Chapter 5: The Money That Disappeared
For several seconds, I couldn't hear anything except the sound of the pool filter.
Two hundred thousand dollars.
Gone.
I looked at Ethan.
"Where did it go?""
He rubbed his jaw.
"I told you. The business needed capital.""
"Where is it?""
"Emma, you're not understanding the situation.""
I stepped closer.
"Then explain it so I can understand.""
He looked toward the neighbors.
"Can we please stop discussing my finances in public?""
Daniel shook his head.
"Your finances stopped being private when you used other people's money to fund your business.""
Ethan pointed at him.
"Stay out of this.""
Daniel laughed.
"I've been in this for months, whether I wanted to be or not.""
He opened his phone and showed me the transaction details.
"The developer transferred the advance payment into the E&B account yesterday afternoon. By midnight, almost all of it had been moved.""
I leaned closer.
The first transfer was for $75,000.
The second was $48,000.
The third was $31,500.
There were several smaller payments.
I recognized one of the receiving account names.
It belonged to a luxury automobile dealership.
"Did you buy a car?""
Ethan looked away.
Daniel scrolled.
"Not exactly.""
"What's that supposed to mean?""
"The money was used as a down payment on a vehicle.""
Brooke suddenly spoke.
"That was supposed to be for us.""
Daniel turned toward her.
"Us?""
She wiped her face.
"Ethan said we'd move into a new house after the property deal closed.""
I stared at her.
"You were planning to move?""
She nodded.
"After the closing.""
"Where?""
"Somewhere near the coast.""
I felt a hollow laugh rising in my throat.
My husband had planned a new life with another woman using money from my inheritance, our savings, and a developer who thought he was buying legitimate property rights.
He hadn't just cheated.
He'd built an exit strategy.
"How long?"" I asked.
Brooke looked at me.
"What?""
"How long were you planning to leave?""
She lowered her eyes.
"After the closing.""
I nodded.
"And you were going to let me wake up one morning and discover my husband, my money, and my house were gone?""
She began crying again.
"I didn't think it would happen like this.""
I looked at her.
"How did you think it would happen?""
She had no answer.
Daniel stepped forward.
"Emma, there's something else.""
I turned.
He pulled up another document on his phone.
"Some of the money went into an account in another state.""
"Whose account?""
He looked at Ethan.
"Not his.""
Ethan suddenly moved.
"Give me that.""
Daniel stepped back.
"No.""
"Daniel!""
"Stop.""
The two men stood facing each other.
I raised my hand.
"Enough. What account?""
Daniel looked at me.
"An account registered to a woman named Vanessa Reed.""
The name meant nothing to me.
But it meant something to Brooke.
Her head snapped up.
"Vanessa?""
Daniel nodded.
"Do you know her?""
Brooke stared at Ethan.
"Who is Vanessa?""
Ethan said nothing.
Brooke took a step toward him.
"Ethan, who is she?""
He shook his head.
"She's nobody.""
"Then why is money going into her account?""
"She's a business contact.""
Daniel laughed.
"That's what he called her in the transaction notes.""
Brooke looked at me.
For the first time, we shared the same expression.
Confusion.
Fear.
And the horrible realization that we might both have been lied to by the same man in ways neither of us understood.
"Do you know her?"" I asked Brooke.
She shook her head.
"No.""
I looked at Ethan.
"Are you involved with another woman?""
He threw his hands up.
"This is unbelievable!""
Daniel pulled out a photograph.
It showed Ethan sitting at a restaurant table with a dark-haired woman.
Her hand rested on his.
The picture had been taken less than two weeks earlier.
Brooke made a sound like she'd been punched.
"You told me you were working late that night.""
Ethan stared at the photograph.
Daniel put it away.
"Apparently, the private investigator found more than one relationship.""
Brooke backed away.
"How many women are there?""
Ethan rubbed his face.
"You're all making assumptions.""
I looked at him.
"Then answer one question. Who is Vanessa?""
He remained silent.
And that silence told me more than any photograph could.
My phone rang again.
This time it was my sister, Lauren.
I almost didn't answer.
But she had probably seen the neighborhood alert.
"Emma?""
Her voice was tight.
"Are you okay?""
I looked at the crowd.
"Not really.""
"What's happening? Mrs. Patterson called me.""
I closed my eyes.
"Long story.""
"Mom would have killed Ethan.""
I almost smiled.
Our mother had passed away five years earlier, but Lauren was right.
My mother had never trusted him.
She'd once told me that a man who constantly explained how honest he was usually had something to hide.
I had defended him.
For years.
"Lauren, I need you to do something.""
"Anything.""
"Can you come over?""
"I'm already on my way.""
"Bring the folder Dad gave me.""
There was a pause.
"Which folder?""
"The blue one. The inheritance papers.""
Lauren went quiet.
Then she said something that made my stomach tighten.
"Emma, why?""
"Because Ethan's trying to sell the mineral rights.""
There was silence.
Then Lauren whispered, "Oh, no.""
I frowned.
"What?""
"Emma, Dad didn't just leave you the property.""
I looked toward the house.
"What are you talking about?""
