Chapter 5 - The Paper in the Fireplace
The deputy removed the paper from the fireplace.
It was a printed email from Bennett Shore Development’s outside accountant.
The subject line read:
UNRESOLVED ESCROW DEFICIT—FINAL NOTICE.
According to the message, Kyle’s company was missing $2.4 million from accounts holding deposits for a lakeside condominium project.
The money belonged to buyers.
It should never have been used for operations, salaries, or personal expenses.
An independent audit was scheduled for Monday morning.
Today was Friday.
Marissa read the email twice.
“If the missing money isn’t restored by Monday, this becomes a criminal matter.”
Kyle shook his head.
“It’s an accounting delay.”
“Then why borrow against Norman’s farm?” Chloe asked.
“To stabilize the company.”
“You were going to replace missing client money with a loan obtained through forged documents.”
“I was protecting hundreds of jobs.”
Susan stepped forward.
“Exactly. Kyle was saving his employees.”
Chloe looked at her.
“By stealing my father’s land?”
“No one was stealing anything. The loan would have been repaid.”
“How?”
Kyle did not answer.
Marissa examined the loan terms on her tablet.
The interest rate was extraordinarily high.
The entire balance became due in ninety days.
Failure to pay allowed the lender to seize the collateral without a lengthy court process.
Norman sat down.
“My farm could have been taken in three months?”
Kyle rubbed his jaw.
“It would never have reached that point.”
“Show me the repayment plan,” Marissa said.
Kyle remained silent.
One deputy asked Susan and Heather to surrender Norman’s phone.
Heather insisted she had only been keeping it safe.
Norman described asking for it repeatedly.
He also explained that Susan had hidden his truck keys after he said he wanted to leave.
Susan’s face hardened.
“He was confused.”
“I knew exactly where I wanted to go,” Norman said. “Away from you.”
The deputy documented his statement.
Kyle approached Chloe.
“We need to speak privately.”
“Anything you say can be said in front of my father.”
“This marriage will not survive if you keep treating me like a criminal.”
Chloe looked at the forged signature.
“You became a criminal before I came home.”
Marissa’s phone rang.
The closing attorney had found something inside the loan package.
The lender did not intend to keep Norman’s land after foreclosure.
A buyer was already waiting.
The buyer’s company had been created six weeks earlier.
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Its registered address belonged to Susan.
👉 Kyle had not planned merely to risk Norman’s farm—his family had prepared to take ownership of it after the loan failed.
