Chapter 4 - Following The Money
The morning sun filtered through the cheap motel curtains.
Michael was already awake.
He hadn't slept at all.
He sat at the small desk in the corner.
His laptop was open.
He was logged into his military banking portal.
What he saw made his blood run cold.
His mother hadn't just stolen his letters.
She had stolen his future.
Over the last fourteen months, his account had been drained.
Thousands of dollars in combat pay.
Gone.
Transferred to an account he didn't recognize.
Margaret's account.
He clicked on the transaction history.
Large withdrawals at casinos.
Expensive jewelry stores.
Luxury spa treatments.
While Emily was starving and wearing old clothes, Margaret was living like a queen.
On his dime.
Emily stirred in the bed and sat up.
She looked at Michael's tense back.
"What is it?" she asked softly.
Michael turned the laptop around so she could see.
Emily gasped.
"She told me your pay was delayed," Emily whispered.
"She said the military made a clerical error."
Michael slammed the laptop shut.
"She forged my signature on a Power of Attorney," Michael said.
His voice was ice-cold.
"Before I left, she asked me to sign some standard emergency medical forms."
"She must have slipped a financial POA into the stack."
He stood up and grabbed his jacket.
"Where are you going?" Emily asked, panic rising in her voice.
"To the bank," Michael replied.
"And then to the police station."
He walked over and kissed her deeply.
"Lock the door behind me. Don't open it for anyone."
Michael's first stop was the local bank branch.
He sat across from the branch manager.
He presented his military ID and deployment orders.
"I need you to freeze all accounts linked to my name immediately."
The manager looked at his screen and frowned.
"Sir, your joint account holder, Margaret Carter, made a large withdrawal just an hour ago."
Michael's eyes narrowed.
"How much?"
"Twenty thousand dollars. Cash."
Margaret was making a run for it.
She knew the gig was up.
She knew Michael had found the letters.
She was trying to take whatever she could before the ship sank.
"Freeze the rest of it," Michael commanded.
"And print out every single transaction statement from the last fourteen months."
"I'm filing a police report for major fraud."
The manager nodded nervously and started typing.
Michael's phone buzzed in his pocket.
It was a text from an unknown number.
Michael, you need to come home. Emily attacked me. I'm bleeding.
It was Margaret.
Trying one last, desperate manipulation.
Trying to frame his wife.
Michael didn't reply.
He just saved the text as evidence.
May you like
The trap was set.
And Margaret had just walked right into it.
