Chapter 3 - The Missing Thirty-Seven Months
The next morning, I woke before sunrise.
I couldn't sleep.
Not because of the money.
Money could be replaced.
Time couldn't.
Three years.
Thirty-seven months.
Every month, I had opened my mailbox and found nothing.
Every month, I had told myself Jared was taking care of me.
Every month, I had walked to the church pantry.
And during every one of those months, my daughter-in-law had received $8,000 in my name.
I sat at my kitchen table and spread the documents across it.
I had always believed numbers behaved differently from people.
Numbers didn't get offended.
Numbers didn't cry.
Numbers didn't threaten to leave.
They simply remained where they were placed.
And when you lined them up correctly, they told the truth.
At 7:15, Jared arrived.
He looked exhausted.
"Did you sleep?"
"No."
He put a folder on the table.
"Neither did I."
"What is that?"
"Everything I could download from the bank."
I opened it.
There were dozens of pages.
"Good."
Jared sat opposite me.
"Dad."
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry."
I looked at him.
"You didn't take the money."
"But I trusted her."
"So did I."
He lowered his head.
"I should have checked."
"You were building a company."
"I should have checked."
I didn't argue.
Instead, I began calculating.
Thirty-seven payments.
$8,000 each.
$296,000.
But the trust statements showed more than $300,000 had moved through the account.
Interest.
Investment returns.
Additional transfers.
The actual loss could be significantly higher.
I circled several transactions.
"Look here."
Jared leaned over.
"What?"
"These withdrawals."
He studied them.
"What's wrong?"
"They aren't random."
"How?"
"The dates."
I pointed.
"Look at the day of the month."
Jared examined them.
"Usually the twenty-fourth."
"Exactly."
"Why?"
"Because your monthly transfer arrived on the twenty-third."
His eyes widened.
"She was withdrawing the money almost immediately."
"Yes."
"Why would she do that?"
"Because she wasn't investing your money."
I turned another page.
"She was moving it."
"Where?"
"That's what we're going to find out."
We spent the next two hours tracing transfers.
Northstar Consulting.
Blake Holdings.
Several individual accounts.
A mortgage company.
A luxury car dealership.
A jewelry store.
A private school.
And one payment that made Jared go silent.
$47,800.
Recipient:
Lakeshore Medical Billing.
"What is that?" I asked.
Jared shook his head.
"I don't know."
"Ask Lauren."
He called her.
She didn't answer.
He called again.
Still nothing.
Then a text appeared.
We need to talk in person.
Jared looked at me.
"I'll go."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because if she knows what you're investigating, she can start moving whatever is left."
Jared frowned.
"So what do we do?"
"We wait."
"For what?"
I looked at the clock.
"For her next mistake."
At 11:42, my phone rang.
It was the church pantry.
"Mr. Blake?"
"Yes?"
"We wanted to check whether you're coming today."
I closed my eyes.
"Yes."
Jared heard the conversation.
After I hung up, he looked devastated.
"You were still going there?"
"Yes."
"Dad..."
"I need food."
"I'll buy you groceries."
"I know."
"Then why didn't you ask me?"
I looked at him.
"Because I thought the trust was handling everything."
That sentence hurt him more than anything else I could have said.
At noon, we went to the pantry together.
The volunteers knew me.
Mrs. Alvarez, who ran the distribution table, smiled when she saw Jared.
"You must be Oscar's son."
He nodded.
She shook his hand.
"Your father is one of our regulars."
Jared looked at me.
I could see shame in his face.
Mrs. Alvarez didn't notice.
She simply handed me two bags.
"There's extra bread today."
"Thank you."
Jared reached for the bags.
"I'll carry them."
She smiled.
"Good boy."
Outside, Jared stood beside my car.
"Dad."
"What?"
"I'm fixing this."
"I know."
"No. You don't understand."
He looked at me.
"I am going to fix all of it."
I nodded.
"Then start by finding the truth."
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
"Hello?"
A man's voice spoke.
I couldn't hear the words.
Jared's expression changed.
"Who is this?"
Pause.
"What do you mean?"
Another pause.
Jared looked at me.
Then he said:
"Tell me where."
He hung up.
"Who?"
He stared at the phone.
"Someone who says he worked for Lauren."
"What does he want?"
"He says he has proof."
"Proof of what?"
May you like
Jared looked directly at me.
"That the $8,000 wasn't the only thing she stole."
