Chapter 7 - The Mailbox That Wasn't Hers.
The mailbox store opened at eight the next morning.
Lena was waiting outside at seven fifty-five with Vincent, Naomi, and a plainclothes investigator assigned after the police reviewed the documents from Unit 314.
His name was Detective Harris, and he spoke with the deliberate caution of someone who had learned not to promise outcomes.
"We are documenting possible fraud and unauthorized account activity," he told Lena.
"That doesn't mean every strange document is criminal, but the pattern matters."
Lena appreciated the distinction.
For months, Derek had used certainty as a weapon.
Harris used precision instead.
The store manager unlocked the door and listened carefully while Harris explained the situation.
After verifying Lena's identification, the manager pulled up the mailbox record.
"Box 228," he said.
"Opened fourteen months ago."
"By me?" Lena asked.
The manager looked at the screen.
"The application says so."
He printed a copy.
The driver's-license scan attached to the application was Lena's old license.
The signature was fake.
The emergency contact was Derek.
"Has anyone accessed it recently?" Harris asked.
"Yesterday afternoon."
Lena felt Vincent tense beside her.
"Do you have video?"
"Thirty days."
The manager reviewed the security feed.
At 4:17 p.m. the previous day, a man wearing a baseball cap entered, opened Box 228, removed several envelopes, and left.
His face appeared for less than a second when he looked toward the exit.
It was the same man who had run from the storage unit.
Vincent showed Harris the photograph from the night before.
"Same jacket," Harris said.
"Do you know him?"
Lena shook her head.
Naomi leaned closer to the screen.
"I do."
Everyone turned.
"His name is Eric Sloan."
"Who is he?" Lena asked.
"He worked for Derek's company for about six months."
Naomi's voice dropped.
"Bookkeeping assistant."
Vincent looked at Harris.
"Can you find him?"
Harris gave him a flat look.
"That's my job, not yours."
Vincent nodded once.
The manager opened Box 228 with a master key.
Only three items remained.
The first was an insurance statement.
The second was a letter from a bank requesting verification of Lena's identity.
The third was a certified envelope from a law firm.
Lena opened it carefully.
Inside was a notice concerning a civil agreement she had never seen.
The document claimed she had guaranteed a business debt for Derek's company up to ninety thousand dollars.
Lena felt sick.
"Can he do that?"
Naomi took the page.
"Not lawfully with a forged signature."
"But if no one proves it's forged?"
Naomi did not answer.
She did not need to.
Harris asked the manager to preserve the surveillance footage.
Then his phone rang.
He stepped outside to answer.
Vincent watched him through the glass.
"Something's wrong," Lena said.
Harris came back inside thirty seconds later.
"We found Derek's car."
"Where?"
"At the airport parking garage."
Lena's heart dropped.
"He left?"
"Maybe."
Harris looked directly at her.
"But the departure records show Derek didn't board a flight."
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
"Then why leave the car there?"
Harris slid his phone into his pocket.
"To make someone think he did."
A notification sounded from Lena's phone.
An email had arrived from an address she did not recognize.
May you like
The subject line contained only three words.
CHECK YOUR MOTHER.
