I grabbed the edge of the counter to steady myself.
“That can’t be right.”
“The numbers don’t lie.”
He clicked again.
“And there’s something else. Your name is on Lauren’s car loan. You’re listed as a co-signer.”
“I never signed anything.”
“Then we’ve got them. This is real fraud.”
A knock at the door made both of us jump.
It was Helen again, holding a large envelope.
“You need to see this. I was checking the property records for that house we looked at, and guess what showed up? Your parents listed you as a guarantor on their condo refinance last week.”
“What?”
I grabbed the papers from her.
My signature was on them.
Only it wasn’t mine.
It was close enough to fool a clerk. Not close enough to fool me.
“They’re getting desperate,” Scott said. “The banks are closing in, and they’re using your name to stay above water.”
Then my phone rang.
Justin.
My boss.
At midnight.
“Jacqueline,” he said, his voice serious. “Sorry for the late call, but there’s something you need to know. Your sister applied for a job here. She used you as a reference, but her application has some problems.”
“What kind of problems?”
“She says she has a finance degree and four years of experience. She also wrote that you could confirm it.”
I let out a dry laugh.
“She dropped out after one semester.”
“That’s what I thought. Jacqueline, with your role here, if she’s lying, we need to handle it carefully.”
I sat down slowly.
“Justin, there’s something I need to tell you about my family.”
Twenty minutes later, after I explained everything, I hung up.
Scott and Helen looked at me.
“Well?” Helen asked.
“Justin is reporting the false application. And he gave me tomorrow off to file the police reports.”
“Good,” Scott said, spinning the laptop around again. “Because there’s more. Remember that private school Lauren went to for senior year? The one your parents said waived her tuition?”
I nodded.
“They didn’t. You’ve been paying it through automatic withdrawals for the last seven years. Under your name.”
Anger surged through me so fast it made me feel hot all over.
“That’s why they kept telling me to leave the joint account open. They said it was only for emergencies.”
“The emergency,” Helen said, “was their lifestyle and Lauren never learning how to take care of herself.”
My phone buzzed again.
A text from Mom.
Your father is in the ER. His blood pressure is dangerously high. Please, Jacqueline. If you ever loved us—
“Don’t answer,” Helen said, taking my phone.
“I know,” I said, pacing. “But what if he really is sick?”
Scott’s voice was firm.
