Page 19 of Drowning in Lies

The deeds are all in place for the LLC properties, and there are no loans aside from the original mortgages you took out when you purchased the apartment building and the two office buildings.The rental houses have no mortgage since you purchased them outright.

The condo, your house here and the Maui villa all have mortgages in place under both of your names. It looks like all three properties were mortgaged for 80% of their total value. The condo was mortgaged for $592,000 shortly after the deed was transferred in July, and the house was mortgaged back in January for $1.6 million. The mortgage for the Maui property was $1.2 million. It was taken out three years ago, shortly after your mother transferred the deed to you both. The mortgage payments for all three are current are current, as are the property taxes. The mortgage documents are attached in case you need them for your records.

I am concerned after our phone call yesterday, so if any of this conflicts with the information that you have, please call me right away. I'll be out of the office this afternoon, but you have my cell number if you need to reach me.

Take care,

Melissa"

The rage that swept through me was overwhelming. "That fucking rat-bastard!" I snarled, turning my laptop toward Chris. "He took out mortgages on our houseandthe goddamned condo, plus my mom's villa in Maui that she signed over to us as a wedding gift. Almost $3.4 million in loans!"

I stood up and started pacing the room as Chris read Melissa's email. After he finished cursing my late husband, he had me forward the email to him so that he could send it to Det. Horton.

Sherry spoke up, after sitting in stunned silence during my tirade. "So let me get this straight. You both jointly owned your house and the place in Maui, plus the condo since he pulled some kind of scam to get his name on that deed. All three properties were owned free and clear, then he managed to take out mortgages for over three million dollars"

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up," I said bitterly.

"And that doesn't even take into consideration the discrepancies in the real estate bank account, or anything from their joint checking account," Chris added with a disgusted shake of his head.

"I don't understand how he managed to do all of that. I mean, I would think banks would be pretty damned thorough about approving mortgages - especially for those amounts - so how did he manage to scam themthreedifferenttimes?" She asked incredulously, her voice rising to a higher pitch with each word until she was almost screeching.

Chris looked at me with a dawning realization in his eyes, before turning to look at his wife. "Scott is a mortgage broker," he reminded her. "I'm guessing that's what the payoff was for."

Chapter 10: The Video

I sighed as I shut down my laptop. "Ok, I'm going upstairs to freshen up and then we need to go, or we'll be late to meet Det. Horton."

I went upstairs to run a brush through my hair and put a little makeup on to try to cover the worst of the dark circles. It didn't really help, but I supposed nobody expected me to look my best right now anyway.

I headed back downstairs to find Chris and Sherry waiting for me. "Let's get this shitshow on the road," she snarked as she slung her arm over my shoulder to lead me out to their car.

"Would you guys mind if I stayed with you for a few more days?" I asked from the backseat as we started the drive back to my house.

Sherry looked over her shoulder at me and frowned. "You don't even have to ask. Pack some more of your clothes while you're at the house today and stay with us as long as you need to, honey."

I smiled gratefully. "I can't thank you guys enough for everything you've done for me. I feel bad that you've both had to miss work to help me deal with all of this shit."

Chris spoke up, catching my eye in the rear-view mirror. "I've been able to work from home a bit, and have one of the other attorneys filling in for me at the office on anything that can't wait. Luckily, I don't have any court appearances until Thursday."

"And I have my assistant manager running the flower shop this week. She's more than capable and understands that my bestie needs me. There's nowhere else I'd be than by your side right now, you know that," she stated firmly.

I reached up and squeezed her shoulder. "Thanks, Sher."

We reached my house all too soon. I was dreading this, but desperately wanted to get it over with. Detective Horton was waiting on the porch with another man in a suit and two uniformed officers.

As we got out of Chris's car, Det. Horton walked down the steps to greet us, leaving his entourage waiting by the front door.

"Good morning, Mrs. Montgomery," he said with a polite smile, extending his hand to shake mine. "Mr. and Mrs. Decker, thank you for joining us this morning." He shook their hands as well, as I reminded him to call me Lila.

"Please, detective, I really would prefer you call me Lila. There is no need to stand on formalities at this point."

He gave a small smile. "No, I suppose not. Feel free to call me James, by the way."

We walked toward the porch, and I led the way to the front door with my keys in hand. I unlocked the door and pushed it open. The alarm beeped as it engaged, and I typed in the code on the keypad to disarm it. Everyone trailed in behind me, except for the two uniformed officers who apparently were going to stand guard outside while the search was conducted.

"Let me introduce everyone quickly, and then we can speak for a few minutes before we get started today. Lila, this is Det. Mike Dobrowski from the fraud unit." He then gestured to each person as he identified us. "Mike, this is Lila Montgomery, and her friends Christopher and Sherry Decker."

Det. Dobrowski stepped forward to shake my hand. "Ma'am, we appreciate your cooperation, and I would like to extend my condolences for your loss."

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