Chapter 7 - THE CLIENT WHO WAS ALREADY PACKING
The corporate tenant was not a corporation.
That became clear two days later.
The condo building’s property manager forwarded Samantha an email Brooke had sent while requesting elevator information.
The prospective occupant was a woman named Paige Rollins.
Rachel knew the name.
Paige was one of Brooke’s clients.
A divorced tech executive relocating from Seattle with her sixteen-year-old daughter.
Brooke had told Paige the condo belonged to “a family investor” temporarily living elsewhere.
Rachel stared at the email.
Family investor.
Not sister.
Paige had already wired a $6,000 holding deposit to Brooke’s brokerage escrow account.
That changed everything.
Now Brooke’s employer had reason to examine the transaction.
Samantha advised Rachel not to contact Paige directly.
The brokerage’s compliance officer did.
By Monday, the proposed rental was frozen.
Brooke was placed on administrative leave while the company reviewed how the listing had been created without an executed owner agreement.
Elaine was horrified.
“You got her suspended?”
“No.”
“She’s calling me crying.”
“Mom, Brooke accepted money for a condo she didn’t control.”
“But she was going to give it back.”
Rachel looked at her.
“She started giving it back after she got caught.”
Elaine sat down heavily.
“I don’t know how to be her mother right now.”
Rachel’s anger softened.
“You don’t have to stop loving her.”
“What if loving her means helping?”
“Helping her do what?”
Elaine looked down.
That was the question.
Later that afternoon, Rachel received a call from Melissa Crane.
The notary had retained her own attorney.
She would not discuss everything directly anymore.
But through counsel, she confirmed one fact.
Brooke had booked the notarization appointment.
Rachel’s identity had supposedly been verified with a temporary paper credential and supporting identification.
Rachel had never requested any temporary credential.
Samantha immediately requested preservation of the notary journal and any legally retained supporting records.
Then another detail surfaced.
The appointment had been made at 7:30 on a Wednesday evening.
Rachel had been somewhere else at that exact time.
Physical therapy.
Her medical provider had check-in records.
The forgery was no longer merely Rachel’s word against Brooke’s.
There was a timeline.
Rachel felt the first real shift of power.
Then Elaine called.
Her voice was strange.
“Rachel, Brooke says none of this was originally her idea.”
Rachel gripped the phone.
May you like
“Whose idea does she say it was?”
Elaine whispered, “Mine.”
