Chapter 4 - THE NOTARY’S LOG
Rebecca met Dad and me the next morning.
Kyle slept in the guest room.
Or pretended to.
I had locked the original document in my suitcase and carried it with me.
Rebecca examined every page.
“This is not itself a mortgage.”
Dad visibly relaxed.
Then she continued.
“It is authority designed to facilitate one.”
His relief disappeared.
“Could Kyle borrow money against the farm?”
“Not lawfully without additional executed instruments.”
“Could he create those?”
“He could try.”
Dad looked sick.
Rebecca asked him to describe the signing.
A title office in Scottsdale.
A notary named Dana Price.
Susan was present.
Kyle brought the documents.
Heather arrived halfway through.
Dad remembered signing two places.
The document contained four signatures attributed to him.
That mattered.
We drove to Desert Crest Title.
Dana Price agreed to speak after Rebecca explained Dad was contesting the transaction.
She was cautious.
As she should have been.
“I verified his ID.”
“Did you see him sign?” Rebecca asked.
“Yes.”
“How many documents?”
Dana checked her electronic notary journal.
Her expression changed.
“Three.”
Dad stared.
“I signed one packet.”
“You signed three instruments in the same appointment.”
“What were they?”
Dana read from the journal.
Limited collateral authorization.
Affidavit of beneficial purpose.
Consent to record lien instrument.
Dad gripped the chair.
“I never heard that last one.”
Dana looked troubled.
“I would have read the title aloud.”
“I remember you saying something about consent.”
“Did Kyle explain the substance?”
“He told me Chloe’s house was in trouble.”
Dana looked at Rebecca.
“I asked Mr. Hayes whether anyone was forcing him.”
“What did he answer?”
“No.”
That was not surprising.
Kyle had not threatened Dad with violence.
He had threatened him with my invented crisis.
Different pressure.
Still pressure.
Rebecca requested certified copies from the title company.
Dana could provide Dad’s own executed records.
While she retrieved them, I asked about cameras.
“Lobby only.”
The footage still existed because the appointment was recent.
We watched.
Dad sat at the conference table.
Kyle beside him.
Susan on the other side.
Dana left the room for four minutes to make copies.
During those four minutes, Kyle slid a paper toward Dad.
The camera had no audio.
Dad looked at it.
Shook his head.
Susan leaned forward.
She spoke for almost a full minute.
Dad eventually signed.
My hands curled into fists.
“What did she say?”
Dad closed his eyes.
“I remember now.”
“What?”
“She said if I didn’t help, Chloe could lose the house.”
Susan had been part of the lie directly.
Then Heather appeared.
She carried a blue folder.
Handed it to Kyle.
Kyle removed one page.
Placed it beneath the others.
Dad signed without Dana in the room.
The notary later stamped the packet.
Dana went pale.
“I did not see that signature happen.”
Rebecca stopped the video.
“Which document contained that page?”
Dana checked her copies.
The affidavit of beneficial purpose.
The line Dad signed declared:
Proceeds shall be used for the direct benefit and property protection of Norman Hayes and Chloe Bennett.
That was false.
At least as far as I knew.
But the twist came from the page Heather delivered.
It was not part of the original document draft in Dana’s system.
Someone had inserted it at the appointment.
Dana looked furious.
“That page did not come from our office.”
“Who provided it?”
The footage answered.
Heather.
May you like
My sister-in-law had carried the false statement into the room.
📖 The notary footage showed Heather inserting a crucial affidavit after the appointment began, while Susan frightened Norman with a lie about Chloe losing her house. 👇
