My mother whipped toward her. “Emily?”
My father jumped in fast. “Anybody could type her name.”
Green nodded. “True. That’s why we’re verifying the account. But I’ll ask plainly: did any of you contact Olivia last night asking for money?”
My mother’s face crumpled into shaky sincerity. “We didn’t call her. I swear.”
Mark made a small snorting sound.
I turned to him. “What was that?”
He shrugged. “Nothing.”
Green continued. “Olivia’s bank flagged an attempted wire template created in her name. That suggests someone had enough information to try initiating a transfer.”
My father’s jaw tightened. “Are you accusing us?”
“I’m stating facts,” Green said. “Facts clear the innocent and catch the guilty.”
Then she said, “We’re going to request your phones. Voluntary cooperation resolves this faster.”
My father bristled. “You can’t just—”
“We can request,” Green corrected. “And we can get a warrant if necessary.”
Silence.
Emily’s breathing went shallow.
Mark shifted, annoyed. “This is overkill.”
Green didn’t blink. “Overkill is impersonating someone’s family and using a fake emergency to pressure money.”
Mark’s throat bobbed.
Then Emily whispered, barely audible:
“Mom…”
My mother turned, desperate. “What?”
Emily’s voice cracked. “I didn’t think—”
My father’s face tightened. “Emily.”
Green’s gaze sharpened. “Emily, what didn’t you think?”
Emily’s shoulders shook. She looked from my mother to my father to Mark like she was begging someone to save her.
No one moved.
Mark stared at the wall, already detaching.
And then Emily looked at me—the person they always sent to clean up the mess.
Her voice broke.
“It was supposed to be… just a loan.”
My mother gasped like she’d been stabbed. “Emily!”
Mark snapped, “Are you serious?”
My father’s face went gray.
Green nodded once, calm as stone. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
Emily wiped at her face like a child.
“Mark needed money.”
Mark cut in, “I did not—”
Emily flinched. “You did. You said—”
Green lifted a hand. “Mark. Be quiet.”
It was the first time I’d ever seen anyone shut Mark down in that house—and have it hold.
Emily swallowed hard. “He said if he didn’t pay… he’d be in trouble.”
My mother choked. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Emily let out a bitter laugh through tears. “I did. You always tell me it’ll be okay. You always say we’ll figure it out. And then you call Olivia.”
My chest tightened.
Emily continued, shaking. “I found a service online. It showed how you can make a call look like it’s from someone else. I thought… if it looked like Mom… Olivia would do it.”
Heat rushed up my neck.
“You used my mother’s voice,” I said, low and steady. “You used Mark dying.”
Emily flinched. “I didn’t mean—”
Green cut in, precise. “Emily, did you send the wire instructions?”
Emily’s shoulders sagged. “Yes.”
Green looked to my parents. “Did you know?”
My mother sobbed, wide-eyed. “No. I swear I didn’t.”
My father didn’t answer fast enough.
Green’s gaze pinned him. “Sir?”
He exhaled like defeat. “Emily told me Mark needed money,” he admitted. “But I didn’t know she was going to… do it like that.”
So he did know she planned to call me.
Just not that she’d weaponize a spoofed number.
Green stepped aside briefly, then returned.
“We confirmed the account details match an account under Emily Wilson’s name.”
Emily made a broken sound.
Green kept her voice even. “No money was transferred, so the county may offer a diversion program for a first-time offense, but this is still a criminal matter. There will be a report. The account will be frozen pending review. There may be fees and mandatory fraud education. If conditions are violated, the case proceeds.”
My mother swayed like she might faint.
Emily looked at me like I could fix it.
I didn’t.
Not anymore.
Leave a Comment