Ray snapped:
“You don’t run my facility.”
Tom smiled.
“I don’t want to.”
“I want to go home.”
“Find the record.”
Louise whispered:
“Please.”
Megan looked at her.
Then at Ray.
“I’ll check.”
Ray stared.
“Megan.”
She lowered her voice.
“If the account was migrated separately from the physical unit, the ledger could have gone somewhere else.”
Ray’s face tightened.
“That’s not what happened.”
“How do you know?”
Tom asked.
Ray turned toward him.
“Because I know my system.”
Tom pointed toward the paper in Megan’s hand.
“Five minutes ago your system said the paper didn’t matter.”
“Now your paper shows the old number.”
“Maybe let the records finish talking.”
Megan walked toward the office.
Ray remained.
Louise looked at the trunk.
One red label had been placed on its lid.
She stepped into the unit.
Ray blocked her.
“You can’t enter.”
“It’s my unit.”
“It’s under lien processing.”
Louise’s eyes filled.
“You can sell forty years of our life like it means nothing.”
Ray’s face remained hard.
“Then bring me proof before the bidders do.”
Tom looked at him.
“You have proof in front of you.”
“No.”
“She has withdrawals.”
“Not payment allocation.”
Tom said:
“Exactly.”
“So before anything gets sold, we find out where the money went.”
Ray did not answer.
Mike quietly set the auction tags down on the cart.
Ray noticed.
“What are you doing?”
Mike said:
“Waiting.”
“For what?”
“The account check.”
Ray’s voice sharpened.
“You were told to clear the unit.”
Mike looked at Louise.
Then at the bank statements.
Then at Tom.
“I’m not carrying anything out until Megan comes back.”
Ray stared.
“You work for me.”
Mike swallowed.
“I work here.”
Ray’s face reddened.
Before he could answer, Megan returned.
This time she carried two binders and a stack of printouts.
Her expression had changed.
Ray saw it immediately.
“What?”
Megan spread the first sheet across the golf-cart hood.
“Mrs. Harrison’s automatic withdrawals are real.”
Louise exhaled.
Ray said:
“We know that.”
“No.”
Megan looked at him.
“I mean the facility received them.”
Silence.
Tom stepped closer.
“Every month?”
“Every month.”
“June?”
“Yes.”
“July?”
“Yes.”
“August?”
“Yes.”
Louise pressed one hand to her chest.
“I told you.”
Ray looked at the sheet.
“Then why does 170 show delinquent?”
Megan hesitated.
“I’m still tracing it.”
Ray pointed.
“Then nothing is proven.”
Tom looked at him.
“The money arrived.”
“That proves plenty.”
Ray ignored him.
“Megan.”
She opened the second binder.
“This is the migration log from when the property switched billing platforms.”
“I found legacy customer ID twenty-seven.”