Chapter 6: The Video Denise Feared
Ruth met them at the lawyer’s office that afternoon.
She placed a small memory card on the desk but kept one finger over it.
“If I give you this, Denise will come after me.”
Maya leaned forward.
“Why did you help her?”
“She said Charles had agreed to transfer the cottage but couldn’t appear in person.
I notarized his old signature page.”
“That was illegal,” the lawyer said.
Ruth lowered her eyes.
“I know.”
Jama held the baby against her shoulder.
“What changed?”
“I visited Denise the next day.
She was celebrating and had her phone recording music.
She laughed and said Charles had signed a loan paper, not a deed.”
“You recorded her?” Charles asked.
“Her security camera recorded both of us.
I copied the file before she deleted it.”
The lawyer inserted the card into his computer.
Denise appeared on the screen, holding a glass and waving the altered deed.
Charles leaned closer.
On the recording, Ruth asked, “What if he finds out?”
Denise laughed.
“By the time Charles grows a spine, the cottage will be sold.
Maya will blame him, Jama will blame Maya, and I’ll finally have enough money to leave them all behind.”
Maya covered her mouth.
The recorded Denise continued.
“If Jama becomes difficult, I’ll tell authorities she abandoned her baby.
She’ll do anything to keep that child.”
Jama’s chair scraped back.
Charles reached for her, but she raised one hand.
“Don’t,” she said.
“I need to hear all of it.”
Ruth wiped her eyes.
“I should have stopped her that day.”
“You can stop her now,” Maya said.
The lawyer removed the memory card.
“I’ll file for an emergency order preventing Friday’s sale.
Ruth, you’ll need to sign a statement.”
“I will.”
The office door opened.
Denise walked in with a man carrying a leather briefcase.
“My attorney,” she said.
“Since everyone else seems to have one.”
Maya stood.
“You followed Ruth.”
“I suspected she’d lose her nerve.”
Denise’s attorney set down his briefcase.
“My client is prepared to resolve this privately.
She’ll cancel the sale if Charles pays her seventy-five thousand dollars.”
Charles laughed once.
“You’re asking me to pay you not to sell property you took with an altered document?”
“I’m offering your family a chance to avoid public humiliation.”
Maya faced Denise.
“You still think shame controls us.”
“It controls Charles.”
“Not anymore,” Charles said.
Denise looked at Jama.
“Think carefully.
If you testify against me, I’ll submit the motel footage showing you left your baby overnight.”
“I left him with his aunt and uncle.”
“You left without telling anyone where you were.”
“I was hiding from you.”
“Try proving that.”
Maya took Jama’s hand.
“She won’t have to prove it alone.”
Denise pointed toward the baby.
“You barely know that girl.”
“She is my husband’s daughter, my children’s sister, and that child’s mother.
That’s enough.”
Denise’s attorney whispered into her ear.
Her confident smile faltered.
“What?” she snapped.
The lawyer turned his computer toward them.
“The judge has temporarily blocked the sale.”
Denise grabbed the blue folder from the corner of the desk and ran toward the door.
Ruth stepped into her path.
“You’ve taken enough,” Ruth said.
Denise shoved the folder beneath her coat, but Jama raised her phone.
“I recorded your settlement demand,” Jama said.
“And your threat to use my baby against me.”
Denise stopped.
Her attorney quietly closed his briefcase.
“I no longer represent you.”
“You work for me!”
“Not after that recording.”
He walked out without looking back.
Denise stared at the remaining faces.
“You think this is over?”
A woman wearing an investigator’s badge appeared behind her in the doorway.
“No, Ms.
May you like
Denise,” the investigator said.
“It’s just beginning.”
