“I will.”

“Don’t mark the original.

Use a copy for notes.”

I looked at the pen in my hand.

I had already been about to underline the clause.

“Thank you,” I said.

He didn’t ask what I was thanking him for.

By the time Sophia arrived that afternoon, I had a timeline of calls and messages, the downloaded deed, my old authorization, and the key I kept moving from one side of the table to the other.