stepped forward.
“That’s ridiculous.”
Rebecca opened a folder.
“Ridge Performance Holdings received seventy-two thousand dollars from an account jointly owned by Cole and Claire Mercer. Five weeks later, Ridge used forty thousand toward lease expansion for this facility. Another nineteen thousand went toward equipment. The remainder was used for payroll and personal expenses.”
Derek’s jaw clenched.
Claire said, “That money was mine.”
“Joint marital funds,” Rebecca replied.
Claire’s face twisted.
“You can’t just walk in here—”
“We can,” said the man beside Rebecca, “when Mr. Mercer invites us.”
He handed me a document.
Derek laughed nervously.
“What is this supposed to be?”
I read the first line.
Then the second.
Then I looked at Rebecca.
“You’re sure?”
“Very.”
The document wasn’t from police.
It was from the bank.
The forged home-equity line had triggered a fraud investigation.
But that still wasn’t the twist.
Rebecca’s finger tapped another page.
“Tell him.”
