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Chapter 5
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Before the Knock Chapter 10
A smile flickered across my face."Mom, when you messed with my home, did you ever stop to think about my place here?"She froze."Or when you called me a backstabber, did you think about my place then?"And when you threatened to have Howard divorce me, what about my place in this family?"I held her gaze."Mom, it's not that I wanted to make things hard for you. You just made them hard for me first."Her face flushed with anger. "You…""Take her away," the bailiff said.Just like that, she was escorted out.I watched her retreating back until she vanished down the corridor.I took a deep breath. Finally, I could turn the page.…The verdict came in.Darcy was found guilty of contract fraud and sentenced to eight years behind bars. She was also slapped with a 22,500-dollar fine.His partner in crime, Nevaeh, got three years with a five-year probation.The fraudulent mortgage was voided, and the property rights were restored.Jim's stores and cars were seized and sold
Before the Knock Chapter 9
The line went quiet for a beat. "Got it, I understand."I hung up and gazed out at the sky.'My dear mother-in-law, do you think I'm too cruel?'Did you spare a thought for me when you laid hands on my house?'Did you consider my side of the story when you bad-mouthed me in our group chat?'You threatened me once, saying you'd make Howard leave me. Did you ever imagine it would come to this?'I was not heartless.I was just done putting up with it.…A month later, the courtroom buzzed to life.I sat among the spectators, eyes fixed on Darcy in the defendant's dock. She was a shadow of her former self: gaunt, with hair streaked with gray, the jailhouse garb aging her a decade. Her gaze met mine, bitter and accusing.The judge's gavel struck. "We'll now begin."The prosecutor laid out the case."Darcy Baker, by exploiting family ties, acquired property and identity documents, conspired with Nevaeh Lewis to forge signatures, and fraudulently obtained mortgage loans totaling
Before the Knock Chapter 8
"We've detained her this morning."Clutching my phone, I inhaled deeply. "Thank you."Darcy was behind bars.The news set the family chat ablaze.[Cindy: What? Arrested?][Becky: No way! There must have been some mistake!][Jim: Shirley, is this what you wanted?]I stayed silent.Then, Janet chimed in.[Janet: She put my house up and mortgaged it for 90,000 dollars. I've reported that too.][Howard: Someone swiped 12 grand from my account. I've filed a report as well.]The chat went dead silent.Then, one by one, they bailed on the chat.First, it was Cindy.Becky followed her.Jim was next.Nevaeh dropped out, too.The chat group fell into a buzz of conversation.[So that's the story...][More than 200,000 dollars. That's no chump change...][It's no wonder Jim's been throwing money around like it's nothing these past couple of years...]I read the messages in silence.I left the group chat and shut off my phone.Lying in bed, I gazed up at the ceiling.Darcy h
Before the Knock Chapter 7
"What do you mean by that?""I did some digging into your family's property records. Your sister-in-law, Janet Canfield? Her place is mortgaged too. The amount's 90,000 dollars, and the loan's still in Jim's name."Janet Canfield.Howard's sister.Her place was on the line, too?"Is she aware of this?""I doubt it. The loan hasn't gone into default yet, so nobody's come knocking.""When did this all go down?" I asked."Last October. It's before the two loans against your place."I shut my eyes tight.There was the initial 225,000 dollars, plus another 90,000.That was 315,000 dollars.There was also Howard's 12,000 dollars.We were talking about 327,000 dollars.Darcy and Jim had bled this family dry to the tune of 327,000 dollars."Shirley, you should really get in touch with Janet. If she files a report, too, it's a whole different ballgame.""Got it. Thanks, Linda."I ended the call and pulled up Janet's contact on my phone.[Hey, Janet. Got a sec?]Three minutes
Before the Knock Chapter 6
We handed over more evidence, and we gave our statements. The cops promised they would get on the case fast.That afternoon, my phone buzzed. It was Cindy."Shirley, you didn't... Tell me you didn't call the cops on her.""I did.""How could you do that to her? She's your mother-in-law!""She conned me out of my house. She did it for 225,000 dollars.""However, she was thinking of Jim. What mother wouldn't look out for her son?""By ripping off her other son's wife? Really?"She tried to argue, saying, "She didn't rip you off..." "She faked my signature and pretended to be me to get a mortgage... What else would you call it?"Silence hung on the other end of the line."If you really want to help, convince her to pay the loan, and I might just drop the lawsuit.""It's 225,000 dollars... How is she supposed to come up with 225,000 dollars?"she said."Then, it's up to Jim to make it right.""Jim's broke, too. His business tanked...""Well, then there's nothing left to talk
Before the Knock Chapter 5
The call from Linda came on the third day."Shirley, I've got something.""Tell me.""There were two loans, each to a different account. The first one, a hefty 150,000 dollars, landed in an account ending in 6639, owned by Jim Canfield. The second, 75,000, went to an account ending in 8821, owned by Nevaeh Lewis."Jim Canfield was my husband's brother.Nevaeh Lewis was his wife.Linda went on, saying, "And there's more. I had someone check the registration surveillance. Both times, it was the same duo, a middle-aged woman and a younger one. The younger one did all the signing.""What did this young woman look like?" I asked."The video wasn't the best quality, but I caught a telling detail: she has a mole on her right collarbone."The right collarbone.Nevaeh.She had that distinctive mole. I remembered seeing it at a summer party when she wore a one-shoulder dress."Shirley, this reeks of signature forgery and outright fraud," Linda said. "Your mother-in-law and sister-in-
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