THE PAPERS DESTROYED EVERYTHING I BELIEVED
Carter Development Group had been approximately eight weeks from defaulting on a major construction loan.
Thomas had personally guaranteed several properties.
The company was in trouble.
Bad trouble.
Then Pauline showed me the eleven-thousand-dollar transactions.
The same withdrawals Thomas had blamed on Marissa.
They did not originate from an account Marissa controlled.
They came from one only Thomas Carter could authorize.
The money moved through a shell company.
Then went somewhere worse.
A private card room.
Gambling debts.
Thomas had been quietly draining company reserves for months.
THE “LOVER” WASN’T MARISSA’S LOVER
His name was Curtis Doyle.
A private investigator.
Paid by Thomas.
Curtis had been instructed to stand beside Marissa outside that motel.
Why was Marissa there?
She was delivering a payroll envelope to a site foreman working temporarily in Westhaven County.
Nothing more.
Thomas had arranged for a photographer to capture a misleading angle.
The photograph was staged.
THE TEXT MESSAGES WERE FAKE TOO
The mysterious man identified as “D” never existed.
The phone was a burner.
Purchased with cash.
Messages were sent to Marissa’s real number.
But here was the detail Thomas had conveniently removed:
Marissa never answered once.
Not one reply.
The screenshots had been arranged to make it look like a conversation.
They weren’t.
They were bait.
And I swallowed every piece.
