Chapter 6 - The Lawyer Behind the Signatures
Robert Harrow arrived at Romano Foods at 9:40 that morning.
He expected Patricia.
Instead, Dante was waiting.
Michael sat beside him.
So did attorney Melissa Grant, a white-collar lawyer Dante had hired before sunrise.
Robert stopped at the conference-room door.
“Where’s Patricia?”
Dante pointed to the chair.
“Sit down.”
Robert laughed uneasily.
“I have another appointment.”
Melissa spoke.
“You’ll want to cancel it.”
Robert looked at her.
“Who are you?”
“The attorney representing Dante Romano regarding suspected forgery, misappropriation, trust theft and fraudulent lending.”
Robert stopped smiling.
Dante slid copies of the documents across the table.
“My signature.”
Robert didn’t touch them.
“Looks like it.”
“I didn’t sign them.”
“You’ll need a handwriting expert.”
“We’re getting one.”
Dante placed Caroline’s transfer records beside them.
“Harrow Consulting.”
Robert’s expression changed.
Barely.
But enough.
“What service did your company provide for $612,000?”
Robert leaned back.
“I don’t discuss privileged matters.”
“Romano Foods was your client.”
“Patricia retained me separately.”
“With company money?”
Silence.
Melissa leaned forward.
“We’ve already notified the lenders that these authorizations are disputed.”
Robert’s face tightened.
Dante watched him.
That was the first moment of fear.
“Patricia told me Dante approved everything.”
There it was.
Not denial.
Distance.
Dante almost smiled.
“You lasted four minutes.”
Robert’s jaw clenched.
“I didn’t forge anything.”
“Who prepared the power of attorney?”
Robert said nothing.
Melissa answered for him.
“Your office.”
Dante placed another page down.
“And who notarized it?”
Robert stared at the page.
A woman named Evelyn Price.
Michael searched.
“She worked for Harrow’s firm.”
Melissa nodded.
“Until eighteen months ago.”
Dante frowned.
“When did she leave?”
“The week after Caroline died.”
Robert stood.
“This conversation is over.”
Melissa remained seated.
“You’re free to go.”
Robert hesitated.
“But deleting records now would be a felony nightmare, so I’d advise against it.”
Robert glared at her.
Then he left.
Dante watched through the glass as Robert nearly ran to the elevator.
Michael exhaled.
“He’s going straight to Patricia.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
Melissa smiled.
“People make mistakes when they panic.”
Patricia made hers less than an hour later.
She called Robert.
But Robert’s firm had already begun preserving records after receiving legal notice.
The call was logged.
Then Patricia called Vanessa seventeen times.
Vanessa answered the eighteenth.
Dante was sitting across from his sister when it happened.
He had asked her to come without Patricia.
Vanessa stared at the ringing phone.
“Answer it.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Speaker.”
Vanessa swallowed and answered.
Patricia didn’t say hello.
“Destroy every copy Caroline gave you.”
Vanessa froze.
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
“What copies?”
Patricia continued.
“And if Dante asks about Harrow, you know nothing.”
Vanessa looked at her brother.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Mom…”
“Do you understand me?”
Vanessa’s voice shook.
“He’s here.”
Silence.
Then Patricia disconnected.
Dante stared at his sister.
“What copies?”
Vanessa began crying.
“I didn’t know what they were.”
“Stop saying that.”
“She gave me an envelope before she went into labor.”
“Caroline?”
Vanessa nodded.
“She said if anything happened to her, I had to give it to you.”
Dante stopped breathing.
“Where is it?”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“I gave it to Mom.”
Dante stood so suddenly the chair fell backward.
“You did what?”
“She told me Caroline was paranoid!”
“Caroline trusted you.”
“I know.”
“She gave you something for me.”
“I know.”
“And you gave it to the woman she was investigating.”
Vanessa sobbed.
“I was scared.”
Dante stared at his sister.
Fear had become everyone’s excuse.
Patricia feared losing control.
Vanessa feared losing her lifestyle.
Robert feared Patricia.
And Caroline had been the only person willing to say no.
“What was in the envelope?”
Vanessa looked toward the table.
“I only saw one page.”
“What did it say?”
Vanessa wiped her eyes.
“It was about Leo.”
Dante’s heart pounded.
“What about him?”
May you like
She looked up.
“Caroline wrote that if Patricia ever tried to control his trust, there was another document Patricia didn’t know existed.”
