Chapter 12
Cassie
“I first started suspecting a Ponzi scheme when one of my readers contacted me. They pointed out how sometimes wealthy families use small towns and business ventures to stay under the radar.”
Lincoln’s eyebrows shoot up, and I have to admit that even I’m surprised. But we stay silent as Anita pulls in a shaky breath.
“I know that doesn’t sound like a lot to go off of, but my uncle lost everything to a Ponzi scheme. He bought a percentage of a company that was supposed to make him rich, and the next thing he knew, he lost everything but the shirt on his back.”
My heart aches for her. Being too close to the story reeled her in. Meredith is probably right. She’s not thinking straight.
“Did this person who pointed it out to you have any real proof?” I ask. It’s hard to focus with Lincoln sitting so close to me. Is he thinking about it as much as I am?
“Their story was just like my uncle’s, only worse. Their dad died of a heart attack when his son started poking around and realized his dad invested his entire savings into a scam. When he tried to ask for the money back, they said he’d have to wait for the returns. They sent me the paper trail that led back to the Thorntons, and I’ll admit, it struck a chord close to home. I had to investigate, to find out if another scheme was being set up, and if there was something I could do about it, to stop it.”
Anita’s shoulders sag with the weight of her words. As she continues her story, I'm having difficulty believing some of it. There are so many different reasons I imagined she would have had to run—anywhere from a bad relationship to a misunderstanding with Meredith to wanting to take down the entire Thornton family for no reason.
Instead, she's weaving an intricate story about them running a Ponzi scheme—not only one that includes one or two family members, but the entire Thornton family. Even if her intentions started in the right place, maybe she’s looking for a bad guy until she finds one.
She’s fidgeting, as if it’s hard to get through what she has to say.
“How does the Thornton family running a Ponzi scheme make sense?” My voice sounds like a shriek, and I clear my throat. An investigator isn’t supposed to be biased. My respect for Meredith Thornton, or the Thornton name in general, shouldn't get in my way of talking with Anita.
Lincoln’s lack of reaction to all the information strikes me as odd. He looks as if it doesn't faze him at all. He looks a little too calm, now that I think about it.
“I wanted to talk to you because the man behind the Ponzi scheme is Corey Thornton. I read about how he helped get your job on the TV show and then how you went back home to your father's business, the private investigator’s office.”
Anita's eyes dart around the room, sometimes jumping to the window. She's paranoid about someone finding her, and I'm starting to wonder who that is. Surely, she couldn't be so afraid of Meredith. It seemed like Meredith wanted to help her.
Could I be wrong about that?
“Are you saying I was supposed to be a part of this Ponzi scheme? Or you thought I knew about it?” I narrow my eyes, and Lincoln puts a hand on my leg. There's a warning in his touch, telling me to calm down and let Anita finish.
I’ve had all sorts of terrible things printed about me over the years. Some of them were hit pieces done by people like Anita. I didn’t see any gossip articles on her blog, but it makes me cautious. The spotlight isn't on me as much as it once was, but an accusation like that would destroy my remaining shreds of dignity in the public eye.
She looks down at the ugly carpet beneath our feet.
“I'm not accusing you of anything. I suppose I figured that since you had some connection with Corey, you could offer some insight into his motivations. He leads a very private life, and few people are close to him. When I found out you worked at a private investigator's office, I thought you would even help me.” She lets out a long sigh. “I've left all of that behind now anyway, so it doesn't really matter.”
“What do you mean? If you were getting close to finding evidence on the Thornton family, why would you leave it all behind?” Finally, Lincoln has something to say. “That would have increased your coverage. Instead, you stopped publishing anything at all.”
“They started to send me threats. Death threats, threats to find me and put me away to make me stop digging. I realized I was getting close to the truth, but this family is used to getting what they want, one way or another. It had to stop.” She pauses to take in another shaky breath, clearly close to tears.
“I love reporting the news, but it’s just me. It’s not like I have a security detail to deal with these situations. When they started threatening my friends and family, I knew it had gone too far and wouldn’t stop until one of us backed down.” She glances toward the kitchen, where there's the sound of clinking cups and dishes from who I assume is the woman who answered the door. “I came to stay with my aunt until everything dies down. I will leave the Thorntons to the professionals.”
Instead of getting upset or asking for more answers, Lincoln just nods.
“Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. We won’t bother you any longer.” He stands up, and I follow his example. There are still questions to ask, but even I can see that Anita’s patience is wearing thin, and she’s getting jumpier by the second.
Lincoln would usually be the one to push for a longer interview, but maybe searching for Anita for so long has made him sympathetic toward her. The feelings swirling inside me are too confusing to make any sense of what I’m thinking now.
“Wait.” Anita tucks a few strands of her unruly hair behind her ear and digs around a little drawer on the coffee table. After a few moments, she pulls out a black USB stick. “This is everything I have. I know it isn't much, but maybe it will lead you in the right direction.”
“I…” I struggle with words for a few seconds, trying to find the right thing to say. Just because I don't believe Anita's story about the Thorntons doesn't mean she isn’t in some sort of mess she doesn't know how to escape. “Whatever happens, I'm glad we found you, and that you're okay. I hope things go your way from here on out.”
Heartfelt words. What happens to Anita matters to me; it has since we started searching for her.
Anita smiles weakly.
“Thank you, Cassie. I appreciate that. Whatever you do, though, if you could please not tell Meredith where I am now, I would appreciate it. I don't want to be mixed up with their family anymore. I just want them to leave me alone.” She reaches out, her fingers digging into my arm for half a second. “You can’t tell her I'm here. That family is dangerous, and if I were you, I would be careful.”
My gut twists. I agree about the not telling part, not the dangerous part. If I don't tell Meredith where Anita is, she's not exactly going to pay our office for all our work. But at the same time, how can I, in good conscience, tell someone who isn't related to Anita where she is, especially since she doesn't want to be found? She's perfectly safe right now, and from what she said, she doesn't intend to publish anything about her ridiculous claims of a Ponzi scheme.
Are these claims ridiculous? Sometimes I hate my inner voice, making me question things I already know.
Lincoln steps out onto the porch, and I’m halfway out the door when I stop. I had one more question for Anita, and I can’t believe I almost forgot it. I turn back. “By the way, before we leave, have you ever met Nathan Thornton?”
Lincoln's whole body stiffens, and he pales.
“No, we had scheduled an interview. I thought he would be my way into the whole thing, but he didn't show. I waited for hours. Maybe someone found out that he was going to talk to me and made him disappear.” Her eyes widen with fear, and my inner voice is back.
What if Anita is telling the truth, and the Thorntons aren't at all what I expected them to be? Is everything about the man I admired, Corey Thornton, and the family everybody looks up to in town wrong?
Not to mention Lincoln. He lied to mine and Quinn’s faces. He told us Nathan met with Anita, which was why we were looking for him, too, but that’s not the case.
Lincoln wants us to find Nathan for a whole other reason, and my mind is reeling with why that might be.