Chapter 2 - The Vegas Call
I stared at the life insurance policy until my vision blurred.
Eric and Vanessa had not run off to Las Vegas in a sudden moment of drunken passion.
They had been meticulously planning a massive financial crime behind my back for eight entire months.
I rushed back to my home office and logged into the county property records database.
The forged mortgage had already been approved and fully processed.
The four hundred thousand dollars had been deposited into a joint checking account I did not even know existed.
I pulled up the routing numbers and discovered the money had already been completely drained.
They had stolen my home equity to fund their new life together.
My cell phone suddenly vibrated on the desk, shattering the silence in the room.
The caller identification displayed a Las Vegas area code.
I answered the call and pressed the phone to my ear without saying a word.
"Claire, please help me," Vanessa sobbed hysterically through the speaker.
I remained completely silent, letting my treacherous sister choke on her own tears.
"Eric just left me stranded at the hotel," Vanessa cried frantically.
"He took my passport, my credit cards, and he completely emptied the cash from the room safe."
I felt a sharp, unexpected surge of dark amusement.
"You married a thief, Vanessa," I said coldly.
"What exactly did you expect him to do?"
Vanessa gasped for air as the panic consumed her voice.
"You do not understand, Claire," she begged.
"He did not just steal the money from the hotel room."
"He took the flash drive you keep in your bedside drawer."
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My stomach violently dropped to the floor.
That encrypted flash drive contained the master administrative access codes for my medical manufacturing firm.
