Chapter 2 - The Paper With the Wrong Signature
I looked at her for a long moment. Her eyes were swollen. She'd been crying somewhere in the house before she worked up the nerve to knock.
"Rosa," I said carefully. "Tell me what you heard."
She swallowed. "Tonight, after you went into your study, Mrs. Hargrove made a phone call. I was in the back hallway folding towels. She didn't know I was still in the house."
My chest went tight.
"She told whoever she was talking to that it was almost time. That the new papers were ready. That once everything was signed, they wouldn't have to wait much longer."
The floor didn't feel steady under me.
"Papers?" I said. "What papers?"
Rosa reached into her apron and set a folded sheet on my desk.
"I found this on the kitchen counter this afternoon. I didn't understand it. But after tonight…" She pressed her lips together. "Mr. Hargrove, that's your signature on the bottom. And you didn't sign anything today. You were out in the garden with me all afternoon."
I unfolded it. My hands weren't cooperating.
It was a wire transfer authorization. A big one.
And at the bottom, my name — in handwriting that looked almost exactly like mine.
Almost.
Before I could get a word out, we both heard it. Footsteps in the hall.
Then Vivian's voice, soft and even, right outside the door.
May you like
"Walter? Are you still up?"
Rosa's face lost every bit of color it had left.
