Chapter 12 - THE MONEY WAS GONE
“What?”
Evelyn stood.
“No.”
Frank put the call on speaker.
The bank representative repeated it.
The balance was less than two hundred dollars.
Twenty-eight thousand had been transferred that afternoon.
Frank stared at Evelyn.
“You said you moved twenty.”
“I did.”
“Where’s the other eight?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel whispered, “Greg.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
They all looked at me.
“Greg wants money. Why steal it and then demand it?”
Frank frowned.
I looked at Evelyn.
“You moved all twenty-eight, didn’t you?”
“No.”
“You did.”
“I moved twenty.”
“Into Daniel’s account?”
“Yes.”
Daniel pulled out his phone.
“I’ll check.”
He opened his banking app.
Then froze.
“What?”
He refreshed the screen.
“What?” Frank repeated.
Daniel looked up.
“The money’s gone.”
Evelyn screamed.
“No!”
“What do you mean gone?” Eric asked.
“Transferred out.”
“To where?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel’s face went white.
“Mom, did you log into my account?”
“No!”
“You had my password.”
“I didn’t touch it!”
“Then who did?”
I knew before anyone said it.
Greg.
Not because he had magically hacked them.
Because someone had given him access.
Again.
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
“Did you give him my login?”
“No.”
“Mom.”
“I said no!”
“Did you use the same password somewhere?”
She hesitated.
That was enough.
Daniel shouted, “Mom!”
“I might have.”
He threw his phone onto the couch.
“Oh my God.”
Frank looked furious beyond words.
“You gave this man access to everything.”
“I trusted him.”
“And look what it cost.”
Evelyn cried.
“He said he loved me.”
That sentence landed strangely.
Because for the first time, I saw the center of it.
Not just greed.
Not just betrayal.
Need.
Evelyn had wanted to feel wanted.
Greg had seen that weakness and turned it into a weapon.
It did not excuse her.
But it explained why she kept walking deeper into the fire.
Officer Carter’s radio crackled.
He listened.
Then his posture changed.
“Possible sighting.”
“Where?” Frank asked.
“Near the highway.”
Carter stepped outside.
I looked at Evelyn.
“You accused me of stealing five hundred dollars while twenty-eight thousand disappeared.”
She covered her face.
“I panicked.”
“You dragged me across the floor.”
“I know.”
“You slapped me.”
“I know.”
“You told a blackmailer where I worked.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
She looked up.
“No?”
“Don’t use that word yet.”
Her face twisted.
“What do you want from me?”
“The truth.”
“I’ve told you the truth.”
“No, you’ve told us pieces.”
I held up my phone.
“The recording started before the part I played.”
Her eyes widened.
Daniel looked at me.
“What?”
I nodded.
“There’s more.”
Frank stared.
“More what?”
I had saved the worst part.
Not because I was trying to be dramatic.
Because yesterday, when I first heard it, I hadn’t understood what it meant.
Now I did.
I pressed play.
Greg’s voice came through.
“If Rachel becomes a problem, Daniel can handle her.”
Nobody moved.
Then Evelyn’s voice answered.
“He always does what I ask.”
May you like
I looked at my husband.
And for the first time all night, Daniel looked afraid of me.
