Chapter 5
Brenda’s messages gave the investigators a trail to follow.
They also gave Leo something painful to read.
I had hoped to keep him from seeing that line, but Evelyn explained that he needed to understand the documents connected to his name. She met with him in a quiet room and let him ask questions at his own pace.
When we left, he walked beside me without speaking.
In the car, he said, “She knew you’d stop her.”
“Yes.”
“She picked me because she thought I wouldn’t.”
I kept my eyes on the road.
“I think she was wrong about how much you could understand. She counted on you trusting her.”
“That’s worse.”
“I know.”
At home, I moved Leo’s belongings back into his room. He wanted to sleep there, but he asked if Maya could stay over. She arrived with an overnight bag and made a joke about the terrible pillow in our guest room.
Leo smiled for her sake.
That night, he asked me to leave the hallway light on.
I did.
The bank dispute moved quickly once we provided the altered identification. The lender confirmed in writing that Leo would not owe the proposed loan. Evelyn helped us place protections on his credit information and check for other accounts.
We found one more inquiry, but no other open debt.
For the first time in days, I breathed a little easier.
Then the diner manager called.
A man had come in during Leo’s usual shift and asked which nights he worked. The manager had refused to answer. She recognized the name Victor when I mentioned it and said she would keep a record of the visit.
I forwarded her account to the officer handling our report.
Leo heard me on the phone.
“Can I still go back to work?”
“We’ll talk to your manager and make a plan. Right now I want you focused on school.”
“I don’t want him to take my job too.”
I understood. Working at the diner was something Leo had chosen. Brenda had turned the paychecks into a burden, but his friends there still mattered to him.
“We won’t let him decide your life,” I said. “We’ll decide what feels safe.”
Brenda texted me that evening. She wanted to see Leo.
I showed him the message.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“You don’t have to answer now.”
He took my phone and read it again.
“Did she ask whether I’m okay?”
The message only said, Can I talk to Leo this weekend?
“No,” I said.
He handed the phone back.
“Then no.”
I replied that Leo was not ready and asked her to send any information about Victor to Evelyn. Brenda answered with a single word: Okay.
Two days later, the police asked Leo and me to come in. An investigator named Detective Ramos spoke to us together.
Victor Hale was not the man’s real name.
He had used several names to approach people about false inheritances. The account that received Brenda’s transfers had moved money onward, but the records and diner visit had given investigators a way to identify him.
“Will you catch him?” Leo asked.
“We’re working with other agencies that have reports about him,” Ramos said. “What helps us now is hearing exactly what each of you experienced.”
Leo told him about the envelope, the phone call, and the rent chart. His voice shook only once.
When we came home, he went straight to his room. I followed after a few minutes and knocked.
“Come in.”
He was sitting on the floor with his old savings jar beside him. It held twenty-three dollars and some coins.
“I used to put my tips in here,” he said. “Before the rent.”
I sat down.
“We’ll get your money back.”
“What if Brenda doesn’t have it?”
“Then I’ll make sure you’re repaid while we work out what she owes.”
“I don’t want you paying for what she did.”
“You’re my son. Making sure you’re okay is my responsibility.”
He picked up a quarter and rolled it between his fingers.
“I thought you wanted me to act like an adult,” he said. “So I stopped telling you when things were hard.”
My chest tightened.
“I want you to grow up knowing you can come to me,” I said. “At sixteen, at thirty, whenever.”
He leaned against me. We sat there until Maya called us down for dinner.
The following Monday, Evelyn received a letter from Brenda’s attorney. Brenda accepted responsibility for taking Leo’s wages and offered to repay him.
There was a condition.
She wanted us to withdraw our statements about the signed loan application.
I read the letter twice.
May you like
Then I called Evelyn.
“Tell them no.”
