The Signature Beside Elaine’s Name
Chapter 13 - The Signature Beside Elaine’s Name
Vincent looked at the transfer document for less than ten seconds.
“It’s fake.”
Dominic’s attorney smiled.
“Your signature.”
“Still fake.”
Mave did not look at him.
“Can you prove it?”
“Yes.”
That surprised everyone.
Vincent turned the page over.
“My signature changed eight years ago.”
The attorney laughed.
“Signatures evolve.”
“No.”
Vincent rolled up his left sleeve.
A pale scar crossed the base of his thumb beneath the tattoos.
“Knife injury. Tendon damage.”
He took a pen.
Signed his name.
The V slanted differently.
The old document matched his pre-injury signature.
Mave checked the date.
Three days before Elaine died.
Six years ago.
After Vincent’s hand injury.
She looked at Dominic’s attorney.
“Who gave you this?”
He said nothing.
Mave almost smiled.
The corporate secretary ordered a forensic review.
Until then, Elaine’s proxy remained disputed.
No decisive vote.
Board meeting adjourned.
In the hallway, Vincent approached.
“Mave.”
She kept walking.
He matched her pace without blocking it.
“The trust.”
“I know.”
“I had no idea.”
“I believe you.”
His expression changed.
Belief still mattered.
“Thank you.”
“That is not a reunion.”
“I know.”
She stopped.
“Vincent.”
“Yes?”
“Do not make every decent thing I say into hope.”
He nodded.
Fair.
She continued toward the elevator.
A woman stepped out.
Sixty.
Silver-blond hair.
Navy suit.
Mara Sloan, federal prosecutor.
“Mave.”
“What happened?”
“Forensics finished on Price’s recovered phone.”
Mave glanced at Vincent.
Mara looked at him too.
“You should hear this.”
They went into a small conference room.
Mara played audio.
Samuel Price.
Breathing hard.
Someone else.
A man.
The voice was distorted by distance.
Price said:
You cannot keep using Mave.
Mave’s skin went cold.
The other man replied:
She is the only pressure point all of them share.
Not Dominic.
Not Vincent.
Not Nolan.
Michael.
Her father’s voice.
Mave stared.
Mara paused.
“Recognize it?”
“Yes.”
Vincent looked at her.
Mave felt something inside her collapse.
“Play the rest.”
Price:
Vincent cares about her. Dominic fears her mother’s records. Elaine’s trust can break the board.
Michael:
Then keep her close to Costa until we have enough.
Mave closed her eyes.
Her father had used her too.
Again.
Price:
She doesn’t know.
Michael:
That is why it works.
Silence.
Then the door sound.
Footsteps.
Price:
Someone’s here.
Recording ended.
Mave stared at the table.
Vincent said nothing.
Good.
Mara continued carefully.
“This was nine months before Mave found the thirty-thousand discrepancy.”
Michael had not merely discovered Dominic pushed her hire.
He had agreed to let it continue.
Because she was useful near Vincent.
Mave laughed once.
The sound frightened her.
“Everyone.”
Mara frowned.
“What?”
“Everyone used me.”
She stood.
Vincent moved.
Stopped himself.
Good.
Mave picked up her portfolio.
“Where is Michael?”
“Federal interview room downstairs.”
She headed for the elevator.
Vincent spoke.
“Mave.”
She turned.
“What?”
“Do you want me there?”
The question almost broke her.
“No.”
He nodded.
“Okay.”
Michael did not deny the recording.
Of course.
Mave stood while he sat.
She preferred it that way.
“You knew Dominic wanted me at Costa.”
“Yes.”
“And instead of pulling me out, you let me stay.”
“Yes.”
“Because Vincent cared about me.”
Michael looked sick.
“I believed he would protect you.”
“There.”
Mave pointed at him.
“That word.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Her voice shook.
“You do not get to protect me by turning me into bait.”
“You’re right.”
“Price objected.”
“Yes.”
“He was killed months later.”
“Yes.”
“Did your plan contribute?”
Michael’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
The answer stopped her.
He continued.
“Price wanted to remove you from Costa exposure. I argued keeping you there gave us leverage.”
“Us.”
“The investigation.”
“The larger case.”
“Yes.”
“The same larger case that justified Route Seventeen.”
Michael lowered his head.
“Yes.”
Mave felt suddenly exhausted.
Not angry.
Past anger.
“Do you know what Mom wrote?”
He looked up.
“She said danger does not give men the right to choose for me.”
Michael’s face broke.
“I failed her.”
“Yes.”
Not cruelly.
Accurately.
“I’m sorry.”
“I believe you.”
His eyes lifted.
“That is all I have today.”
Mave left.
No hug.
No promise.
Outside, she sat on the federal building steps.
Rain had stopped.
City noise moved around her.
Vincent stood across the street.
Not approaching.
She almost laughed.
He was following her boundary so carefully it looked painful.
Mave took out her phone.
Texted:
COFFEE. PUBLIC PLACE. 20 MINUTES.
His reply came:
YES.
No flourish.
They met at a crowded café.
Vincent sat opposite.
Mave spoke first.
“My father used me.”
“I heard.”
“Do not say you’re sorry for something he did.”
“Okay.”
“I am angry at Mom too.”
Vincent waited.
“She built a trust that made me responsible for cleaning a company I never agreed to own.”
“Yes.”
“Even the good intentions.”
He nodded.
“Especially those.”
Mave looked at him.
“You understand.”
“A little.”
Silence.
Then Vincent said:
“I need to tell you something before you find it in another file.”
She laughed despite herself.
“Growth.”
“I ordered Leo to keep you on staff after Dominic tried to transfer you to the Jersey office last year.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted you near me.”
There it was.
Mave looked down.
“Professional?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
“No.”
Her pulse moved.
Vincent continued.
“I did not act on it.”
“No.”
“I still interfered with your career.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
Mave studied him.
“Did I lose a promotion because of you?”
“No.”
“Did I lose salary?”
“No.”
“Did I lose a choice?”
“Yes.”
That was the answer.
Mave nodded.
“Thank you.”
Vincent looked surprised.
“For what?”
“For naming the right harm.”
They drank coffee.
No romance.
Not yet.
When they stood, Vincent’s phone rang.
Leo.
His face changed.
“What?”
He listened.
Then looked at Mave.
“Dominic’s transfer document.”
“The fake.”
“Forensics found Elaine’s real fingerprint on it.”
Mave stared.
“So she signed it.”
“Yes.”
“Then why is your signature forged?”
Vincent’s eyes hardened.
“Because my father witnessed the original.”
Anthony Costa.
Dead eleven years.
But the transfer was dated six years ago.
Mave understood.
“The date was changed.”
“Yes.”
Meaning Elaine had signed away the shares long before her death.
Before Anthony died.
Someone had altered the document later to make Vincent look involved.
Then Leo added something over the phone.
Vincent put it on speaker.
“The original date is eighteen years ago.”
Mave’s chest tightened.
The exact year Elaine disappeared.
And the transfer was not back to Costa Logistics.
The forensic ink beneath the alteration revealed another recipient.
MAVE MERCER EDUCATION TRUST.
Mave stared.
May you like
Her mother had not surrendered the shares.
She had hidden them under her daughter’s name.
