Every account closes today.”

I looked at the final affidavit lying on top of the legal bundle, next to a sturdy black pen.

“If I sign this now, the process server hands over the summons and the police report at the same time?” I asked.

“Yes,” Frank said.

“And the court order cutting off his access to the house equity kicks in the moment the papers land in his hands.”

I picked up the black pen and felt its hard metal barrel between my fingers.