Chapter 3: The Woman With the Clipboard
Gabriel held up the authorization.
“Who f0rged my signature?”
Marlene reached for the paper.
“Lower your voice.
Amelia might hear you.”
“You were not concerned about Amelia when you used her name to take $18,450.”
Everett gripped the doorway.
“Marlene, tell him.”
“Tell me what?” Gabriel demanded.
Marlene’s eyes hardened.
“That money paid for this family.
You were always away, and someone had to manage everything.”
Gabriel turned the page over.
At the top was the name of the approved care provider: Hart Family Support Services.
The listed director was Marlene Hart.
“You created a company?” His hand began to shake.
“How many payments were there?”
Everett looked down.
“This wasn’t the first.”
Before Gabriel could respond, a floorboard creaked behind him.
Amelia stood in the hallway clutching her blanket.
“Daddy,” she whispered, “is this about the lady with the clipboard?”
The room went silent.
Gabriel knelt beside her.
“What lady?”
Amelia looked fearfully at Marlene.
“Grandma told me to call her my therapist.
She said if I answered wrong, you might send me away.”
Then Gabriel’s phone lit up with an alert from Westbridge Trust Company:
ANOTHER PAYMENT REQUEST HAS JUST BEEN APPROVED.
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Who was using Amelia’s trust—and why had she been taught to lie?
Click the link below to discover what Gabriel uncovered next.
