Chapter 5: The Thing Victoria Had Not Considered
Marcus Webb arrived at eleven-fifteen with a junior associate, a document case, and the particular expression of a man who had prepared himself for something bad and found something considerably worse.
He sat across from Julian and Elena at the dining room table and read through the contents of the safe without speaking.
When he finished, he set the last envelope down, aligned it carefully with the others, and looked up.
"The death certificate is a felony," he said.
"The forged signature on the parental rights release is a felony.
The surveillance — depending on how it was conducted — may constitute criminal stalking under New York statute." He paused.
"This is not a divorce proceeding.
This is a criminal matter."
"I know," Julian said.
"She will argue that Elena came to this household under false pretenses.
That she concealed her identity."
"I concealed nothing," Elena said.
"I applied for a job under the name I was given when I was discharged from that clinic.
It's the only legal name I've had for four years because my original identity was declared void when they filed the death certificate."
Marcus looked at her steadily.
"Can you prove that?"
"The clinic records are in that envelope."
"The clinic records show a transfer, not a coercion.
Victoria's attorney will say you left voluntarily."
"Then explain the surveillance photographs."
Marcus was quiet for a moment.
"The photographs show that Victoria monitored your whereabouts.
They don't prove why."
"The notebook," Julian said.
Marcus opened the leather notebook.
He read three pages.
His expression did not change, but he stopped turning pages more slowly.
"Where did Victoria keep this?" he asked.
"In the safe.
With everything else."
Marcus set the notebook down.
"This is a personal record.
Written in her hand.
It documents — in considerable detail — the arrangement she made with the clinic director, a Dr.
Harlan Pryce, to falsify the death record and arrange Elena's discharge under a fabricated identity." He looked at Julian.
"She wrote it down."
"Victoria keeps records of everything," Julian said.
"She always has.
She said it was how she stayed in control."
"It's also how she loses it." Marcus closed the notebook.
"I need to make two calls.
One to a colleague in the DA's office.
One to a private forensic firm to authenticate the handwriting tonight." He stood.
"Do not contact Victoria.
Do not respond to any message she sends.
If she comes to this building, do not let her in."
"She has a key," Julian said.
"Then change the locks in the next thirty minutes." Marcus picked up his document case.
"I mean that literally."
He stepped away to make his calls.
Elena looked at the notebook still sitting on the table.
"She wrote it down," Elena said.
"Yes."
"Why would she write it down?"
Julian thought about the eleven years he had watched Victoria operate.
The way she filed every receipt, recorded every meeting, catalogued every favor given and owed.
"Because she never believed anyone would find it," he said.
"She kept records so that if anyone ever came for her, she'd have leverage over them too.
Dr.
Pryce.
The clinic staff.
Whoever helped her." He paused.
"She documented it to protect herself.
She didn't consider that the documentation would be the thing that finished her."
Elena's phone — a cheap prepaid model — lit up on the table between them.
Unknown number.
She looked at Julian.
"Don't answer it," he said.
It rang four times.
Stopped.
Then a text arrived.
*I know you're still in that apartment.
I know he's shown you the safe.
Before you let his lawyer turn this into something you can't control either, you should know that I have the original clinic intake forms.
With your real signature.
Asking for a private adoption.
You signed them, Elena.
You were there.
You agreed.*
Elena read it twice.
"I never signed anything," she said.
"I was unconscious for two days after the birth.
When I woke up, they told me the boys were gone."
"She's bluffing," Julian said.
"Or she forged those too."
Julian picked up his phone and walked to where Marcus was standing near the window.
"She's claiming she has intake forms with Elena's original signature consenting to a private adoption."
Marcus didn't look surprised.
"She would have prepared a fallback.
It's what I would have done." He thought for a moment.
"If those forms exist, they're forged.
But forgeries take time to disprove.
She knows that.
She's trying to slow us down and create enough legal ambiguity to negotiate a settlement before criminal charges are filed."
"Can she do that?"
"She can try." Marcus looked back at Elena.
"How long was Elena unconscious after the birth?"
"She says two days."
"Then there's a window where her signature could have been obtained under duress or fabricated entirely.
We'll need the clinic's anesthesia records to establish her condition during that period." He paused.
"Julian.
This is going to get worse before it gets better.
She is going to fight.
She is going to use every resource she has.
And she has considerable resources."
Julian's jaw tightened.
"So do I."
Marcus nodded once.
"Then let's use them."
Julian walked back to the table.
He sat across from Elena and looked at her directly.
"She's going to say you consented," he said.
"She's going to make this as complicated and as ugly as she can for as long as she can."
"I know."
"Are you prepared for that?"
Elena looked toward the hallway.
The boys' room was dark and quiet.
"I survived four years thinking my children were gone," she said.
"I can survive whatever she does next."
Julian's phone lit up.
Not a text this time.
A call.
From a number he recognized immediately.
His father.
May you like
At eleven forty-five at night.
Which meant Victoria had already made her own call.
