Chapter 3 - THE SIGNATURE THAT DESTROYED MY FAMILY
I stared at the forged signature until the letters seemed to move.
Someone had copied the small loop in my S.
The sharp angle of my B.
Even the little line I always drew beneath my name.
But there was one detail they had missed.
Three years earlier, I'd still signed my legal documents as Sloan Elizabeth Bennett.
The forged authorization omitted my middle name.
I looked at Roman.
"Whoever did this used my signature from college assignments."
His expression sharpened.
"You're certain?"
"Every legal document I signed back then included my middle name."
Roman immediately called his attorney.
"Get the original filings. We have a potential authentication issue."
He ended the call and studied me.
"You noticed that in less than thirty seconds."
"I used to study architecture. Details matter."
"Apparently."
I looked back at the document.
"Preston had access to my schoolwork."
Roman didn't answer.
"He helped me move apartments during my second year. He had boxes of my drawings."
"Did he have access to your father's financial records?"
"Yes."
My voice broke.
"Dad trusted him."
I remembered Preston sitting at our dinner table.
Laughing at my father's jokes.
Offering to help with accounting software.
Promising he'd make Bennett & Sons the biggest contracting company in Illinois.
He'd called my father the dad I never had.
Now I wanted to scream.
Roman waited until I looked up.
"There's more."
I laughed bitterly.
"Of course there is."
He opened another file.
"Your father didn't voluntarily surrender his company."
"I know."
"He attempted to stop the transfer."
I went still.
"What?"
"Two weeks before his stroke, Arthur Bennett filed a formal objection through an attorney."
My heart pounded.
"Nobody told me."
"The objection was withdrawn."
"By whom?"
Roman hesitated.
"According to the filing, by your father."
I shook my head.
"Impossible."
"That's why I want the original documents examined."
I looked toward the windows.
Three years ago, my father had called me the night before he collapsed.
I'd been studying for an architecture exam.
He sounded frightened.
"Sloan, honey, don't sign anything Preston gives you."
I'd laughed.
"Dad, what's going on?"
"Just promise me."
I promised.
The following morning, Preston called to tell me my father had suffered a stroke at work.
By the time I reached the hospital, Dad could barely speak.
I turned toward Roman.
"My father warned me."
"About Preston?"
"Yes."
Roman's jaw tightened.
"Did he say anything else?"
I closed my eyes.
Then remembered.
"He said there was a blue folder in his office."
Roman went completely still.
"What blue folder?"
"I don't know. Preston told me Dad's office had been cleared out after the company closed."
Roman stood abruptly.
"Marco."
A broad-shouldered man entered.
"Boss?"
"Find every storage location connected to Bennett & Sons after the foreclosure."
Marco nodded.
"Immediately."
Roman turned back toward me.
"If that folder still exists, it could explain what happened."
I swallowed.
"And if it doesn't?"
"We follow the records."
For a moment, I almost believed everything might work out.
Then my phone rang.
The care facility.
I answered immediately.
"Hello?"
A nurse's voice sounded frightened.
"Miss Bennett, your father is asking for you."
My heart stopped.
"Is he okay?"
"Physically, yes. But something happened this morning."
"What?"
"Two men came asking about his medical records."
I stood so quickly my chair scraped the floor.
"Who were they?"
"They claimed to represent an insurance company."
My throat tightened.
"Did they see him?"
"No. But after they left, your father became extremely upset."
I closed my eyes.
Then the nurse said something I hadn't heard in three years.
"Miss Bennett, your father spoke a complete sentence."
Tears filled my eyes.
"What did he say?"
The nurse hesitated.
"He said, 'Tell Sloan that Preston wasn't working alone.'"
I gripped the phone.
May you like
Then she whispered the words that changed everything.
"He said the man who ordered the takeover was Roman Costa."
