Page 32 of Tessa's Trust

I called my sister the instant I left the sheriff’s office, my body now aching from the crash and the tackling the day before. For some reason, I was hurting worse after the mental body blow from Rudy Brando’s wife, and I was sure it was psychological.

“Hey, what’s up?” Anna answered instantly. I gave her the rundown and then waited for my brilliant lawyer to fix all of it. “Well, crap,” she muttered. “Wait a minute. You said that Sheriff Franco reported that Brando had three ex-wives. He didn’t mention this wife?”

Hope flared in my chest. “No,” I said. “Is that significant?”

“Probably not,” Anna said. “No doubt Franco has only been in touch with people in Denver. It’s entirely possible Rudy Brando got married in a different state, and Franco just hadn’t discovered it yet. I’m sure he’s interviewing the woman now and will have full details.” She sighed. “Did you get a good look at her deed?”

“No. It just looked like a regular deed. She handed it to the sheriff, and then he asked me to leave.” I got into my Nissan and brushed snow off my hair.

“Crap. Do you have a copy of your deed?”

I gulped. “Yeah.” I had tons of stuff in my bag. “Why?”

“Go to the courthouse right now and record it. I didn’t even think of that, especially since Rudy is dead and can’t record his now. I also didn’t think it was a big deal because we all trust Sadie.”

I jumped out of my car. “I’m right next to the courthouse. Why is that so important?” The wind slapped me, and I ducked my head to combat it, hurrying toward the courthouse’s marble steps. The place had been built when the mines were flush, so it was elaborate, to say the least. “Anna?”

“Idaho is a notice-race state, which means the first to record pretty much wins. It’s a race to provide notice, in other words. You provide notice by recording a deed.”

I slipped on the icy steps, caught my balance, and walked inside the ultra-warm building. The recorder’s office was to the right, and I moved inside. “Just a sec. I’m here.”

“Okay, well, it’s all right. We’ll figure this out,” Anna said, the sound of clothing rustling in the background. “Keep me on hold.”

I hustled up to the counter, handing over the deed. Craig Panzini had worked in the office for a couple of decades. He was around forty, bald, and rarely smiled. “I need to record this.”

“Sure.” He went through the motions, and then all was good.

Yelling came from my phone, and I took it from my pocket to hold to my ear. “What?”

“Ask him if anybody else has recorded a deed for that property lately.” Anna huffed.

I did. Craig gave me a look and then flipped through an old-fashioned ledger on the desk. “Hmm,” he said, pursing his lips. “A deed was recorded they day before yesterday first thing in the morning. I was out, so Lila must’ve handled it.”

My heart sank. “Don’t tell me. Rudy Brando was the recorded owner.”

“Yep.”

He’d done it just hours before I signed the contract, received my deed, and then later found him dead. “I need a copy of that.”

“All right.” He sighed as if it were all too much but made me a copy anyway.

I thanked him and hustled outside, fighting tears. “I can’t believe this.”

Anna coughed. “We’ll find out if his deed is authentic or not.”

“But if it is, they own the building, right?” I asked.

Silence ticked over the line for a moment. “Well, yeah. I think so. You conducted a title search and had a good faith belief that the title was clean when you signed, so you definitely have cause for action against Sadie but not really against Rudy if his deed is valid.”

“I gave Sadie a hundred and fifty thousand dollars cash,” I burst out, jumping into my Rogue and starting my engine. How stupid was I? There was no way to get it back. “But I did a title search.” How could somebody just refuse to record a deed? It wasn’t fair. That money could be long gone.

“I understand,” Anna said. “Take a deep breath.” It was odd for my sister to be calming me down, it was usually the opposite. But I did what she said and took a deep breath.

“Okay. Right now, don’t worry about it,” Anna said. “You have the place locked up, and Marilyn Brando doesn’t have keys, right?”

“I have no idea,” I said.

Anna loudly exhaled. “All right. Call McDerny’s Hardware store right now and have them go change all the locks. If this thing ends up in litigation, the court will probably issue a temporary order where nobody can use the building until the conclusion of the case. But at least your stuff will be safe.”

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