Chapter 9 - The Woman Who Came Back
The airport footage showed Leonard, Gloria, and Elaine entering a private terminal.
But they never boarded a plane.
That puzzled investigators.
Their vehicle was found nearby.
Their phones had been abandoned.
Then the trail disappeared.
For thirty-six hours, nothing happened.
My mother remained in custody.
Mason negotiated for protection in exchange for cooperation.
Aunt Betsy stopped answering calls.
And Amy barely slept.
I took leave from work.
Nothing mattered more than keeping my family together.
On Sunday morning, our doorbell rang.
The security camera showed a woman standing alone.
It was Elaine Porter.
The missing notary.
I called Ramirez before opening anything.
Officers arrived within minutes.
Elaine raised both hands before they even approached.
“I want to surrender.”
At the station, she told a story nobody expected.
Leonard had recruited her months earlier.
He paid her to notarize questionable documents.
At first, she convinced herself they were harmless.
Then the deals grew larger.
When Teresa brought the documents involving my house, Elaine became frightened.
“She was desperate.”
Elaine looked at me.
“Your mother kept saying you owed her.”
“Owed her what?”
“Everything.”
Elaine swallowed.
“She said she raised you.”
“She said your success belonged to her.”
That sounded exactly like Teresa.
But Elaine had more.
The photograph of me unconscious at the dining table had come from her.
She had been there that night.
She watched Teresa put sedative into my wine.
Elaine secretly photographed everything because she wanted protection if Leonard turned against her.
“Why send it anonymously?”
“I was scared.”
“What changed?”
She looked exhausted.
“Leonard changed.”
Elaine explained that Leonard no longer trusted Teresa.
He thought she was too emotional.
Too reckless.
He decided to cut her out after obtaining the property.
The forged deed giving Teresa fifty-one percent ownership was temporary.
Another document already existed.
It transferred Teresa’s share directly to Leonard’s company.
My mother had been planning to steal my house.
Leonard had been planning to steal it from her.
It was almost poetic.
Except my family had been placed in danger because of their greed.
Ramirez asked where Leonard was.
Elaine hesitated.
Then she gave him an address.
An abandoned office warehouse on the east side of Nashville.
Police moved immediately.
Leonard was not there.
Gloria was.
They found her tied to a chair.
Alive.
Terrified.
Beside her lay a shredded stack of documents.
And on the wall, written in black marker, were three words.
TERESA OWES ME.
Gloria told police Leonard had forced her to destroy records.
Then he demanded money.
When she couldn’t provide it, he left her there.
Before leaving, however, Leonard had made one phone call.
Gloria heard enough to know who he was calling.
My mother.
Even from jail, Teresa was still communicating with the man who had planned to destroy me.
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And according to Gloria, they were no longer discussing my house.
They were discussing Amy.
