Chapter 3 - THE SIGNATURE
Ethan read the signature three times.
The loops were wrong.
The H was too narrow.
The final stroke of Hannah's last name curved upward when hers always dropped below the line.
He placed the document flat on the counter.
"Did you sign this page?"
Hannah leaned closer.
"No."
"Are you sure?"
She looked at him.
"Ethan, that's not my signature."
He took a picture of the page.
Then another.
Then he opened the kitchen door.
"Mom."
Lorraine was halfway up the stairs.
She stopped without turning.
"Come back down."
Madison appeared at the top landing.
"Don't."
Lorraine looked up at her daughter.
Something silent passed between them.
Ethan saw it.
"Now."
Lorraine descended with measured steps.
"If you're going to continue shouting, I would rather discuss this tomorrow."
"Did you forge Hannah's signature?"
Every person in the living room froze.
Lorraine's face remained perfectly calm.
"Of course not."
Ethan held up the page.
"She didn't sign this."
"She signed the agreement."
"Not this page."
"Then perhaps she forgot."
Hannah stepped into the doorway.
"I didn't forget."
Lorraine looked at her.
"You were very emotional that day."
"I was tired."
"Exactly."
"Tired doesn't mean unconscious."
A flicker of annoyance crossed Lorraine's face.
It disappeared quickly.
Ethan almost missed it.
"Who prepared the document?"
"A family attorney."
"Name."
"I don't remember."
"You don't remember the name of the lawyer who supposedly gave you a twenty-five percent interest in my house?"
"It was handled through Russell."
Ethan looked at his uncle.
Russell immediately raised both hands.
"Leave me out of this."
"You were just brought into it."
"I connected your mother with a guy I know."
"What guy?"
"A document service."
"A lawyer?"
"I didn't say lawyer."
Lorraine snapped toward him.
"Russell."
The warning in her voice was unmistakable.
Ethan heard Hannah take a breath behind him.
"Keep talking."
Russell looked at Lorraine.
Then at Ethan.
"It was just paperwork."
"What paperwork?"
"Something about the house."
"You signed as a witness?"
Russell said nothing.
Ethan looked back at the page.
Near the bottom, beneath Hannah's disputed signature, was a witness line.
The name printed beside it was Russell Cole.
Ethan's hand tightened around the paper.
"You witnessed a signature she says she never made."
Russell's face flushed.
"I didn't watch her sign."
Lorraine closed her eyes.
Madison muttered a curse from the stairs.
Ethan felt the entire night shift beneath his feet.
"Then why did you sign as a witness?"
Russell rubbed his mouth.
"Lorraine said Hannah had already signed it."
"And you just signed?"
"She said it was a technicality."
"A technicality that gives her part of my house."
"I didn't read the whole thing."
"Apparently nobody in this family reads documents before signing them."
Lorraine stepped forward.
"That is enough."
Ethan looked at her.
"No."
He folded the paper once.
"This is just starting."
His phone rang.
It was David Mercer, his attorney.
Ethan answered immediately.
"I need you to listen carefully."
He moved into the dining room and explained everything in under three minutes.
David did not interrupt.
When Ethan finished, there was a pause.
"Do not destroy anything."
"I won't."
"Photograph every page you can get."
"I only have page seven."
"Who has the rest?"
"My mother."
"Ask for it once."
"And if she refuses?"
"Do not argue about the document."
"Why?"
"Because if that signature is forged, the paper is evidence."
Ethan looked through the dining room doorway.
Lorraine was whispering urgently to Madison.
"I think they already know that."
David's voice became sharper.
"Then get Hannah away from them tonight."
"This is our house."
"I don't care."
"You think they're dangerous?"
"I think a forged property document is not a family disagreement."
Ethan looked at Hannah.
She was holding the back of a chair now.
Her face had lost color.
"I'll call you from the car."
He ended the call.
"Hannah, we're leaving."
She blinked.
"What?"
"We're going to the hospital first."
"I'm okay."
"Your hands are shaking."
"It's because everyone's yelling."
"Then we're getting you away from the yelling."
Lorraine stepped into the dining room.
"There is no reason to make a scene."
Ethan laughed once without humor.
"You may have forged my pregnant wife's name onto a document that gives you an interest in our home."
"May have?"
Her eyes hardened.
"Be very careful with accusations."
"Give me the rest of the agreement."
"No."
"David told me to ask once."
"David has never liked me."
"This isn't about whether my attorney likes you."
"Your attorney?"
She glanced at Hannah.
"Interesting."
Hannah frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Lorraine did not answer.
Ethan walked upstairs with Hannah and helped her change into clean clothes.
Her hospital bag was already packed near the nursery.
He reached for it.
Then stopped.
The zipper was open.
"Did you open this?"
Hannah looked at the bag.
"No."
Ethan pulled it onto the bed.
The baby clothes were gone.
So were Hannah's toiletries.
Her insurance folder was missing.
In their place were two folded sweaters that belonged to Madison.
Hannah stared at the bag.
"I packed that yesterday."
Ethan felt cold.
"Who came in here today?"
"I don't know."
"Was the door locked?"
"Why would I lock our bedroom?"
He checked the nightstand.
Hannah's passport was still there.
Her wallet was there.
Her prenatal file was not.
He moved to the nursery.
The room looked untouched at first.
Then Hannah gasped.
The folder beside the changing table was gone too.
It contained copies of her medical records, hospital pre-registration forms, and the emergency consent documents they had prepared together.
Ethan went back into the hallway.
Madison stood at the bottom of the stairs.
"What are you doing?"
"Where is Hannah's medical folder?"
Madison looked genuinely confused.
"I have no idea."
"Her hospital bag was emptied."
"Maybe she unpacked it."
"She didn't."
Lorraine appeared behind Madison.
"You are spiraling."
Ethan walked down three steps.
"Nobody leaves."
Trevor laughed nervously.
"You just told us to leave."
"I changed my mind."
"You can't detain us."
"I'm not detaining anyone."
Ethan lifted his phone.
"I'm calling the police and telling them medical documents are missing from my pregnant wife's room while a disputed property agreement with an apparently forged signature is sitting on my kitchen counter."
Lorraine's face changed for the first time.
Only slightly.
But Ethan saw it.
"That is unnecessary."
"Then tell me where the folder is."
"I don't know."
"Who does?"
Silence.
Then Hannah made a small sound behind him.
Ethan turned.
She had one hand braced against the wall.
The other was beneath her belly.
Her eyes widened.
"Ethan."
He ran to her.
"What?"
She looked down.
A dark wet spot was spreading across the front of her dress.
For one terrible second, everyone thought the same thing.
Then Hannah whispered the words that wiped every argument from Ethan's mind.
May you like
"I think something is wrong with the baby."
