“Look at this,” he said as I leaned over his shoulder. “See these transfers? Every month for the past four years, small amounts of money have been moving from your savings into an account I’ve never seen before.”
“That’s not possible. I watch my accounts carefully.”
“They did it through that old joint account you opened with your mom in college. The one you forgot about. They’ve been using it like a hidden tunnel.”
My phone buzzed.
Another message from Lauren.
Dad’s having chest pains because of you. Hope you’re happy.
“Don’t answer her,” Scott said, still staring at the screen. “Wait. Look at this.”
He pulled up a web of transfers. The lines stretched across the screen like a spiderweb, cash moving from my accounts through different places and always ending up in Lauren’s pocket or covering my parents’ debts.
Then he whispered the number.
“Four hundred thousand dollars.”
My head spun.
I grabbed the edge of the counter to steady myself.
“That can’t be right.”
“The numbers don’t lie.”
He clicked again.
“And there’s something else. Your name is on Lauren’s car loan. You’re listed as a co-signer.”
“I never signed anything.”
“Then we’ve got them. This is real fraud.”
A knock at the door made both of us jump.
It was Helen again, holding a large envelope.
“You need to see this. I was checking the property records for that house we looked at, and guess what showed up? Your parents listed you as a guarantor on their condo refinance last week.”
“What?”
I grabbed the papers from her.
My signature was on them.
Only it wasn’t mine.
It was close enough to fool a clerk. Not close enough to fool me.
“They’re getting desperate,” Scott said. “The banks are closing in, and they’re using your name to stay above water.”
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