“I heard a window break downstairs,” Lucas whispered back.

The speakerphone carried the sound of his ragged, uneven breathing.

I leaned closer to the phone, my heart hammering against my ribs.

On the kitchen counter, my laptop screen glowed in the dim afternoon light.

The browser tab showed the secure portal for First National Bank.

A red banner had just flashed across the top of my screen.

*Transaction Suspended. Account Frozen for Investigation.*

The moment Lucas had clicked the button to initiate the transfer, the system had flagged it.

It was a hard lock, triggered by Melanie Harper’s fraud report.

Melanie’s notarized affidavit had been uploaded to the bank’s high-risk compliance department just five minutes earlier.

“Chloe, are you there?” Lucas hissed, his voice trembling.

“I’m here,” Chloe said, looking at me for guidance.

I tapped a line on my yellow legal pad, signaling her to keep him talking.

“Did you call the police?” Chloe asked him.

“No,” Lucas snapped. “If the police come, everything is ruined.”

“Why would everything be ruined, Lucas?” she asked.

“The accounts,” he said, his voice rising in panic. “The Melanie Harper accounts. They’re locked.”