Chapter 2 - Four Thousand Dollars
Daniel did not shout.
That frightened Ethan more.
Back at home, Daniel sat at the kitchen table and opened their joint account.
Four months.
Four payments.
$4,000 each.
Recipient:
E. MERCER CONSULTING.
Ethan had no consulting company.
“What is this?”
Maya stood across the room.
“I can explain.”
“Good.”
Ethan cut in.
“I borrowed money.”
Daniel looked at him.
“For what?”
“Debt.”
“What debt?”
No answer.
Daniel had helped Ethan through college.
Paid tuition.
Rent.
Car insurance.
Ethan worked part-time at a gym.
He should not have needed sixteen thousand dollars.
Then Daniel noticed each payment occurred two days after Maya received money from another account.
A private account Daniel did not recognize.
“Where did this come from?”
Maya’s expression changed.
“My mother.”
Daniel frowned.
Maya’s mother, Carol Jensen, was a nurse in Arizona.
Not wealthy.
“Your mother sends you eight thousand dollars a month?”
Maya said nothing.
Daniel followed the routing information.
Source account belonged to:
MARLOWE FAMILY TRUST.
He had never heard of it.
Ethan suddenly said:
“Dad, this isn't what you think.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“That sentence has never improved a situation.”
Then Ethan finally admitted part of the truth.
He had gambling debt.
Sports betting.
Started small.
Then grew.
Twenty-three thousand dollars.
Maya discovered it.
She secretly paid part of it.
“Why?”
Maya answered:
“Because he was scared to tell you.”
Daniel stared.
“So my wife secretly pays my adult son’s gambling debt because she doesn't want me upset?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No one risks sixteen thousand dollars for that without telling their husband unless something else is happening.”
Ethan slammed his hand on the table.
“Leave her alone.”
There again.
Protection.
Daniel looked at his son.
“What exactly are you protecting her from?”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
Then Maya’s phone lit up on the counter.
Daniel saw the preview.
E:
DELETE THE COAST PHOTOS.
Maya grabbed it.
Too late.
Daniel stared at Ethan.
“You two have been sending photos?”
Maya said:
“Daniel—”
“What photos?”
Silence.
He reached for his jacket.
Maya panicked.
“Where are you going?”
“To a hotel.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“You're overreacting.”
Daniel looked at him.
“If I stay here tonight, I'll say something I can't take back.”
Then he stopped.
Turned.
“One question.”
He looked at Maya.
“Are you having an affair with my son?”
Maya’s face crumpled.
Ethan looked at the floor.
Neither said no.
That was the answer.
Daniel left.
At 2:14 a.m., his phone rang.
Maya.
He ignored it.
Again.
Again.
Then a voicemail.
Not Maya.
May you like
Ethan.
“Dad, before you decide you hate us, you need to know Maya married you because of me.”
