Chapter 5 - Paige's Confession
I followed Arthur down the hallway, leaving Josie on the porch with a bottle of cold spring water from Vance’s car.
The master bedroom was completely stripped. My solid walnut bedframe was gone, replaced by a bare mattress tossed on the floor. But what caught Arthur’s attention wasn't the mess—it was the mountain of certified mail stacked on Dorothy’s antique vanity table.
Every single envelope had the red stamp of the Noble County Sheriff's Department or the Allen County Superior Court.
Arthur picked up a thick legal packet and flipped through the pages, his silver eyebrows drawing together. "It's worse than we thought, Gerald. Marcus didn't just forge a mechanic's lien. He secured a hard-money loan of $250,000 against this property using a fabricated power of attorney."
"A power of attorney?" I demanded, my hands clenching into fists. "I never signed a single document! Not one!"
"He had it notarized in Fort Wayne by a woman named Brenda Higgins," Arthur explained, tapping the blue seal on the final page. "The notary seal matches a known shadow operation run by Apex Horizon Holdings. They prey on elderly lakefront owners, slap forged paper encumbrances on the deeds, and force distressed private sales before the courts can catch up."
Paige appeared in the doorway, leaning against the jamb as if her legs could barely support her weight.
"He threatened to take Josie away from me," she sobbed, tears cutting clean lines through the dirt and mascara on her cheeks. "Two months after we moved in, I found out he had gambled away our entire savings at the casino in Anderson. When I told him we had to pack our bags and leave, he hit the wall next to my head. He told me if I said a word to you, he’d tell Child Protective Services that I was abusing prescription pills. He planted empty pill bottles in my purse, Gerald!"
"Why didn't you call me, Paige?" I asked, the sorrow finally cracking through my anger. "I am your uncle. I watched you grow up. I would have protected you."
"Because I was a coward!" she cried out, sliding down the doorframe until she sat crumpled on the threshold. "He said you were eighty-two years old and dying of heart failure. He convinced me that you wouldn't survive the winter in Florida, and that when you died, the house would be tied up in probate anyway! He told me this was our only chance to give Josie a stable life!"
"By stealing from the dead?" Arthur Vance snapped, his voice ringing with legal disdain. "By desecrating your aunt’s home and conspiring with loan sharks?"
"I tried to stop the Fort Wayne people!" Paige reached into her pocket and produced a battered smartphone with a cracked screen. "Look at the texts. Look at what they sent Marcus three days ago."
Arthur took the phone. I looked over his shoulder.
The messages were from an unsaved number with an 260 area code:
*`The sheriff's injunction means nothing to us, Bradley. If Gerald Vance takes that gate back, we execute the default judgment on the $250K note on Friday at noon. We’re sending repo agents to clear the structure. Either you deliver the deed or we take the timber and the docks to cover the spread.`*
My breath hitched. "They think they're coming out here on Friday?"
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Arthur looked at his wristwatch, then met my eyes with steely determination. "Today is Wednesday, Gerald. We have forty-eight hours before a crew of armed private collectors attempts to seize your shoreline."
***
