“Then why are you here?”
“Because two people can handle it faster.”
No pity.
He liked that.
They removed the damaged section before sunset.
Ivy worked efficiently.
She knew tools.
Measured twice.
Swore once when a rusted bolt refused to move.
Noah sat on the safe side of the porch holding his rabbit and asking questions.
When they finished, Ivy noticed the folded letter sticking from Adrian's back pocket.
“What’s that?”
“Nothing.”
“Looks like a lot of nothing.”
Adrian almost dismissed her.
Then something in him gave up.
He handed it over.
Ivy read slowly.
Twice.
Her expression changed.
“This doesn't look right.”
“What does that mean?”
“The company.”
“The formatting.”
“The signature.”
Adrian looked toward her.
“You know something?”
“My aunt almost lost the blue house to something like this.”
Adrian became still.
Ivy tapped the letter.
“Different company, but same kind of setup. Loan showed up after she got sick. Somebody had forged her signature.”
The yard went silent for Adrian.
“Forged?”
“I'm not saying yours is.”
“But it might be.”
“It might.”
“Who handled your aunt's case?”
“Delbert Harmon.”
“Lawyer?”
“Yes.”
“Still in town?”
“Above the hardware store.”
Adrian looked toward the house.
Twenty-nine days.
Sixty thousand.
Maybe fraud.
Hope did not arrive.
Hope was too big.
Something smaller appeared.
A direction.
“Would you help me figure it out?”
Ivy looked at him.
“Yeah.”
She didn't hesitate.
“I would.”
The next morning Adrian met Delbert Harmon.
Harmon was in his late sixties with a gray mustache, glasses permanently sliding down his nose, and an office above the hardware store that smelled like paper and old carpet.
Noah came because Adrian had no one else to leave him with.
Harmon gave him an apple juice box.
That alone made Noah approve.
Adrian handed over the letter.
Harmon read.
Then leaned back.
“Well.”
“What?”
“I've seen Pinnacle Asset Recovery before.”
Adrian moved forward.
“How?”
“Two estate cases in this county.”
“Fraud?”
Harmon chose his words carefully.
“Questionable loans.”
“That sounds like lawyer language.”
“It is.”
“Were they fake?”
Harmon smiled under the mustache.
“Eventually, yes.”
He explained the process.
Verify that a lien existed.
Determine whether the loan documents were legitimate.
Pull property records.
Compare signatures.
Investigate the notary.
Request temporary court relief before foreclosure.
“How long?”
Adrian asked.
“Longer than twenty-nine days.”
His stomach dropped.
Harmon raised one finger.
“But a judge can stay the foreclosure if we show credible evidence of fraud.”
“Can we?”
“Not yet.”
Adrian looked at the letter.