Chapter 3 - The Signature at the Bottom
Daniel moved everyone into the dining room.
Nobody touched the birthday cake.
Linda changed into one of Daniel’s old sweatshirts while Robert sat at the table reading the lender’s demand.
Rachel remained standing.
It was the first time Daniel could remember seeing her without control of a room.
“What does guarantor mean here?” Daniel asked.
Robert didn’t answer immediately.
Daniel knew enough to know what it usually meant.
He wanted his father to tell him he was wrong.
Robert finally pointed to the second page.
“It means if the company doesn’t pay, they can pursue the person who guaranteed the debt.”
“You?”
“According to this.”
Rachel interrupted.
“He signed paperwork.”
Robert looked at her.
“No.”
One word.
Calm.
Certain.
Rachel’s expression hardened.
“You signed plenty of paperwork.”
“I signed a promissory note for fifty thousand dollars directly between us.”
Robert tapped the lender’s letter.
“I never signed this.”
Daniel turned the pages until he found a reproduced signature.
ROBERT W. MERCER.
It looked convincing.
Almost.
Robert removed his glasses and leaned closer.
“That isn’t mine.”
Rachel immediately said, “You’re sixty-seven. Maybe you forgot.”
Linda stood up.
“Don’t you dare.”
Daniel held up one hand.
“Mom.”
Linda stopped, but only because he asked.
Daniel took a picture of the page with his phone.
Rachel reached toward it.
He pulled the document away.
“Don’t.”
Her hand dropped.
Daniel looked at the signature again.
He remembered Rachel bringing documents to Robert’s house the previous summer.
Insurance forms, she had said.
He remembered Robert complaining that Rachel always wanted people to sign things quickly.
He remembered something else too.
Rachel had started insisting Daniel’s parents call before visiting.
Not because she wanted privacy, she claimed.
Because Linda “dropped in too much.”
Daniel had believed her.
Now Robert said quietly, “I want a copy of everything in that envelope.”
Rachel’s breathing changed.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
She corrected herself.
“I mean—we should talk to someone before we start spreading documents around.”
Robert leaned back.
“To whom?”
“My attorney.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You already have an attorney involved?”
May you like
Rachel realized too late what she had revealed.
And for the second time that afternoon, fear crossed her face before she could hide it.
