I waited until her footsteps reached the stairs before I checked the folders.

A packet containing the house deed was missing from its usual place.

It was a useful reminder, not a disaster.

Six weeks earlier, when Mark had asked me to sign a vague document extending his financing authority, I’d moved the original deeds and corporate certificates into a safe-deposit box.

I’d also downloaded copies and placed them with an attorney I trusted.

I hadn’t known why my instincts were so insistent.