Chapter 10 - The Visitor
Jared moved toward the door.
Oscar stopped him with one hand.
“Ask who it is.”
Jared called out.
“Daniel Reese. Lake Frontier Capital.”
Lauren whispered, “Don’t open it.”
Oscar looked at her. “Why?”
“Because they don’t send people on Sundays.”
The pounding came again.
“Mr. Blake, I know you’re inside.”
Jared checked the peephole. A broad-shouldered man in a navy overcoat stood alone in the hall holding a slim folder.
Oscar called the building manager from his cell phone and asked whether the visitor had signed in.
He had.
Name: Daniel Reese.
Company: Lake Frontier Capital.
Oscar opened the door with the chain still latched.
Reese held up a business card and photo ID.
“I’m not here to threaten anyone,” he said. “I’m here because I was told Mr. Blake recently learned his identity may have been used in a loan package.”
Oscar stared at him. “Who told you?”
“Martin Vale.”
Lauren swore under her breath.
Reese slid an envelope through the opening.
Inside was a notice of potential fraud review.
“If the documents were forged,” Reese said, “our firm wants that established before enforcement. We are not interested in foreclosing on innocent people based on fraudulent guarantees.”
Jared opened the door wider.
Lauren stepped back.
Reese entered, took one look at the pantry food and Oscar’s apartment, and his face changed.
“This is where you live?”
Oscar smiled without humor. “Apparently I’m a very expensive man to maintain.”
Reese placed the folder on the table.
The loan package contained photocopies of Oscar’s ID, tax returns, and a notarized power of attorney.
Oscar’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s my driver’s license from before I moved here.”
“How would Lauren have had a copy?” Jared asked.
Oscar remembered.
After Diane’s death, Lauren had offered to organize paperwork from the old house.
She had taken several boxes to be shredded.
Reese turned to the notarized page.
The notary was listed as Melissa Crane.
Oscar said, “I’ve never met her.”
Reese looked at Lauren.
Lauren’s lips parted.
Jared caught it.
“You know that name too?”
Lauren whispered, “She’s Martin’s sister.”
Reese closed the folder.
“Then you need to hear something else.”
He looked at Oscar.
“Mr. Blake, your identity wasn’t used on one loan.”
May you like
He pulled out a second file.
“It was used on four.”
