Chapter 8 - Greg Had Emptied an Account
The money belonged to Greg and Sarah.
At least originally.
They had maintained a savings account for nearly ten years.
Home repairs.
Emergencies.
Lily’s future.
Sarah believed it contained roughly $92,000.
It didn’t.
Eight months earlier, Greg transferred $84,000 out.
He forged Sarah’s electronic authorization on documents connected to the transfer.
The money moved through two accounts.
Then disappeared into a private investment.
Sarah sat at my kitchen table listening to the explanation.
“You stole our savings?”
Greg wasn’t there.
Her question had nowhere to go.
I asked the investigator what investment.
He couldn’t tell us everything yet.
But the company had connections to Melissa.
That explained the storage unit.
Melissa had convinced Greg to invest in a cybersecurity startup she was quietly helping.
Greg expected to double the money.
Instead, the company collapsed.
Or appeared to.
Melissa later told Greg the failure had been engineered.
Someone inside the company had diverted client funds and proprietary data.
The encrypted drives supposedly contained evidence.
Greg believed recovering the data could help him recover the $84,000 before Sarah discovered it was gone.
That was his motive.
Not protecting national secrets.
Not saving anyone.
Money.
Shame.
Fear of losing his marriage.
He had put Lily in danger to conceal the evidence long enough to meet Melissa.
Then Melissa apparently altered the hiding place for reasons we still didn’t understand.
Sarah looked at me.
“He used our daughter because he was afraid I’d find out he lost money?”
“Yes.”
Her face changed.
There are betrayals so large that anger takes time to arrive.
Sarah simply sat there.
Then Lily walked into the room wearing soft hospital socks.
No yellow boot.
She climbed onto her mother’s lap.
“Are we going home?”
Sarah held her.
“Yes.”
“Is Daddy there?”
“No.”
Lily relaxed immediately.
Sarah closed her eyes.
That reaction made her decision for her.
The marriage could be dealt with later.
The children’s safety came first.
Then Officer Ruiz called.
Melissa had been located.
She had not fled the state.
She had checked into a motel twenty minutes from the hospital.
And when investigators entered the room, they found dozens of empty insect containers.
The clear capsule inside Lily’s boot had come from Melissa.
May you like
Greg had told the truth.
But the reason Melissa used those insects was far worse than we expected.
