Chapter 6
Willow wondered what Charlie could possibly be doing with all that money. Was there even more than what they knew about? Mark certainly thought there was. In fact, he was certain there was. Since Charlie already owed Mark a large chunk of change. Too bad Willow couldn”t see it before. Had she known the kind of man he was, she would have never married him. Twisted as it was to admit, she was secretly glad she wasn’t the only one who was fooled by his charm.
Willow rolled out of bed that afternoon, her body sore and aching. She knew it was from all the stress she was under from the detectives, as well as being criticized from the townsfolk. There was so much going on in, she didn”t even believe it was her life. It felt like she was living in some bad dream or God was playing the biggest prank on her.
Nonetheless, she had to keep pushing through. That was the only way out. Although that would be much easier if Charlie wasn’t missing. That way, she would confront him. She would scream at him for all he’d put her through. For making her question herself over and over again.
She still had no idea where he was. No one did. But when he resurfaced, they’d finally send him to prison where he belonged.
As Willow shuffled through the cottage to get to the kitchen, she heard a loud knock on the door. She was sure it was Richy coming to tell her some new interesting facts he’d found out about Charlie. Until she opened it and was suddenly face to face with the detectives once again.
“Uh, hello?” she asked, standing there confused as to why they were back.
“May we come in?” The lead detective gave her the funniest look.
“Do you have a warrant?”
“We’re only here for questioning. For now, anyway.”
“Then no. Anything you have to ask me, you can ask me from there.”
The silent partner chuckled and shook his head, which led Willow to believe they knew something more than she did. They knew a lot that she didn”t, even though they questioned her as if they were clueless.
“Mrs. Shorts,” the lead detective spoke in a very clear tone. “We’ve been through your husband”s bank records and it’s funny, there isn’t a single traceable dime there. Not one that leads back to him… that is.”
Willow shifted her weight to one foot and looked at the detective with a raised eyebrow because she already knew what he was going to say.
“Now, when we went through your records, everything checked out. At first. But after some deeper digging, we found a lone account with your name on it. And guess how much money is in there?”
“Wh-How much?” she stuttered. “I don’t have any other accounts that would need to be dug up.”
Instead of answering Willow’s question, the detective handed her an envelope with the bank records inside. When she took a look at how much money was there, she nearly fainted in the doorway. There was over $300,000 in that account.
She had no idea where that account had come from or how the money got there.
“That isn’t my account,” she said. “I’ve never seen so much money in my life.”
“It has your name on it, Mrs. Shorts.”
“But it isn’t mine!”
“That’s a lot of money you have hiding there, Mrs. Shorts.” The other one said.
“It’s not my account! I’ve never even heard of that bank!”
“Right now, we can’t pinpoint where it came from or why you have it hiding in an offshore account, but when we get down to the bottom of this, both you and your husband will go down. Trust me on this. I would suggest you get ahead of this thing before it’s too late.”
“There’s nothing for me to get ahead of because I don”t know anything! If those are all the questions you have for me, I”d like you to leave now. Please. I have a busy day today.”
They both stood there staring at Willow with their evil Men In Black glasses and suits on. She knew they were trying to scare her. And truth be told, she was terrified. She’d heard countless stories of innocent people going to prison and she didn”t want to be one of them.
“Have a good day, Mrs. Shorts.” The lead detective emphasized her name as if to compare her to Charlie. “We’ll be in touch once we have more. Don’t go too far.”
Willow slammed the door shut and charged toward the kitchen for a glass of wine. It wasn’t even noon yet and she needed a drink. Bad. She’d had a lot of terrible mornings in her life, but that was by far one of the worst.
What the hell has Charlie gotten me into? $300,000!? That’s a lot of money and there’s no telling how much more there is. Does he have all of his money stashed away in accounts with my name on it? He must have known the day would come when the detectives would come knocking and wanted to make it look like it was all my fault.
She had to tell Brandi about this. She’s the only one she trusts to know what to do.
