Chapter 6: The Money She Hid From Me
We pulled Melissa’s bank records that night. Chris had connections with a trusted auditor—he got them in two hours flat.
Over six months, she’d withdrawn $38,000. All cash. All transferred to shell companies linked straight to Roger. No explanations, no receipts, no mention of any of it to me.
"She’s been paying someone off," Chris said, scrolling through the files. "And she hid every single transaction from you."
I called her. She picked up on the first ring, like she was sitting right by the phone waiting for it.
"How long?" I asked. "How long have you been giving him money? And why?"
Silence for a long beat. Then a shaky breath.
"Roger owed people," she said. "Bad people. They said if he didn’t pay, they’d take Sarah. I thought… I thought I was protecting her."
"So you let him hurt her instead?"
"He said it was discipline!" she shouted, voice cracking. "He said if she was tough, if she didn’t make noise, they wouldn’t notice her! I tried to stop him, Jamie! I swear I tried—but he said if I told you, he’d make sure you lost your job, your company, everything."
"Then why didn’t you call me? Why didn’t you just talk to me?"
"Because he said if I did… he’d kill you too."
The line went dead.
Ten seconds later, Chris’s phone rang. He answered, then looked at me, eyes wide with horror.
"Jamie—Sarah’s gone from the hospital. Someone walked her right out the front door."
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