“That is ridiculous.”
I didn’t answer.
I simply looked at her.
She looked at Shane.
Shane looked at Mom.
And Mom looked at the floor.
“Tell her,” Mom whispered.
Misty shook her head.
“I didn’t take anything.”
I pulled out my phone.
“Then you’ll have no problem with me showing everyone the bank statements.”
Her face changed.
I had spent Friday night going through them.
There were dozens of transactions.
Gas stations.
Online purchases.
Restaurants.
Luxury stores.
And one recurring payment.
A credit card belonging to Shane.
For three years, money had been leaving Mom’s account.
Thousands at a time.
Mom had been blaming herself.
She thought she was losing track of her finances.
But she wasn’t.
Someone had been using her card.
Misty started crying.
“I only borrowed it.”
“Borrowed?”
“I was going to pay it back.”
“How much?”
She didn’t answer.
I looked at the total.
“Twenty-eight thousand four hundred dollars.”
Shane stared at her.
“What?”
She whispered:
“I needed it.”
“For what?”
She said nothing.
Mom suddenly stood.
“You told me Shane needed the money for his business.”
Misty looked down.
“I lied.”
The room became silent.
Then Shane said something that made my blood run cold.
“I didn’t know.”
I looked at him.
“You didn’t know?”
He shook his head.
“I swear.”
Misty looked at him.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Pretend you didn’t know.”
Shane’s face changed.
Misty continued.
“You knew about the debts.”
“You told me to handle it.”
“I handled it because you told me if the house was transferred to you, everything would be solved.”
I looked at Shane.
“You weren’t trying to move your family into this house.”
He didn’t answer.
“You were trying to sell it.”
Silence.
Misty started sobbing.
Shane looked at me.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
“I owed people money.”
“How much?”
He looked away.
“How much, Shane?”
Finally he whispered:
“Two hundred and forty thousand.”
Mom collapsed into the chair.
I couldn’t believe it.
Two hundred forty thousand dollars.
And my brother had planned to use my house to pay it.
My house.
Emily’s house.
Then my phone rang.
Ms. Farrow.
I answered.
“Ms. Dunn, I need you to come to the title office tomorrow morning.”
“Why?”
“There is another document connected to the property.”
“What document?”
She hesitated.
“A mortgage lien.”
My heart stopped.
“Whose lien?”
“That’s the problem.”
She lowered her voice.
“It appears someone tried to use the house as collateral.”
I looked at Shane.
He had heard her.
His face turned white.
“Someone already did.”
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