Willow decided she would head to Brandi’s office soon. She really didn’t want to bother her at work with her foolishness, but she was so stressed and needed the comfort of her best friend. Those detectives that showed up really had her spooked. They looked overly serious and more than ready to throw her in the slammer before they even found out where Charlie was. If she knew where he was, she would give him up in a heartbeat. But she didn”t. She hated that she ever married him, and after she learned about this offshore account, she hated his guts even more.
After she got dressed, she grabbed her keys and started for the door. To her surprise, the detective”s unmarked car was parked directly across the street. It’s like they weren’t even trying to keep themselves hidden. They clearly wanted her to know they were watching her and would be until they figured out a way to bring her down.
It was a wonder how they didn’t already have a way. There was money in an account with her name on it, regardless of whether she was the one to set it up.
When she got into her car, she sat there for a moment instead of turning on the ignition right away. She could see the lead detective glaring at her through her rearview mirror. He was a focused man––a man on a mission to bring down the bad guy. Willow didn’t blame him. She wanted to bring down the bad guy too. The real bad guy.
She slowly backed out of the driveway after sitting there for some time, and sure enough, the minute she pulled onto the street, he pulled out right behind her. Willow wanted to pull over and ask him what his deal was, but it was no use. She knew he wanted to put as much pressure on her as he could.
Not long into her drive, she got a call from an unknown number. It was a Sanibel area code, so she answered right away. She thought it might’ve been Charlie calling to tell her that he was turning himself in or even to come clean about what was going on. But it was Richy.
“I finally got a new phone,” he said. “I have to hide it from my dad, but I thought it was time I got one.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked. “Where’d you get the money for it? You aren’t working with Charlie, are you?”
“Heck no.” He scoffed. “I did some yard work for a few people in my neighborhood. Anyway, are you busy right now?”
Willow wasn’t necessarily busy, but it felt like she was. Her initial plan was to go to Brandi’s office to tell her about the detectives, and that’s where she was going unless she had a better offer.
“Depends,” I said. “Why are you asking?”
“I don’t have anything to do today,” he said. “Maybe we can investigate more.”
As tempting as his invitation sounded, Willow didn”t feel like hanging out that day. Not unless he had a surefire plan on how to find Charlie and clear her name of everything it was tied up in.
“I’m on my way to speak to someone right now. Maybe another time.”
“Speak to someone? Who?”
“Don’t you have school or something today?” she asked. “I’m sure your parents wouldn’t like it if they knew you were riding around with some strange woman they don’t know about. Especially with everything going on right now. I have two detectives from on my tail… I don”t think it’s safe for you to get yourself involved.”
“What!?” he sounded stoked. “You have detectives following you? Why?”
“I don’t know, Richy,” she sighed. “They showed up this morning saying they found some offshore bank account with my name on it and they think I”ve been helping Charlie get away with this all along.”
When Willow said it to him, it sounded even more ridiculous. She was sure his wheels would spin and he’d find a way to make what the detectives said make sense, so she didn”t want to talk about it with him. He was already skeptical of her once before.
“How much money did they say was in the account?” he asked.
“Why is that important?”
“I don’t know. Just curious.”
He was like her in a way; someone who wanted all the details and wouldn’t stop prying until he got them. However, in Charlie”s instance, she was afraid to dig around and ask questions. She knew she needed to because her freedom was at stake as well, but it was so terrifying knowing she had married a man who wasn’t who she thought he was.
“Have you found out anything new?” she changed topics. “Where Charlie might be? Who else he scammed or might have been married to? I think it’s time I start investigating a few things from back home myself. Especially with these detectives trailing my every move now.”
“Nothing yet,” he said. “That’s why I wanted to hang out. To ask questions, put our heads together, you know. It seems like I might be the only one who trusts what you say right now. Besides, I”m the only person who’s been digging into this guy for a long time.”
“I appreciate that, but you’re not the only one who trusts what I say. My best friend, Brandi, knows for a fact I had nothing to do with this. I can count on her to have my back. That’s where I”m headed now. She’s a lawyer, so she can help me figure this all out. She can also help me get divorced from this conman.”
“If you say so,” he said. “I guess save my number and call me when you have free time? I won’t be doing much over the weekend. Maybe we can get together then. Go to the beach. Like we always do.”