Chapter 5 - THE SECRET IN MONICA'S GARAGEFrank spent three days reviewing the footage.
He found something.
A pattern.
Every time Monica attempted to charge at my house, a second vehicle appeared nearby.
Different cars.
Same driver.
Frank couldn't identify him clearly.
But he noticed something else.
The man never looked at Monica.
He watched my house.
That changed the investigation.
Frank contacted a colleague who specialized in digital security.
They traced the anonymous emails.
The sender was masked.
But the metadata revealed something.
The messages had been routed through a commercial VPN.
The account had been created only six weeks earlier.
Exactly when my electricity usage increased.
Then Frank said:
“Let's look at Monica's property.”
I frowned.
“Legally?”
“Public records first.”
We discovered something unexpected.
Monica and Ryan had refinanced their home three months earlier.
Their mortgage had increased dramatically.
Then their Tesla financing appeared.
Then another loan.
A private loan.
$48,000.
The lender was a company I'd never heard of.
Frank searched it.
The company had only existed for eighteen months.
Its registered address was a mailbox.
Then he looked at Monica's husband's business.
The same company had loaned Ryan money.
I felt uneasy.
“What does this have to do with my electricity?”
Frank didn't answer immediately.
“Maybe nothing.”
“And maybe?”
“Maybe Monica isn't stealing electricity because she's cheap.”
I stared at him.
“Then why?”
He leaned back.
“Because someone is paying attention to her.”
That night, Monica's house was unusually quiet.
No children playing.
No lights upstairs.
At 11:40 p.m., Ryan came outside.
He looked around.
Then walked toward my house.
I opened the door before he knocked.
He looked frightened.
“Eleanor.”
“What happened?”
“Monica is hiding something.”
I stepped aside.
He entered.
“She has been meeting a man.”
“What man?”
“I don't know.”
“Where?”
“An old warehouse.”
He gave me an address.
Frank checked it.
The property belonged to the same company that had loaned Ryan money.
My stomach dropped.
“What happens there?”
Ryan shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“Then why tell me?”
“Because she told me something tonight.”
“What?”
“She said if anyone asks about your house, I should say you gave her permission to use the electricity.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“She said it was temporary.”
“Ryan, this isn't about charging a car.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
Then he looked at me.
“She mentioned your husband.”
My heart stopped.
“My husband died three years ago.”
“I know.”
“What did she say?”
Ryan swallowed.
“She said Thomas left something behind.”
I couldn't speak.
Thomas had been gone three years.
There was no reason Monica should know anything about him.
Unless someone had told her.
Frank arrived twenty minutes later.
I gave him the address.
He looked at it.
Then at me.
“Eleanor, we're going.”
“No.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You told me not to do anything alone.”
“I said we're going to investigate. Not trespass.”
Frank smiled.
“Good.”
We contacted the authorities.
The warehouse was already under investigation for financial fraud.
That was when everything changed.
Because the detective assigned to the case asked me one question:
“Did your husband ever work with a company called Northstar Energy?”
I froze.
“Yes.”
May you like
He leaned back.
“Then we need to talk.”
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