Chapter 5 - The Shelter They Wanted to Destroy|
Harbor House had never been beautiful.
Its brick walls were weathered, its plumbing complained every winter, and the old wooden staircase creaked beneath every footstep.
But to Sadi, it was the most important building in the city.
Because Harbor House was where frightened women learned how to feel safe again.
It was where mothers arrived carrying sleeping children and plastic grocery bags filled with everything they owned.
It was where people who had lost almost everything discovered that their lives were not over.
And now Gerald Vale wanted to tear it down.
When Sadi arrived that afternoon, Gloria was waiting beside the front door.
The older woman's usually cheerful face looked pale and exhausted.
She held a thick envelope against her chest.
"Thank God you're here."
Sadi embraced her.
"Tell me everything."
Gloria handed her the envelope.
Inside were official-looking inspection notices, legal correspondence, and a demand that the building be vacated within seventy-two hours.
According to the documents, Harbor House had failed an emergency structural inspection.
The property was also listed as belonging to a subsidiary of Vale Development Group.
Sadi frowned.
"Since when does Vale own this building?"
"That's what I don't understand."
Gloria wiped her eyes.
"This place was donated to the shelter almost thirty years ago."
"Who donated it?"
"A woman named Ruth Mercer."
Gloria pointed toward an old black-and-white photograph hanging in the hallway.
Ruth stood outside the building beside a group of smiling women.
"She inherited the property from her father and placed it into a charitable trust."
"Then how could Vale buy it?"
Gloria shook her head.
"I don't know."
Sadi studied the paperwork more carefully.
The notices claimed that the trust had been dissolved and the property transferred after the shelter's governing board approved the transaction.
But Gloria had never voted to sell anything.
She had never even been invited to a meeting.
"Something is wrong," Sadi whispered.
"Very wrong."
A little girl appeared at the end of the hallway.
Her name was Lily.
She was seven years old, with bright green sneakers and a stuffed rabbit missing one ear.
"Miss Sadi?"
Sadi crouched.
"Hey, sweetheart."
"Are we going to have to leave?"
Sadi felt something painful tighten inside her chest.
Behind Lily, her mother stood watching with exhausted eyes.
The woman had arrived three weeks earlier after escaping an abusive marriage.
She had finally found a job.
Lily had just started school.
And now somebody was threatening to send them back into uncertainty.
Sadi gently brushed Lily's hair away from her forehead.
"I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you have a safe place."
"Promise?"
Sadi hesitated.
She had learned long ago that promises should never be made carelessly.
"I promise I won't stop trying."
Lily hugged her.
Across the hallway, Roman watched silently.
He had accompanied Sadi without bringing the usual procession of security vehicles.
Only Arthur remained outside.
Roman had spent years negotiating buildings worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Yet the sight of one frightened little girl seemed to disturb him more than any hostile boardroom.
Gloria approached him.
"Mr. Voss, there must be something you can do."
Roman examined the documents.
His expression changed when he reached the property transfer records.
"Where did you get these?"
"They were delivered this morning."
"Have you spoken with an attorney?"
"Not yet."
Roman looked toward Sadi.
"We need an independent attorney immediately."
"Not somebody from your company," she replied.
He nodded.
"Agreed."
Sadi appreciated that.
She had no intention of turning the shelter's future into a private war between two wealthy men.
What Harbor House needed was justice.
Not another powerful owner.
Roman made a call to arrange temporary accommodations in case the evacuation order was enforced.
Then he stepped outside.
Sadi followed him.
The wind carried the smell of rain from the waterfront.
"There's something you're not telling me," she said.
Roman looked across the street.
For several seconds, he remained silent.
"Years ago, one of my companies held an interest in the waterfront redevelopment project."
Sadi's stomach sank.
"Vale's project?"
"Yes."
"How much of an interest?"
"Enough that my name appeared on several early agreements."
She stared at him.
"Roman."
"I withdrew from the partnership two years ago."
"Why?"
"Because Gerald Vale wanted to control properties he had no right to control."
Sadi looked back toward Harbor House.
"And you never thought to tell me?"
"I believed that chapter was closed."
"But it wasn't."
"No."
The admission hung between them.
Sadi folded her arms.
"I need to know that you're not protecting something."
Roman met her gaze.
"You deserve to know everything."
"Then start telling me."
He took a slow breath.
"Vale built his fortune by persuading vulnerable property owners to sign away things they didn't understand."
"And?"
"When persuasion failed, people around him found other methods."
Sadi felt cold.
"What methods?"
"Threats, forged paperwork, manufactured emergencies."
She looked down at the inspection notice.
"A manufactured emergency."
Roman nodded.
"I can't prove it yet."
"But you suspect it."
"Yes."
Sadi returned inside and began searching through the shelter's filing cabinets.
Gloria joined her.
They found old tax statements, donation receipts, and decades of meeting minutes.
Then, beneath a stack of water-damaged folders, Sadi discovered a photocopy of the document authorizing the property's transfer.
She unfolded it.
At the bottom of the page was a familiar name.
Trevor Bennett, Esq.
Sadi stared at the signature.
Her former boyfriend had not simply found himself involved in her life again by coincidence.
He had helped prepare the paperwork that threatened the only place she had ever considered home.
And beside Trevor's signature was another name.
One that made Sadi's blood turn cold.
Sadi Ellis.
May you like
Her own name.
On a document she had never seen before.
