Twenty minutes.
Thirty.
Forty-five.
Still nothing.
At 5:06 p.m., her phone buzzed.
A message from Brandon.
I’m okay.
Rachel responded immediately.
Call me.
No response.
Where are Brenda and Paige?
Nothing.
Then another message appeared.
Do not involve police.
Rachel stared at the screen.
Too late.
She typed:
Why?
The answer came five minutes later.
Because the money wasn’t taken from you.
Rachel frowned.
Then another message appeared.
It was taken from them.
Before Rachel could respond, her email chimed.
An anonymous address had sent her a single attachment.
No subject line.
No message.
A spreadsheet.
Rachel hesitated before opening it.
The document contained hundreds of rows.
Vehicle identification numbers.
Purchase prices.
Resale values.
Bank accounts.
Dates.
Initials.
Amounts.
Rachel recognized Brandon’s initials.
BM.
Paige’s.
PM.
And another combination appeared repeatedly.
BC.
No.
Brandon Carter would be BC.
She looked again.
The spreadsheet showed BC beside almost every
