Chapter 3
Michael stared at me.
I stared at Linda.
The pain in my legs suddenly felt distant compared with the fear moving through my chest.
“What is she talking about?” Michael asked again.
“I don't know.”
Linda laughed.
It wasn't loud.
That made it worse.
“Of course she says that.”
“Mom,” Michael warned.
“You want me gone? Fine. But ask your wife why she's been moving money.”
My confusion was genuine.
“What money?”
Linda looked almost pleased.
“The savings account.”
Michael turned toward me.
“Our savings?”
“I haven't moved anything.”
Linda walked toward the dining table and picked up her purse.
Her confidence was returning by the second.
“You should check.”
Michael pulled out his phone.
I watched his face while he opened our banking app.
Then his expression changed.
My stomach dropped.
“What?” I asked.
He didn't answer.
“Michael.”
He looked up.
“Twenty-two thousand dollars is gone.”
For a moment, I honestly thought I had misheard him.
“What?”
“Transferred three days ago.”
“Transferred where?”
He tapped the screen.
“I don't recognize the account.”
Linda folded her arms.
“Well.”
I looked at her.
“You did this.”
She smiled.
“That's convenient.”
“You knew about it.”
“I know many things that happen in my son's house.”
Michael stared at the screen.
I tried to get up again.
Pain exploded through my knee.
“Emily, don't.”
“I need to see.”
He crouched beside me and showed me the transfer.
Twenty-two thousand dollars.
Nearly everything we had saved for replacing the roof and adding to Noah's college account.
The transaction showed an external bank ending in 3418.
I had never seen it.
“I didn't do this.”
Michael's silence frightened me more than yelling would have.
I grabbed his wrist.
“Look at me.”
He did.
“I didn't transfer that money.”
Linda let out a wounded sigh.
“Michael, sweetheart, I didn't want to be the one to tell you.”
I looked at her.
“Tell him what?”
“She has another account.”
“I have my checking account. You know that.”
Linda shook her head slowly.
“No. The one you opened last month.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I saw the paperwork.”
Michael stood.
“Where?”
“In their bedroom.”
The words came out before she realized what she'd admitted.
Michael turned toward her.
“So you were going through our private papers.”
Linda's face stiffened.
“I was putting away towels.”
“In my desk?”
She hesitated.
I almost laughed despite everything.
But Michael was still staring at his phone.
“Who can reverse this?”
“The bank,” I said. “Call them.”
Linda immediately interrupted.
“Or you could ask why your wife opened a secret account.”
“I didn't.”
Michael called the bank.
He put the phone on speaker.
While we waited, I looked at Noah.
He was standing near the stairs clutching his tablet.
“Sweetheart, go to your room.”
“No.”
“Noah.”
His chin trembled.
“I don't want to leave you.”
That nearly destroyed me.
Michael heard it too.
He crouched.
“Buddy, Mom is safe.”
Noah glanced at Linda.
“She's still here.”
Michael's face tightened.
He stood again.
“Mom. Upstairs. Now.”
Linda looked offended.
“You're seriously ordering me around?”
“Yes.”
“You need me here. Look what she's done to you.”
Michael pointed at the staircase.
“Go.”
For once, she obeyed.
But as she passed me, she whispered, “This is just beginning.”
Michael heard.
His face hardened.
The bank representative finally answered.
Michael explained the transfer.
Security questions followed.
Then the representative said something that changed everything.
“The transfer was initiated through online banking from a recognized device.”
Michael frowned.
“What device?”
“I can tell you it was a Windows laptop.”
My heart stopped.
Michael and I both used phones and tablets for banking.
But there was one old Windows laptop in the house.
The laptop Linda borrowed almost every afternoon.
Michael looked toward the stairs.
“Can you tell where the money went?”
“Because this appears to involve possible unauthorized access, I'll need to transfer you to our fraud department.”
“Please.”
I leaned back against the cabinet.
My legs throbbed.
My mind raced.
Linda knew our banking balance.
She knew about the transfer before Michael checked.
She had been in our bedroom.
She had access to the laptop.
And three days ago...
I suddenly remembered something.
“Michael.”
He looked down.
“Tuesday night.”
