Chapter 9 - The Woman Who Signed My Name
The notary was named Sandra Bell.
Fifty-three.
No criminal history.
Twenty years in the profession.
She insisted I had appeared in front of her.
She remembered my coat.
My handbag.
Even the color of my hair.
There was only one problem.
The woman she remembered was not me.
Federal agents obtained lobby footage from the office building.
At 2:03 p.m., a woman entered wearing sunglasses and a camel-colored coat.
She was approximately my height.
Approximately my build.
Her dark hair was pulled beneath a winter hat.
She carried a handbag identical to mine.
At 2:47 p.m., she left.
Nina paused the footage.
“Do you recognize her?”
I leaned closer.
The image was grainy.
Her face remained partly hidden.
“No.”
Then the woman turned.
For half a second, the camera caught her profile.
My blood went cold.
“I know her.”
Adrian looked at me.
“Who?”
“David’s executive assistant.”
“Rebecca Shaw.”
Rebecca had worked with our family for six years.
She booked David’s flights.
Managed our charity events.
Sent birthday gifts when David forgot.
She knew Lily’s school schedule.
She knew mine.
She had copies of my identification because she had arranged international travel for us.
I sat back.
“She could copy everything.”
Nina nodded.
“We searched her apartment forty minutes ago.”
“What did you find?”
“Nothing.”
“What does nothing mean?”
“Clothes are gone.”
“Passport is gone.”
“Computer is gone.”
“Personal phone disconnected.”
Adrian added quietly.
“She left yesterday.”
“Before David came home?”
“Yes.”
“Did she know he was being investigated?”
“We believe so.”
My mind raced.
“Was she the one who accessed Lily’s insurance account?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Where did she go?”
“We’re working on it.”
I suddenly remembered something.
“Her mother.”
Adrian frowned.
“What about her?”
“Rebecca once told me her mother lives in Indiana.”
“She sends money every month.”
“Do you know the town?”
I closed my eyes.
Lily had made Christmas cards for everyone in David’s office two years earlier.
Rebecca had asked if Lily could make one for her mother.
The address had been written on a gold envelope.
I could picture Lily carefully copying the letters.
“Chesterton.”
Adrian stood.
Nina was already reaching for her phone.
Before leaving, Adrian turned back.
“Maya.”
“Yes?”
“There’s one more reason we need Rebecca.”
I waited.
“Richard Sloan says she controlled David’s personal phone remotely through the company’s executive device management system.”
I stared at him.
“You mean she could block numbers?”
“Yes.”
“Without touching his phone?”
“Yes.”
For the first time since seeing the deleted messages, uncertainty entered the story.
Maybe David had not personally blocked the ICU.
Maybe someone else had.
But the relief lasted only a second.
Because David had still seen the hospital screenshot.
May you like
He had still chosen not to call.
And somewhere in Indiana, the woman who had forged my signature might know why.
