Chapter 5 - THE SECOND MORTGAGE
There was no second mortgage on Diane’s house.
There was a second mortgage on mine.
I discovered it the next morning.
The loan had been opened fourteen months earlier against the home Mark and I owned together.
Amount:
$210,000.
I had never signed for it.
I called an attorney before I called my husband.
Her name was Priya Shah.
We had worked together on financial cases for years.
She listened without interrupting.
Then she said:
“Do not move money out of joint accounts unless we discuss it first.”
“I won’t.”
“Do secure anything clearly yours.”
“Already started.”
“And preserve every document.”
I looked at the blue folder.
“That part I’m very good at.”
Priya obtained the loan documents.
My signature appeared on them.
It was close.
Very close.
But wrong.
The slant on the C.
The spacing in my last name.
The pressure pattern.
Someone had copied my signature from another document.
I felt physically sick.
“What was the money used for?”
“We’re tracing it.”
By afternoon, we had an answer.
$90,000 went into Reynolds Family Holdings.
$60,000 paid off Vanessa’s credit cards and home renovation balance.
$35,000 went to Diane.
The rest disappeared into several smaller transfers.
Mark called me seventeen times.
I answered the eighteenth.
“Did you sign my name?”
“No.”
“Did Diane?”
“No.”
“Vanessa?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mark.”
“I swear.”
For once, he sounded genuinely frightened.
That scared me more than anger.
“Who handled the loan paperwork?”
Silence.
“Mark?”
“My brother.”
I frowned.
Mark rarely mentioned his older brother, Daniel.
Daniel lived in Nevada and worked in mortgage brokerage.
I had seen him twice in six years.
“Daniel arranged the loan?”
“Yes.”
“Did he know I hadn’t approved it?”
“I told him you were busy.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Mark started crying.
“I thought you’d agree later.”
I closed my eyes.
“You used my identity before asking me.”
“I thought we could repay it before it mattered.”
Again.
Put it back.
Repay it before it mattered.
As though theft became harmless if nobody noticed quickly enough.
Priya called while Mark was still speaking.
I ended the call with him.
Her voice was tight.
“We found where the last $25,000 went.”
“Where?”
“To an account belonging to Daniel.”
My stomach dropped.
But Priya wasn’t finished.
“Claire, Daniel didn’t just arrange the loan.”
May you like
“What did he do?”
“He certified that he personally witnessed you sign the documents.”
