Chapter 7: The Neighbor Who Changed Her Mind
Mrs.
Okafor answered the door in a house dress and reading glasses, a paperback novel tucked under her arm.
She looked at Lucy.
Then at Grace, who stood one step behind.
Then she looked at the ground.
"I can't talk to you," she said.
"Mrs.
Okafor." Lucy kept her voice quiet.
"I'm not here to argue.
I just want to understand."
"The lawyer said I shouldn't—"
"Which lawyer?" Grace asked.
Mrs.
Okafor's eyes moved to Grace, then back to Lucy.
Her grip on the door tightened.
"A man came," she said finally.
"Three days ago.
He said he was representing Julian.
He said that if I signed the paper, Julian would make sure I didn't get pulled into the legal trouble." She stopped.
"He said there was going to be a lot of legal trouble."
"Did he threaten you?" Grace asked.
"He said it would be better for everyone if I cooperated." She pulled the door slightly closer to herself.
"I'm seventy-one years old.
I live alone.
I don't want legal trouble."
"You're not in any legal trouble," Grace said.
"You were approached by someone acting on Julian Vance's behalf and pressured into signing a document.
That's not your fault.
But the affidavit you signed contains statements that aren't true, and it's being used to try to take Lucy's son away from her."
Mrs.
Okafor looked at Lucy.
Her eyes were wet.
"I know you're a good mother," she said.
"I know it.
That boy is loved."
"Then help me," Lucy said.
A long silence.
"If I change my statement," Mrs.
Okafor said slowly, "will they come back?
The man who came before — will he—"
"We will document everything," Grace said.
"The visit, the pressure, what he said.
That documentation protects you.
It also becomes evidence of witness tampering, which is a serious matter."
Mrs.
Okafor looked between them for a long moment.
Then she stepped back from the door.
"Come in," she said.
They sat at her kitchen table for forty minutes.
Grace recorded the conversation with Mrs.
Okafor's permission.
The older woman described the visit in detail — the man's name, which she'd written on a notepad by the phone, the exact words he'd used, the document he'd placed in front of her, the way he'd waited while she signed it.
The man's name was Derek Solís.
Renata's brother.
"He told me Julian just wanted to make sure his son was safe," Mrs.
Okafor said.
"He made it sound like Lucy was the problem."
"What did you think?" Grace asked.
Mrs.
Okafor folded her hands on the table.
"I thought he was lying.
But I was afraid."
She signed a new affidavit before they left.
In it, she described Ethan as healthy, well-loved, and consistently cared for by Lucy.
She described the visit from Derek Solís in full.
She stated that her previous affidavit had been signed under pressure and did not reflect the truth.
In the car, Grace called her office to have the new affidavit filed immediately.
"Derek Solís approaching a witness is witness tampering," Grace said.
"We add it to the federal complaint today."
"Will it affect Friday's hearing?"
"We present it to whatever judge handles the conflict motion.
If Pruitt is removed, the new judge sees it before making any custody decision." Grace glanced at her.
"It changes things significantly."
Lucy looked out the window.
The city moved past — bus stops, corner shops, a school with children in the yard.
"He sent Renata's brother," she said.
"He's involving her whole family."
"Yes."
"Which means Renata knows everything.
She's not an innocent party."
"No," Grace said.
"She's not."
Lucy thought about that for a moment.
A woman who had moved into her house, worn her mother's necklace, married her husband in her own garden.
A woman who had known, the whole time, exactly what had been taken and from whom.
"Is there anything we can do about her?" Lucy asked.
"She's a co-owner of the fraudulent company.
Once the federal case moves forward, yes.
Significantly." Grace's phone buzzed.
She looked at it.
"The judicial conflict motion was just accepted for review.
Pruitt has been notified."
"How will he react?"
"Badly," Grace said.
"Which means Julian will react badly too."
She was right.
By the time Lucy got back to Edward's house, there were two missed calls from a blocked number and a voicemail she didn't recognize.
She played it on speaker for Grace.
A man's voice.
Calm.
Unhurried.
*Mrs.
Vance.
This is a courtesy call.
You should know that your grandfather's medical records from the past eighteen months have been requested by opposing counsel.
His cognitive assessments in particular.
We look forward to seeing you in court.*
Grace's expression didn't change.
But her jaw tightened.
"They're going after Edward," Lucy said.
"They're trying to establish that he's not a credible witness.
That his memory is compromised." Grace took the phone and listened to the message again.
"It won't work.
But it tells us something."
"What?"
"Julian is scared," she said.
"Scared people make moves they haven't fully thought through."
Lucy looked at the voicemail on the screen.
A man's calm voice, trying to sound like a warning.
She thought about her grandfather at the stove, handing Ethan a wooden spoon.
"He picked the wrong family to underestimate," she said quietly.
Grace almost smiled.
May you like
"Yes," she said.
"He did."
