Chapter 11 - Vincent's Missing Contract.
Vincent's security company had briefly worked for Derek's firm two years earlier.
Lena had forgotten because the arrangement lasted less than a month.
Derek needed temporary security during a dispute with a former business partner, and Vincent agreed only because Lena asked him to help.
"You hated that contract," Lena said.
"I hated him."
"That's not what I meant."
Vincent's mouth tightened.
"I know."
The original contract contained Vincent's signature on six pages.
One scanned copy had been emailed directly to Derek.
Rachel leaned back in her chair.
"So he had a clean signature sample."
"Yes."
Naomi zoomed in on the trust document.
"That explains the signature, but not the notarization."
Harris made a note.
"The notary name is Paula Givens."
Lena recognized it.
"She works in Derek's building."
"Doing what?"
"Reception, I think."
Harris stood.
"Then I know where I'm going."
After he left, Rachel asked Vincent for every copy of the old security contract.
Vincent called his office.
Ten minutes later, his operations manager sent a full archive.
One detail stood out immediately.
The version Derek had received included a scanned witness page that no longer appeared in Vincent's internal copy.
Rachel frowned.
"Why the difference?"
Vincent looked at the file history.
"Because Derek requested an amended signature packet after claiming his lender needed it."
"Did you send one?"
"Apparently."
Lena heard the frustration in his voice.
"You don't remember?"
"I sign hundreds of vendor documents a year."
She almost said that Derek would use that answer against him.
Then she realized Vincent already knew.
He closed the laptop.
"This is what he does."
"What?"
"He takes normal things and rearranges them until they look suspicious."
Lena nodded slowly.
"Now you understand."
For the first time since he returned, Vincent looked less like her rescuer and more like someone standing beside her in the same storm.
Carol brought coffee from the lobby.
"I owe you both an apology," she said.
Lena did not immediately answer.
Carol continued.
"Derek called me often."
Vincent looked up.
"How often?"
"Every week for months."
Lena felt another piece shift into place.
"What did he ask?"
"Questions about your childhood."
"What kind of questions?"
Carol sat down.
"Whether you ever had trouble sleeping."
"Everyone has trouble sleeping."
"Whether you were anxious in college."
"I was twenty."
"Whether Vincent was overprotective when you were younger."
Vincent stared at the floor.
Carol's voice broke slightly.
"He made every answer sound like proof of something."
Rachel asked Carol to write down everything she remembered.
As she began, Naomi received another bank alert.
Someone had attempted to close the remaining certificate tied to the fake trust.
The request had been submitted online fifteen minutes earlier.
Rachel looked at the timestamp.
"Derek is under counsel and knows the account is disputed."
Vincent stood.
"So why touch it now?"
Naomi refreshed the screen.
The closure request had failed because the bank flagged the trustee identity.
A secondary authentication code had been sent to the phone number on file.
Lena looked at the last four digits.
They were not Derek's.
They were not hers.
Vincent stared at them.
"I know that number."
May you like
"Whose is it?" Lena asked.
"Mara's."
