Chapter 5 - TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY THOUSAND
Hannah woke at 2:13 in the morning.
Ethan was sitting beside the window with his laptop open and his phone pressed to his ear.
He ended the call the moment he saw her eyes open.
"How do you feel?"
"Like I got hit by a truck."
"Any contractions?"
"Not since I woke up."
He came to her bedside.
She studied his face.
"What happened?"
"Nothing you need to handle tonight."
"Ethan."
He hesitated.
"There is a credit filing attached to the house."
Hannah frowned.
"What kind?"
"A private line of credit."
"We don't have one."
"I know."
Her expression changed.
"How much?"
"Two hundred and eighty thousand."
She stared at him.
"In whose name?"
He did not answer quickly enough.
"Mine?"
"Yes."
The monitor beside her seemed suddenly too loud.
"I didn't borrow anything."
"I know."
"Ethan, I did not borrow two hundred and eighty thousand dollars."
"I know."
"Then how is my name on it?"
"David thinks someone may have used information from your medical file."
Hannah's face went white.
"My medical file had copies of my driver's license."
"I know."
"And my insurance card."
"I know."
"And the pre-registration forms."
"I know."
She pressed both hands over her face.
Ethan sat on the edge of the bed.
"We can fix this."
"How long has this been happening?"
"I don't know."
"What else is in my name?"
"We are checking."
"What else?"
"David has a fraud specialist pulling reports."
Hannah lowered her hands.
"Your mother knew my keys were missing."
"Yes."
"Your sister was recording us."
"Yes."
"Your uncle signed as a witness."
"Yes."
She looked toward the dark window.
"They all knew something."
Ethan wanted to deny it.
He could not.
At 3:00 a.m., the nurse brought water and crackers.
By 4:30, Hannah's contractions had stopped completely.
At 6:00, Dr. Patel returned.
"I want you resting for the next several days."
"Can I go home?"
The question made Ethan tense.
Dr. Patel looked at Hannah.
"Is home a safe and restful place for you?"
Hannah looked at Ethan.
"It will be."
He understood the weight of that promise.
By 8:15, David arrived at the hospital carrying a leather folder and two coffees.
He looked as if he had not slept.
"I brought bad news and less bad news."
Ethan took the coffee.
"Start with the bad."
"The credit filing is real."
Hannah closed her eyes.
"The lender is a private financing company called Northbridge Capital."
"Never heard of them," Ethan said.
"Neither had I."
"Who received the money?"
"We don't know yet."
"How can they lend two hundred and eighty thousand without talking to Hannah?"
"They claim they did."
Hannah looked at him.
"What?"
David opened the folder.
"There was a remote identity verification call."
"I never did that."
"They have a recording."
Ethan stood.
"Of my wife?"
"Of a woman claiming to be your wife."
Hannah stared at him.
"Can we hear it?"
"Eventually."
"Why not now?"
"Because their fraud department locked the file as soon as I challenged it."
Ethan paced once across the room.
"What is the less bad news?"
"The money has not all been disbursed."
"How much has?"
"Eighty-five thousand."
"To whom?"
David looked at Ethan.
"A renovation company."
The room went silent.
Hannah spoke first.
"Fairmont."
Ethan understood immediately.
Lorraine had been telling them that the upstairs Fairmont property was being renovated.
That was supposedly why she had needed to stay with them.
"Name of the contractor?"
David slid a page across the tray table.
Ethan read it.
Crestline Residential Renovations.
He knew the company.
So did Hannah.
"Trevor works there," she whispered.
"He doesn't just work there," David said.
"According to the state corporate registry, he owns forty percent."
Ethan remembered Trevor lounging on his couch while Hannah washed his plate.
He remembered Trevor laughing when Ethan told everyone to stand up.
He remembered Trevor saying Ethan could not detain them.
"So my cousin's company received eighty-five thousand dollars from a loan taken in my wife's name."
"That is what the records show."
"For work on my mother's property."
"That appears to be the connection."
Hannah looked down at her stomach.
"She used me to pay for her renovation."
David did not answer.
Ethan did.
"If she did, she is going to answer for it."
His phone rang.
Madison.
He declined the call.
It rang again.
He declined it again.
Then a text appeared.
YOU NEED TO COME HOME BEFORE MOM DOES SOMETHING STUPID.
Ethan stared at the message.
Another arrived.
SHE IS PACKING HANNAH'S THINGS.
He called Madison immediately.
"Put Mom on the phone."
"She won't talk to you."
"Why is she packing Hannah's things?"
"Because she says Hannah isn't coming back."
Ethan looked at his wife.
Hannah heard every word.
"Why would she think that?"
Madison lowered her voice.
"Because she says the agreement gives her control of the house until the debt is repaid."
David stood so quickly his coffee nearly tipped over.
"Ask her what debt."
Ethan repeated the question.
Madison was quiet.
"She says Dad's debt."
Ethan went still.
Their father had been dead for four years.
"What debt?"
"I don't know."
"Madison."
"I swear I don't know."
In the background, Lorraine shouted something.
Madison whispered quickly.
"She found the file missing from the kitchen."
"What file?"
"The blue one."
Ethan looked at David.
"What is in it?"
"I don't know."
A door slammed on Madison's end.
Then she spoke even more quietly.
"Ethan, there's something else."
"What?"
"Mom told Trevor to wipe the cameras before you get home."
Ethan's blood ran cold.
"What cameras?"
May you like
Madison ended the call.
