Chapter 4: What Inez Found
Inez picked up on the first ring.
"Talk to me," Alvin said.
"The deed was transferred fourteen months ago." Her voice was flat and precise — the voice she used when the news was bad and she wanted him to hear every word.
"The house is no longer in Manuel and Carmen's names."
Alvin sat up on the edge of the bed.
"Whose name is it in?"
"A limited liability company.
Registered in Delaware.
The registered agent is a law firm in Atlanta." She paused.
"The firm's managing partner is Derek's college roommate."
"What's the company called?"
"SGS Property Holdings LLC."
Alvin said nothing.
"Alvin.
SGS.
Serrano.
Get it?"
"He put their house in a shell company and used their initials to do it." Alvin stood up and walked to the window.
The street below was just waking up — a delivery truck, a woman walking a dog, ordinary morning.
"How did he get the deed transferred?
My parents would have had to sign."
"They did sign.
Notarized.
Both signatures." Another pause.
"The notary is Veronica's sister."
The dog walker turned the corner and disappeared.
"What about the will my mother signed?"
"I have it.
Filed four months after the deed transfer.
It leaves the property and all associated assets to Derek outright, with a small monthly allowance designated for Manuel and Carmen." Inez let that sit for a moment.
"The allowance is three hundred dollars a month, Alvin."
He pressed two fingers against his forehead.
Three hundred dollars.
His parents had lived in that house for thirty-eight years, and Derek had reduced their share of it to three hundred dollars a month.
"Can we challenge the will?"
"Absolutely.
Carmen's signature on that will is the weak point.
If she didn't understand what she was signing — and from what you're telling me, she didn't — we have a strong undue influence argument.
We'll need a medical evaluation and a witness statement from her." Inez's voice sharpened.
"But the deed is the more urgent problem.
If that transfer was fraudulent, we need to move before Derek does anything else with the property."
"Like what?"
"Like borrowing against it.
Or selling it."
Alvin's jaw tightened.
"Can he do that?"
"He's the sole member of the LLC right now.
Legally, yes."
"How long do we have?"
"I don't know.
I'm pulling property lien records this morning.
If he's already approached a lender, there may be a record." A keyboard clicked in the background.
"Alvin, I need you to get me those original documents your father copied.
Today if possible."
"I'm going to the bank when it opens."
"Good.
One more thing." She hesitated — and Inez never hesitated.
"I ran Derek's financials as far as I could without a subpoena.
He has significant debt.
Credit cards, a personal loan taken out eleven months ago, and what looks like a failed business venture in Atlanta that he closed quietly last year."
Alvin turned away from the window.
"He needed money."
"He needed a lot of it.
And your parents' house, in the right market, would solve that problem entirely."
The line was quiet for a moment.
"Get me those documents," Inez said.
"And Alvin — don't let him know you're here yet.
Once he finds out, the clock starts."
Alvin ended the call and set the phone face-down on the dresser.
He picked up the rusted key from the nightstand and tilted it toward the window light.
On the back, in pencil so faint it was nearly invisible, a seven-digit number had been pressed into the metal.
He read it twice.
Committed it to memory.
May you like
Then he put on his jacket, dropped the key into his inside pocket, and walked out of the hotel room.
He had one stop to make before Derek woke up.
