“No thanks,” she said, taking the chair opposite the desk. “But go ahead. Something tells me you might need one.”

“You heard Zacharias?”

“Without earplugs, it would’ve been impossible not to.”

Garrett downed the shot of whiskey and poured himself another. “So what now?” he asked.

“I know you might not trust me. But for Burke’s sake, I want to help you if I can. First I need some honest answers.” The necessary lie made her wince. “Zacharias said something about a fake contract. What was he talking about?”

“Oh, hell,” said Garrett. “In order for us to get bids on the theater update, we needed something to show the contractors, so they’d know the partnership was real and there’d be money coming in. While Burke was still in rehab, we got signatures on a copy of the partnership agreement and forged Burke’s name. Kaplan did the copying, and Monica notarized it, so it looks legit. But it wouldn’t fool an expert. And, of course, Burke would know that he didn’t sign it. Things could get ugly if he were to see it and decide to sue.”

“Which is why Zacharias gave you an ultimatum.”

“Yup. The real contract is signed by the Edgeway folks, notarized, and waiting for Burke’s John Hancock. No money changes hands until it’s done.”

Garrett poured himself another shot of whiskey. His face had the look of a man who’d just realized he might have gotten in over his head. Allison had already decided not to mention that she knew about his attempt to block the bank loan. Some surprises were better saved for later.

“Do you have the fake document here?” she asked. “Could I see it?”

He hesitated, then shrugged. “Oh, why the hell not?”

Getting up, he walked to the file cabinet and opened the top drawer. Near the front was a manila folder.

“Here it is.” He laid the folder in front of Allison. She opened it and studied the document. Her heart was pounding, but she couldn’t let her excitement show. “It looks pretty convincing,” she said. “If I didn’t know better, I’d have a hard time believing that wasn’t Burke’s signature. The only thing suspicious would be the date. When it was signed and notarized, Burke was still in the hospital, on opioids for pain.”

“Well, it was good enough for the contractors.” Garrett closed the folder and put it back in the file drawer. “Once we get Burke’s real signature on the real partnership agreement, we can put this one through the shredder. That’s where you come in.”

He sat down again. His brown eyes studied her face, as if looking for some clue in her expression. “You heard what Zacharias told me. Burke’s got to sign that contract.”