Chapter 1 - THE NAME ON THE SECOND LOAN
Claire had expected fraud.
She had not expected to find her name attached to a house she had never seen.
Sitting on the balcony of her Paris hotel, she stared at the documents Priya had sent while morning traffic murmured six floors below. The first pages concerned the $480,000 business credit line. Claire already knew about that.
The next document made her stomach tighten.
PROPERTY COLLATERAL AGREEMENT.
Borrower: Larkspur Holdings LLC.
Guarantor: Claire Bennett.
Collateral address: a luxury property outside Scottsdale, Arizona.
Claire called Priya immediately.
“I’ve never been to Scottsdale.”
“I know.”
“Then why is my name on a house there?”
“Technically, the house isn’t in your name. Your income and supposed guarantee were used to support financing connected to it.”
“Who owns Larkspur Holdings?”
Priya hesitated.
“Lorraine controls sixty percent.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Of course.
“What about the other forty?”
“That’s what gets interesting.”
Priya sent another file.
Claire opened it.
Mark owned twenty percent.
Dana owned ten.
The remaining ten belonged to a man named Gregory Pike.
Claire didn’t recognize him.
“Who’s Pike?”
“We’re still checking.”
Her phone buzzed again.
Mark.
She let it ring.
Then another message arrived.
CLAIRE, WHATEVER YOU DID, PLEASE STOP. MOM IS HAVING A BREAKDOWN.
Claire almost laughed.
Whatever you did.
As if she were the one who had created fraudulent financial documents.
She typed one response.
I didn’t create this problem. I discovered it.
Mark immediately called.
This time she answered.
“What?”
His voice was low.
“Can we talk privately?”
“You’re talking.”
“My family made mistakes.”
“Using my name for half a million dollars is a mistake?”
“I didn’t know everything.”
“But you knew something.”
Silence.
Claire’s pulse slowed.
That silence mattered.
“How much did you know, Mark?”
“Not over the phone.”
“Then enjoy Hawaii.”
“Claire—”
She hung up.
Ten minutes later, Elena called.
“We found Gregory Pike.”
“And?”
“He works for the lending company.”
Claire sat upright.
“That sounds convenient.”
“It gets worse.”
Elena inhaled slowly.
“Gregory Pike was the person who approved your electronic signature.”
Claire stared at the Paris skyline.
Then Elena delivered the first secret that changed everything.
May you like
“Claire, Pike didn’t just know Lorraine.”
“He used to be married to her.”
