Chapter 4: What Renata Knew
Renata arrived at the shopping center twenty-two minutes after Alison called her.
She was dressed the way she always dressed after work — dark coat, hair pulled back, the small gold earrings she wore every day.
She scanned the food court, spotted Alison, and smiled the way she always smiled.
Alison smiled back.
Christopher and Daniel had moved to a table out of sight but close enough to watch.
Mrs.
Catherine had taken Abigail to the car.
Renata sat down and reached across the table to squeeze Alison's hand.
"You sounded strange on the phone.
What's going on?
Is it Gregory?"
"Tell me about the notary office in West Allis," Alison said.
The squeeze stopped.
Not slowly.
Immediately.
Renata pulled her hand back and set it in her lap.
"I don't know what you mean."
"Riverside Notary Services.
You've been there with me twice.
Once for my lease renewal, once when I updated my insurance beneficiary after the divorce." Alison kept her voice level.
"Someone processed a forged purchase agreement there using my name.
The stamp is real, Renata.
Which means someone on the inside helped."
Renata looked at the table.
"I didn't forge anything."
"I didn't say you forged it.
I asked about the office."
A long pause.
"Gregory called me," Renata said finally.
"About six weeks ago.
He said he was trying to surprise you.
He said he had found a buyer for the apartment and that you were planning to sell and move somewhere bigger, and that he just needed to know which notary office you normally used so the paperwork would go smoothly." She looked up.
"He said it was a surprise.
He said you'd be thrilled."
Alison felt something close in her chest.
Not anger.
Something colder.
"And you believed him."
"He was your partner.
You seemed happy.
I had no reason—" Renata stopped.
"Alison.
I swear I didn't know what he was going to do with it."
"Did you give him anything else?"
Renata's jaw tightened.
"He asked if I still had a copy of your signature from the lease documents we co-signed years ago.
The apartment on Clement Street, before you bought the downtown place." She exhaled.
"I said yes.
He asked me to send him a scan so he could match the format for the paperwork."
The table between them felt very wide.
"You sent him my signature," Alison said.
"I thought it was for a surprise." Renata's voice cracked.
"I thought he loved you."
"He was using it to sell my home without my knowledge.
With a forged contract.
With a real notary stamp from an office you pointed him to."
Renata pressed both hands flat on the table.
"I will fix this," she said.
"Whatever you need.
I will call the notary office.
I will give a statement.
I will do whatever Daniel needs." She stopped.
"How do you know his lawyer's name?"
"Because Christopher is here."
Something moved across Renata's face.
Not guilt.
Something more complicated.
"He came," she said quietly.
"He came in under an hour."
Renata looked down at her hands.
"I always told you he was a good man."
"You also told Gregory where to find my signature."
The words landed without drama.
That was the worst part for Renata — Alison didn't raise her voice.
She just said it, the way you state a fact that cannot be changed.
Daniel appeared at the edge of the table.
"Ms.
Renata," he said.
"I need about fifteen minutes of your time."
Renata stood without being asked twice.
She didn't look back at Alison as she followed him.
Alison sat alone at the table.
She picked up Abigail's small stuffed bear, which was still sitting where her daughter had left it, and held it in both hands.
Her phone lit up.
Gregory.
Again.
This time, she didn't look away from it.
She let it ring until it stopped.
Then she typed one message to Daniel: *Get everything she knows in writing tonight.*
His reply came in four seconds: *Already recording.*
But what Alison didn't know yet was that Renata hadn't told her everything.
May you like
There was one more thing Gregory had asked for.
And Renata had given him that too.
