we need to question. It doesn't prove she created every document.”
Nathan looked down at the note again.
His son's handwriting was absent.
Only Audrey's carefully formed letters filled the paper.
“Why would anyone think I'd agree to sending my son away?”
“Sometimes,” Dina replied, “people build a plan around what they hope someone won't notice.”
A message arrived on Nathan's phone.
It was from Tessa, the wedding photographer.
I backed up the original files. There's a short video from the rehearsal you should see.
Nathan showed Dina.
“Ask her to preserve the original recording,” Dina said. “Don't ask her to change or edit anything.”
They arranged to meet Tessa at her studio.
The photographer greeted them with a serious expression.
“I almost deleted this because it's not a good shot.”
She opened a video on her computer.
The image shook slightly.
A camera had been resting on a table during the rehearsal.
Audrey stood near the wedding arch.
Eli approached holding a small white flower.
“Audrey?”
Her head turned sharply.
“What?”
“Can I give this to you?”
Audrey looked toward Celeste.
Then she leaned closer to Eli.
The camera microphone caught her next words.
“Stop trying to make yourself the center of everything.”
Eli lowered the flower.
Audrey continued.
“Your father is finally getting a chance at a proper family. Don't ruin it.”
The footage ended.
Nathan sat motionless.
Dina waited.
Finally Nathan said, “He was trying to give her a flower.”
Tessa nodded.
“I thought it was sweet.”
Nathan watched the recording again.
And again.
Not because he needed more evidence.
Because he couldn't understand how he'd missed something so obvious.
His son had been offering kindness.
Audrey had answered with contempt.
Tessa opened another folder.
“There's something else. I thought it might be useful.”
It contained images of the wedding-planning table.
Most were ordinary photographs of decorations and place cards.
But one showed Celeste sitting beside Brooke.
A document lay between them.
Tessa enlarged the image.
The heading was partly visible.
GUARANTOR INFORMATION — NATHAN REED.
Nathan's pulse accelerated.
“That's my name.”
Dina leaned closer.
“Do you remember signing any guarantee or loan application?”
“No.”
“Did you give permission for someone to apply on your behalf?”
“Absolutely not.”
Tessa scrolled to another photograph.
In it, Brooke was holding a tablet.
Celeste pointed at the screen.
Audrey stood behind them, watching.
Nathan recognized the tablet.
It was the silver device he'd lent Brooke for coordinating the wedding.
It had access to the shared wedding account.
And, he suddenly remembered, copies of several financial documents he'd uploaded for a mortgage-rate comparison months earlier.
He stood abruptly.
Dina raised a hand.
“Nathan. Don't accuse anyone until we verify what that document is.”
He looked at the screen again.
“What would they need my financial information for?”
Dina closed the photograph.
“That's what we need to find out.”
Nathan's phone rang.
The caller ID showed a local lending company he had never contacted.
When he answered, a woman spoke politely.
“Mr. Reed, we're calling to confirm information on your pending commercial loan application.”
May you like
Nathan felt the blood drain from his face.
“My what?”
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