Betrayal - Fern Michaels [98]
She drained the pasta and poured her homemade sauce over the top. She sat at the small table in the dining room and ate every last bite on her plate. It’d been so long since she’d had a good meal. She told herself she didn’t have time to focus on herself while she was planning and plotting. It was too distracting. She’d lived like a nun for years; now that she was putting the plan into action, she would reward herself by living the way she wanted.
When she was done eating, Kate carried her dishes to the small kitchen, rinsed them, and put them in the dishwasher.
An hour later, she’d found just what she needed—access to Debbie’s credit cards. There were several. Visa. MasterCard. Discover. American Express. All had balances, but none were extremely high. A few clicks of the keyboard, and all read differently. Now all of her cards were maxed out and a hold placed on all the accounts until all balances were paid in full.
Next, she’d check the Board of Realtors’ code of ethics. After finding what she needed, she decided it would require some digging. Had Debbie ever misled a prospective client into believing the property they were selling or buying was worth more than its actual price? Possibly Melanie could fill her in. This meant another trip to her office. Kate would make up an excuse for stopping by unannounced.
Next Kate discovered that there were three mortgages against the Winter home. An hour later, they were all in the final stages of foreclosure. It might take a few days for the bank to generate the required paperwork, but it would happen. Maybe Debbie could move into the condo she’d tried to sell Kate.
Finally she accessed the three credit reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
Don’s credit rating was low, the bankruptcy still showing. Debbie’s wasn’t all that terrible. Not yet. It would take a few weeks for the credit card companies and her mortgage company to send the required reports to the three reporting agencies, but it would happen.
Kate made copies of the night’s work and locked them inside the small fireproof safe she’d bought just for this purpose. Rain, fire, she wasn’t taking any chances. A hurricane, she’d grab the safe and go. Then Kate did a sweep of her computer’s hard drive, erasing the evidence of where she had “been,” so to speak.
A pinch of guilt rushed over her. She was ruining a family’s livelihood without their having any knowledge of what was about to befall them. Then she remembered Sara’s sick video testimony. She remembered how that testimony had in essence killed Alex and destroyed her world. What she was doing was mild by comparison.
After taking a long, leisurely shower, Kate went to bed with a book. She hadn’t read for pleasure in years. She had the latest Stephen King novel beside the bed. One of Alex’s favorite authors.
A perfect ending to a perfect day.
Chapter 27
Coleman had hit another dead end that evening. It appeared Kate Rocket had fallen off the face of the earth. His investigator had uncovered an interesting clue earlier in the day, however. Kate had recently walked away from her job as a supervisor for the Internal Revenue Service in Orlando. Apparently she was their most dedicated employee. When she didn’t come to the office for three days, they filed a missing persons report. Her apartment had been swept clean by the Orlando Police Department. Nothing showed foul play of any kind, and there was nothing indicating where she might have gone. She’d had her phone and utilities disconnected but left no forwarding address. Nothing with the postal service either. For some reason, Kate Rocket did not want anyone to know where she lived.
Coleman couldn’t come up with a good reason for Kate’s subterfuge. He simply wanted to give her the envelope that he’d sworn to deliver. Then he could retire to his cabin.
Coleman had always wanted to open a small business of some sort. Maybe a mom-and-pop store out in the country,