Chapter 4 - Forty-Two Thousand Dollars
I called Michael immediately.
He answered on the first ring.
“Sarah, finally.”
“Where is the money?”
Silence.
“What money?”
“Don't do that.”
He sighed.
“It's safe.”
“Where?”
“I moved it temporarily.”
“To where?”
“An account you can't access until things calm down.”
I felt heat rise into my face.
“You stole forty-two thousand dollars from our joint savings.”
“I protected it.”
“From me?”
“From impulsive decisions.”
I laughed.
“Like sleeping with my sister?”
“Nothing happened at that hotel.”
Tom mouthed, Ask about the condo.
I frowned.
“What condo?”
Michael went silent.
Tom leaned forward.
I repeated, “What condo, Michael?”
His voice changed.
“Who told you about that?”
I looked at Tom.
He looked just as surprised as I was.
“No one. You just did.”
Michael swore under his breath.
Then he hung up.
Tom and I stared at each other.
“Condo?” I said.
“I don't know.”
We opened the second phone again and searched the word.
Three results.
Rachel: The condo needs better curtains.
Michael: I'll handle it.
Rachel: Your name isn't on anything, right?
Michael: No. It's under Morrow Holdings.
My pulse hammered.
Tom grabbed his laptop.
Ten minutes later, he found Morrow Holdings registered in our state.
Owner: Michael Andrews.
Mailing address: a downtown condo building.
I felt sick.
“That's where they met.”
Tom nodded slowly.
Then he found the purchase record.
The condo had been bought eleven months earlier.
For $318,000.
I stared at the date.
That was two weeks after Michael told me we couldn't afford to replace our leaking roof.
But the worst part wasn't the price.
It was the source of the down payment.
The closing document listed a wire from an account ending in 2206.
May you like
I knew those numbers.
It was the college fund we had built for our children.
