CHAPTER 14
Summoning her courage, she stood, walked out into the hall, and rapped lightly on Garrett’s closed door.
“Garrett?”
There was no answer.
“Is it all right for me to come in?” she asked. “I think we need to talk.”
“Come on in.” His voice sounded muffled. When she opened the door and walked into the room, Garrett was at his desk, pouring himself a shot of Jack Daniel’s.
“Have a seat,” he said. “Would you like a drink?”
“No thanks,” she said, taking the chair opposite the desk. “But go ahead. Something tells me you might need one.”
“You heard Zacharias?”
“Without earplugs, it would’ve been impossible not to.”
Garrett downed the shot of whiskey and poured himself another. “So what now?” he asked.
“I know you might not trust me. But for Burke’s sake, I want to help you if I can. First I need some honest answers.” The necessary lie made her wince. “Zacharias said something about a fake contract. What was he talking about?”
“Oh, hell,” said Garrett. “In order for us to get bids on the theater update, we needed something to show the contractors, so they’d know the partnership was real and there’d be money coming in. While Burke was still in rehab, we got signatures on a copy of the partnership agreement and forged Burke’s name. Kaplan did the copying, and Monica notarized it, so it looks legit. But it wouldn’t fool an expert. And, of course, Burke would know that he didn’t sign it. Things could get ugly if he were to see it and decide to sue.”
“Which is why Zacharias gave you an ultimatum.”
“Yup. The real contract is signed by the Edgeway folks, notarized, and waiting for Burke’s John Hancock. No money changes hands until it’s done.”
Garrett poured himself another shot of whiskey. His face had the look of a man who’d just realized he might have gotten in over his head. Allison had already decided not to mention that she knew about his attempt to block the bank loan. Some surprises were better saved for later.
“Do you have the fake document here?” she asked. “Could I see it?”
He hesitated, then shrugged. “Oh, why the hell not?”
Getting up, he walked to the file cabinet and opened the top drawer. Near the front was a manila folder.
“Here it is.” He laid the folder in front of Allison. She opened it and studied the document. Her heart was pounding, but she couldn’t let her excitement show. “It looks pretty convincing,” she said. “If I didn’t know better, I’d have a hard time believing that wasn’t Burke’s signature. The only thing suspicious would be the date. When it was signed and notarized, Burke was still in the hospital, on opioids for pain.”
“Well, it was good enough for the contractors.” Garrett closed the folder and put it back in the file drawer. “Once we get Burke’s real signature on the real partnership agreement, we can put this one through the shredder. That’s where you come in.”
He sat down again. His brown eyes studied her face, as if looking for some clue in her expression. “You heard what Zacharias told me. Burke’s got to sign that contract.”
“And I told you I wouldn’t stand for Burke’s being harmed,” Allison said. “I know you’ve gotten yourself in pretty deep with Edgeway, Garrett. But I can’t believe you’d hurt Burke, let alone have him killed.”
“Maybe not. But I know people who would. He’s got to sign, Allison. With that short-term note due in a couple of months and the American Heartland bleeding money, Edgeway’s our only option. Can’t you get that through his stubborn head? Otherwise—”
The ringing desk phone interrupted him. Garrett snatched it up. “What is it, Monica? . . . What? . . . Oh, hell! Tell him I’m on my way.”
He gave the receiver an impatient slam. “That was Max at the theater. The matinee’s about to start, and the power’s gone out. The idiots can’t figure out how to turn it on. Probably just the breaker box, but right now, they’ve got an audience sitting in the pitch-dark, and some of the kids are starting to cry.” Without another word, he dashed out to his car, leaving Allison alone in his office, with the file cabinet unlocked.
Stunned by the incredible stroke of luck, Allison sprang into action. After closing the office door and locking it from the inside, she hurried to the file cabinet and found the forged contract in the drawer where Garrett had put it.
With the pages spread on the desk, she took the phone out of her pocket and started taking pictures. Willing her hands not to shake, she snapped a variety of close-ups and longer-range shots, making sure to miss nothing. She even took shots of the desk and the office, to show where the document had been found. At last, satisfied that she’d done her best, she returned her phone to her pocket, gathered the pages in order, and put them in the folder. Mission accomplished. All she had to do now was put the contract away and leave.
She was opening the file drawer when she heard the faint rattle of someone tugging on the locked door, followed by the click of a key in the lock. The door swung open. Garrett stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. “The idiots didn’t need me after all,” he said. “I’d only gone a few blocks when I got the call—”
He stared at Allison, who stood frozen with one hand on the open drawer and the other holding the telltale folder. “What in hell’s name are you doing, Allison?”