“What?”
“Your phone.”
“What about it?”
“You couldn't find it.”
He frowned.
Then remembered.
“I left it in the kitchen.”
“No. Linda found it in the kitchen.”
He stared at me.
I continued.
“She brought it upstairs around ten.”
Michael's face changed.
Two-factor authentication.
The login code would have gone to his phone.
Linda had everything she needed.
The fraud representative came onto the line.
After another round of verification, she confirmed the transfer had been made at 9:43 Tuesday night.
Michael closed his eyes.
“That was when I was showering.”
“And I was putting Noah to bed,” I whispered.
Linda had been alone downstairs.
The representative said the receiving bank could be contacted, but there were no guarantees.
Then she asked if we wanted to formally report unauthorized access.
“Yes,” I said.
Michael looked at me.
“Yes,” he repeated.
From upstairs came the sound of something crashing.
Michael looked toward the ceiling.
“What was that?”
Another crash.
Then footsteps.
Fast footsteps.
Noah shouted.
“Dad!”
Michael ran.
I tried to follow but couldn't.
“Michael!”
He disappeared upstairs.
I heard Linda screaming.
“Get out of my way!”
Then Noah yelled.
“She took the laptop!”
My pulse shot up.
I dragged myself toward the stairs.
Every movement hurt.
Michael appeared at the top landing.
Linda was behind him holding the old laptop against her chest.
“Give it to me,” he said.
“No.”
“Mom.”
“You're not searching my things.”
“That's our laptop.”
“You gave it to me.”
“I let you use it.”
She backed toward the guest room.
Michael held out his hand.
“Give me the laptop.”
Linda looked past him.
At Noah.
Then at me below.
Her face transformed.
“You ungrateful little spy,” she snapped at my son.
Michael stepped between them.
“Do not speak to him.”
“He's ruined this family!”
“He saved his mother.”
“He betrayed me!”
“He's eight!”
“He knew exactly what he was doing!”
The terror on Noah's face made something inside me snap.
“Get out of my house, Linda!”
My voice echoed through the stairwell.
Everyone turned toward me.
I was sitting on the bottom step because my knee could no longer support me.
But for the first time in six months, I didn't care how weak I looked.
“This is my home,” I said. “That is my child. You will not threaten him. You will not touch him. You will not blame him. Give Michael the laptop and get out.”
Linda stared down at me.
“You think you've won.”
“This isn't a competition.”
“Oh, it has always been a competition.”
“For what?”
“My son.”
Michael's face twisted.
“Mom, stop.”
“No. She came into your life and took everything. Your time. Your money. Your house. Then she gave you a child and suddenly I was expected to stand outside looking in.”
I stared at her.
The truth was finally coming out.
Not about the money.
Not about the mop.
About thirteen years of resentment.
Michael looked devastated.
“I didn't leave you.”
“You chose her.”
“I married her.”
“Exactly!”
He recoiled.
Linda clutched the laptop tighter.
“You were supposed to take care of me.”
“I have taken care of you.”
“Not enough.”
Michael went very still.
That was when we heard sirens outside.
Linda's face changed.
“Who called the police?”
I looked toward the front window.
Red and blue lights flashed against the wall.
Michael glanced at me.
“I didn't.”
Then a small voice came from beside him.
“I did.”
Noah held up his tablet.
Linda stared at him.
Noah swallowed.
“The video said if somebody is getting hurt, call 911.”
My eyes filled instantly.
Michael knelt beside him.
“You did the right thing.”
Linda backed away.
“You called the police on your grandmother?”
Noah looked at her.
“You hurt my mom.”
A knock thundered downstairs.
“Police!”
Linda ran into the guest room.
Michael followed.
“Mom!”
The door slammed.
A lock clicked.
Then came the sound of a window opening.
My blood went cold.
The guest room was on the second floor.
Michael pounded on the door.
“Mom! Open this door!”
No answer.
“Linda!” I screamed.
Michael stepped back and kicked the door near the handle.
Once.
Twice.
The frame cracked.
He pushed through.
Then he stopped.
The room was empty.
The window stood open.
May you like
And on the bed lay the old laptop.
Its hard drive had been ripped out.
