Chapter 3 - The Signature
Frank was waiting in the founder's office when Lily arrived.
She entered without knocking.
“Dad.”
I didn't look up immediately.
The office hadn't changed much since Margaret died. Books covered two walls. An old drafting table stood beside the window. On the shelf was a photograph of Lily at eight years old wearing an oversized yellow construction helmet.
She followed my eyes.
Her voice cracked.
“You really own this building?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I told you enough.”
“No, you didn't.”
I looked at her.
“When you were sixteen, I told you I owned property.”
“I thought you meant the duplex.”
“When you were twenty-two, I asked whether you wanted to work at Calloway Holdings.”
“I thought it was a maintenance company.”
A tiny smile escaped me.
“It was, once.”
She began crying.
“Why would you let Ethan talk about you like that?”
“Because I wanted to know whether he respected people who couldn't help him.”
That stopped her.
“And?”
I didn't answer.
She knew.
Peter entered carrying a folder.
Ethan came behind him.
“What is this nonsense about my signature?”
Peter placed the documents on my desk.
I opened them.
Calloway House wasn't being sold outright.
Someone had attempted something more sophisticated.
A collateral authorization.
If approved, the property could secure financing for a private investment vehicle.
Amount requested:
$180 million.
Applicant:
Mercer Strategic Development LLC.
Lily stared at Ethan.
“You have a company?”
Ethan loosened his bow tie.
“It's an investment structure.”
“You told me you worked for Harrington.”
“I do.”
“Then what is Mercer Strategic Development?”
“A future.”
“With my father's building?”
Ethan looked at me.
“You knew?”
“I know now.”
“It was preliminary.”
I flipped to the signature page.
There was my name.
Franklin James Calloway.
The signature wasn't mine.
Lily stared at it.
“Did you forge Dad's signature?”
“No.”
“Then who signed this?”
Ethan hesitated.
That hesitation answered her.
I closed the folder.
“You thought I was stupid.”
Ethan scoffed.
“I thought you were retired.”
“You thought I was powerless.”
He stepped closer.
“Fine. You own a building. Congratulations.”
“Seventeen.”
His mouth closed.
“And controlling interests in three development partnerships.”
Peter added quietly, “And Calloway House is debt-free.”
Ethan stared at me.
For the first time since I'd met him, he didn't know what to say.
Then Lily asked the question that mattered.
“How did you get access to Dad's corporate documents?”
Ethan looked at her.
“I didn't.”
Peter reached into the folder.
“This authorization included confidential ownership schedules.”
I knew immediately.
Only five people had access.
Peter.
My attorney.
My accountant.
Me.
And Lily.
She shook her head.
“I never gave him anything.”
I believed her.
Ethan moved toward the door.
“We're done.”
“No,” Lily said.
He turned.
“We're just starting.”
Ethan's eyes hardened.
“You're my wife.”
“And he's my father.”
“Twenty minutes ago you told him to leave.”
The words hit her like a slap.
Lily flinched.
I did too.
Ethan smiled.
He knew he'd hurt her.
Then he walked out.
Peter watched him leave.
“I can have security stop him.”
“No.”
Lily looked at me.
“Why?”
“Because people make mistakes when they believe they're escaping.”
Peter understood.
Lily didn't.
Not yet.
I opened the bottom drawer of my desk and removed another folder.
Margaret's handwriting was across the front.
FOR LILY.
My daughter stared at it.
“What is that?”
“Something your mother prepared before she died.”
Lily reached for it.
I held it back.
“Not tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because first I need to know what your husband was trying to buy with $180 million.”
Peter's phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
Then his expression tightened.
“What?”
He put the call on speaker.
A security supervisor spoke rapidly.
“We found Mr. Mercer in the underground garage.”
“Doing what?”
“Trying to remove boxes from his vehicle.”
“What boxes?”
There was a pause.
“Calloway Holdings files.”
Lily turned white.
But the security supervisor wasn't finished.
“And Mr. Calloway?”
“Yes?”
“One of the boxes has Mrs. Calloway's name on it.”
Margaret.
My dead wife's name.
I stood.
May you like
For the first time that night, Ethan Mercer had managed to make me angry.
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