He was halfway down the front path when he heard the dead bolt slide.
Then, through the front window, he saw Derek already on his phone — pacing, talking fast, one hand pressed flat against the glass.
Alvin kept walking.
Inez picked up before the first ring finished.
“How did it go?”
“He knows.
He’s calling someone right now.”
“His attorney?”
“Or the LLC’s registered agent.” Alvin reached the sidewalk.
“How fast can we move on the deed challenge?”
“I filed the emergency motion an hour ago,” Inez said.
“Judge Harmon’s clerk called back twenty minutes ago.
We have a hearing Thursday morning.”
Alvin exhaled slowly.
“Thursday.”
“That’s three days, Alvin.
Keep your parents calm and keep them away from any documents Derek might put in front of them.”
“Understood.”
“One more thing.” Her voice dropped slightly.
“I found the lender.
Derek approached a private equity firm in Charlotte six weeks ago.
He submitted the property as collateral for a bridge loan.
The loan hasn’t closed yet, but it’s in final review.”
Alvin stopped walking.
“How much?”
“Eight hundred thousand dollars.”
The street was quiet around him.
“He was going to borrow against their house,” Alvin said.
“And they would never have known.”
Wednesday morning, Carmen called Alvin’s cell at seven-fifteen.
“Something happened,” she said.
Her voice was tight and careful, the way it got when she was trying not to cry in front of someone.
“Veronica came to the shed last night after Derek went to bed.
She brought a folder.”
Alvin sat up straight.
“What kind of folder?”
“Papers.
She said she wanted to clear things up before things got out of hand.
She said if I signed, Derek would agree to give us back the master bedroom and a monthly allowance.
She said it was the best offer we were going to get.”
“Mom.
Did you sign anything?”
“No.” A pause.
“But she took my hand, Alvin.
She sat down next to me on the cot and she held my hand and she said—” Carmen’s voice broke slightly.
“She said that you were going to make things very difficult for everyone and that at the end of it, we’d still be in the same place, only angrier and more tired.
She said she was trying to protect us.”
