Chapter 10 - SLOAN’S SECRET
Harrison looked at Sloan.
She looked at the floor.
“What did you do?”
She said nothing.
The officer stepped onto the porch.
“Mr. Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“We received a report regarding unauthorized use of a business credit line.”
Harrison’s mouth opened.
Then closed.
“What business?”
“Whitmore Wellness Group.”
I had never heard of it.
Sloan had.
Her face turned white.
I looked at her.
“What is Whitmore Wellness?”
She whispered:
“My sister’s company.”
Harrison exploded.
“You reported me?”
Sloan stepped back.
“You used her information!”
“She gave me permission.”
“No, she didn’t!”
The officer raised a hand.
“Sir, I need you to lower your voice.”
Harrison looked around like the walls were closing in.
I felt strangely detached.
Every five minutes another piece of my son’s life was collapsing.
And somehow, every piece involved someone else’s money.
The officer asked him to step outside.
Harrison refused at first.
Then finally went.
I watched through the window.
The second officer opened a folder.
They talked for fifteen minutes.
Then Harrison came back inside.
“They’re not arresting me.”
Nobody responded.
“Not yet,” Sloan said.
He glared at her.
“You did this.”
She laughed bitterly.
“I did this?”
“You called your sister.”
“Because she got a collection notice for a loan she never opened!”
I turned toward Sloan.
“How much?”
She swallowed.
“Twenty-five thousand.”
I closed my eyes.
Another twenty-five.
Harrison started pacing.
“It was temporary.”
I laughed.
Everything was temporary.
The house.
The transfers.
The fraud.
The lies.
Apparently nothing became wrong until someone demanded it stop.
The officers left after giving Harrison instructions to contact a detective.
He stood in the living room staring at nothing.
Then Sloan walked upstairs.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Packing.”
“You’re leaving me?”
She stopped on the stairs.
“Yes.”
He laughed in disbelief.
“You spent the money too.”
“I spent money you told me was yours.”
“You knew about my mother’s transfers.”
“I knew you were borrowing from her.”
“Borrowing?”
I turned sharply.
Sloan looked at me.
“Harrison told me you agreed.”
“You believed that?”
She hesitated.
“At first.”
“At first?”
Her eyes filled.
“I figured out later that something was wrong.”
“How much later?”
She looked ashamed.
“Maybe three months ago.”
“And you said nothing.”
“No.”
“Why?”
She glanced toward the burned handbag.
The answer was obvious.
Because she liked the money.
I felt disgusted.
“You can pack.”
She nodded.
Harrison turned toward me.
“You’re letting her leave?”
“This is my house.”
“She’s my wife!”
“Then go with her.”
His mouth opened.
I pointed toward the stairs.
“You have until tomorrow night.”
“Yesterday it was fourteen days!”
“Yesterday I didn’t know you forged a loan against my house.”
“You’re my mother.”
“Yes.”
My voice cracked.
“That is what makes this worse.”
For once, he had no answer.
That evening, Brenda came over.
She brought soup.
I couldn’t eat it.
We sat at the kitchen table with bank statements spread between us.
“You need a lawyer,” she said.
“I called one.”
“When?”
“While the police were here.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Good.”
“I meet her tomorrow.”
“Good.”
I looked at the statements.
“I keep thinking there must have been a moment when I could have stopped this.”
Brenda leaned forward.
“Stop.”
“I gave him access.”
“You gave your son emergency access. You didn’t give him permission to rob you.”
“I ignored things.”
“You trusted your child.”
I looked away.
She touched my hand.
“Diane, shame belongs to the person who did it.”
I wanted to believe her.
After she left, I walked upstairs.
Harrison’s door was open.
He wasn’t there.
His closet looked half-empty.
I checked the driveway.
His car was gone.
I called.
No answer.
Then I noticed an envelope on my bed.
My name was written across the front.
MOM.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
Three lines.
I’M SORRY.
I NEVER MEANT FOR THIS TO HAPPEN.
PLEASE DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING SLOAN TELLS YOU.
Underneath that was a fourth line.
She knows what happened to Dad’s money.
I read it three times.
May you like
Then I sat down.
Because until that moment, I had never known there was anything mysterious about my husband’s money.
