Chapter 6 - SEVENTY-TWO HOURS
The foreclosure notice was dated that morning.
Mara read it twice.
“This is aggressive.”
“What does it mean?”
“They're trying to force the issue before the fraud investigation catches up.”
“How?”
“By claiming the mortgage is valid and the loan is in default.”
I stared at her.
“I never received the loan.”
“That doesn't matter if they manufacture enough paperwork.”
Thomas Reed immediately requested the bank's complete file.
We spent the next day reconstructing every transaction.
The mortgage had been opened using my identity.
The funds had never entered my personal account.
Instead, $300,000 had been divided among three companies.
One belonged to Raymond Pike.
One belonged to Julian.
The third belonged to a company with an unfamiliar name.
Hearthstone Development.
I recognized the name.
It had appeared on a newspaper article about a proposed luxury riverfront project.
The article listed the managing director.
Eleanor Mercer.
My mother-in-law.
Mara looked at me.
“Now we know why she wanted the shop.”
I nodded.
But something still didn't fit.
“Why attack me?”
Reed answered.
“Because you found the mortgage before they completed the transfer.”
“That doesn't explain the violence.”
“It may.”
He pointed to the date.
“The foreclosure process could take months.”
“Exactly.”
“So why rush?”
We checked the company records.
Hearthstone had a major investor meeting scheduled in four days.
The development required proof that the final parcel was secured.
My shop.
If they couldn't show control of the property, the financing collapsed.
“They needed my signature before the meeting.”
“And when you refused…”
“They panicked.”
Reed nodded.
That explained the timing.
But not everything.
Then Chloe arrived.
She looked terrified.
“I found something.”
She placed a flash drive on the table.
“I copied this before I left the bank.”
Mara plugged it in.
There were dozens of files.
Loan applications.
Internal emails.
Payment records.
Then one email from Raymond Pike.
Eleanor, the girl must remain unaware until the closing. Once the property transfers, terminate the marriage if necessary.
I stared at the screen.
“They planned to divorce me.”
Chloe nodded.
“After taking the shop.”
Another email appeared.
Julian is emotionally involved. Keep him focused.
I felt something strange.
“Emotionally involved?”
Chloe looked at me.
“Julian wasn't supposed to care about you.”
“But he did?”
“I don't know.”
I hated that uncertainty.
Then we found another email.
This one was from Julian.
I can't do this anymore. She's pregnant.
Pike replied:
The pregnancy changes nothing.
Julian:
It changes everything.
Pike:
Then remember what your mother sacrificed for you.
I stared at the screen.
For the first time, Julian looked less like the mastermind and more like someone trapped inside the machine he helped build.
That didn't excuse what he had done.
But it explained something.
He had chosen his family over me.
Again and again.
Reed looked at me.
“We can use this.”
“How?”
“Julian's messages establish intent.”
Then Chloe whispered:
“There is another file.”
She opened it.
A scanned page from a handwritten notebook.
Eleanor's handwriting.
Julian must never know the final purpose of the shop.
Mara stopped.
“Final purpose?”
We read the next page.
The building contains records proving the Mercer family financed illegal acquisitions going back twenty years.
I stared.
“So they aren't just stealing the shop.”
“No,” Reed said.
“They're trying to destroy evidence.”
That raised the stakes completely.
My father's shop wasn't merely an asset.
It was a historical record.
If they acquired it, they could destroy everything inside.
Then Reed found one more entry.
The second ledger must be recovered before Claire discovers it.
I looked at Mara.
“We found the first ledger.”
“Which means there's another.”
My father's note had said exactly that.
The second ledger.
The one they were terrified I would find.
We returned to the shop.
This time, we searched every inch.
The second ledger wasn't in the walls.
It wasn't under the floor.
It wasn't in the office.
Then I remembered the old finishing room.
My father had kept a coat rack there.
His brown work coat was still hanging from a hook.
I reached into the inside pocket.
My fingers touched paper.
I pulled out a folded map.
It showed the riverfront district.
One building was circled.
A former warehouse.
LOT 17.
Underneath:
ASK WHO BOUGHT IT FIRST.
Mara looked at me.
“Lot 17 is now part of Hearthstone's development.”
I felt a chill.
My father hadn't hidden the second ledger at the shop.
He had hidden the key to finding it.
Then the door opened.
We turned.
Julian stood there.
Two police officers were outside, but Julian had not come to threaten me.
He looked exhausted.
His eyes went to my stomach.
Then to the documents on the table.
“I know where the second ledger is.”
Everyone froze.
Julian slowly placed a small brass key on the table.
“I stole it from my mother three years ago.”
May you like
He looked at me.
“And I think I finally understand why she was willing to hurt you to get it.”