"I'll explain when I get there.""
She hung up.
I stood still.
Another secret.
Another document.
Another piece of my father's past that I apparently hadn't understood.
I turned toward Daniel.
"Did you know there might be other ownership rights?""
He shook his head.
"No. I only found the mineral rights agreement.""
Ethan suddenly looked uncomfortable.
"Emma, don't involve your sister.""
I turned slowly.
"Why?""
"Because this is between us.""
I stared at him.
"You don't get to decide who I involve anymore.""
He lowered his voice.
"Your father was very particular about that property. He didn't want other people interfering.""
I frowned.
"How would you know?""
Ethan looked away.
The question hung between us.
Then Brooke spoke.
"Emma, I think you should ask him what happened last year.""
I turned.
"What happened last year?""
Ethan's expression became furious.
"Brooke, don't.""
She ignored him.
"Last September, Ethan told me he had to visit a lawyer because of a problem with the inheritance.""
My stomach tightened.
"What problem?""
Brooke swallowed.
"He said your father had left some paperwork unfinished. He was worried you might lose part of the property.""
I looked at Ethan.
"Is that true?""
He didn't answer.
Brooke continued.
"He said he was trying to fix it before you found out.""
I felt my heartbeat quicken.
"What was unfinished?""
Ethan finally spoke.
"Nothing. It was just a legal clarification.""
Daniel stared at him.
"Then why did you pay an attorney $12,000?""
Ethan froze.
I turned.
"What?""
Daniel pulled out a bank statement.
"One of the transfers from the joint account went to a law office last September.""
I looked at the amount.
$12,000.
The description listed a legal retainer.
I felt a cold sensation creep up my arms.
"Which lawyer?""
Daniel checked the document.
"Harper and Cole.""
I recognized the name.
It was the firm that had handled my father's estate.
I had met one of their attorneys, a man named Richard Harper, several times after Dad died.
I had assumed all the paperwork was complete.
"Why were you paying my father's attorney?""
Ethan rubbed his forehead.
"Emma, I was helping you.""
"With what?""
He looked toward the neighbors.
"Not here.""
I stepped closer.
"Then tell me somewhere else.""
He lowered his voice.
"Your father left a debt.""
I felt the world stop.
"What debt?""
"An outstanding obligation connected to the property.""
"How much?""
He hesitated.
"Two hundred and eighty thousand dollars.""
I stared at him.
"That's impossible.""
"Emma—"
"My father paid off the mortgage before he died. I saw the documents.""
"It wasn't a mortgage.""
"Then what was it?""
He looked at me.
For the first time, he seemed almost sympathetic.
"Your father borrowed money to purchase the land.""
I shook my head.
"He bought it thirty years ago.""
"Yes.""
"And paid for it.""
"Not all of it.""
I stepped backward.
This couldn't be true.
My father had been careful with money.
He'd hated debt.
He'd taught me to save before spending.
I remembered him sitting at the kitchen table, carefully balancing his checkbook every Sunday evening.
He would never have left me with an enormous debt without telling me.
Unless something had happened.
Unless there was something I didn't know.
Ethan reached for my hand.
I pulled away.
"Don't touch me.""
He lowered his arm.
"That's why I was trying to sell the mineral rights. To clear the debt.""
I stared at him.
"Then why were you transferring the money to Brooke?""
He looked away.
"Because the company needed operating capital.""
"And why were you trying to sell the house?""
He didn't answer.
Daniel stepped forward.
"Emma, I checked the property records. There is no registered debt for $280,000.""
Ethan's head snapped toward him.
"What?""
Daniel nodded.
"I checked with the county registry.""
I looked at my husband.
"Explain that.""
Ethan's mouth opened.
Then he closed it.
Daniel continued.
"There's an old agreement, but it's been released. The original lender signed a discharge document years ago.""
I felt dizzy.
"So there was no debt?""
Daniel shook his head.
"Not that I can find.""
I turned toward Ethan.
"Did you lie about my father leaving a debt?""
He finally shouted.
"IT WASN'T A LIE!""
Everyone went silent.
He breathed heavily.
Then, in a quieter voice, he said, "You don't understand what your father did.""
I stared at him.
"Then tell me.""
He looked toward the house.
"Your father made a promise to someone.""
"Who?""
Ethan swallowed.
"Someone who is still alive.""
Before I could ask another question, a car pulled into the driveway.
Lauren stepped out.
She was carrying a thick blue folder.
She walked through the gate, took one look at the crowd, and stopped.
"Emma.""
I hurried toward her.
"What's going on?""
She looked at Ethan.
Then at Daniel.
Finally, she looked at the papers on the table.
Her face went white.
"Oh, God.""
I grabbed her arm.
"Lauren, what did Dad leave me?""
She opened the folder.
Then she pulled out a document with my father's handwriting across the top.
*IMPORTANT — DO NOT TRANSFER OWNERSHIP WITHOUT READING THIS AGREEMENT.*
Lauren looked at me.
"Emma, Dad knew someone might try to take this property.""
I stared at her.
"Who?""
May you like
She slowly turned toward Ethan.
"Your husband.""
