Part 1

After my family reunion, I checked my bank account in the hallway downstairs, far from the smell of barbecue and cheap beer coming from the kitchen.

My banking app took forever to load, the spinning icon making my stomach tighten.

Then the number appeared.

Available balance: $14.72.

At first, I thought I had opened the wrong account.

But then I saw the transfers.

Five of them.

All sent that same afternoon while I had been outside helping my mother set up folding chairs in the backyard.

$2,000.
$3,500.
$1,200.
$4,000.
$850.

Every dollar I had saved for the closing costs on my small condo in Boise was gone.

My hand went cold around my phone.

Across the living room, my brother-in-law, Travis Keller, was leaning against the fireplace with a paper plate resting on his stomach. He was laughing with my sister Amber and my cousin Derek.

My purse sat on the coffee table beside them, half open.

I walked toward them, forcing my legs not to shake.

“Who touched my phone?”

The room went quiet.

Amber rolled her eyes. “Megan, don’t start.”

I turned the screen toward her. “My account is empty.”

Travis did not even bother acting shocked.

He wiped sauce from his lip and smirked.

“We needed it more than you.”

The words hit me harder than the stolen money.

My mother, Carol, stood up from the couch.

“Honey, let’s talk about this calmly.”

“Calmly?” I whispered. “Someone stole almost twelve thousand dollars from me.”

Amber crossed her arms.

“You don’t have kids. You don’t understand pressure.”

“And that gives you the right to rob me?”

Part 2

Travis laughed.

“Rob? Family helps family.”

“You used my phone.”

“You left it unlocked,” he said with a shrug. “That’s basically permission.”

A few people chuckled. Not everyone. Uncle Raymond looked down. My younger cousin Lucy looked horrified.

But nobody stepped in.

My hands trembled as I reached for my bag.

“Then you won’t mind what happens next.”

Travis grinned.

“What, you’re going to call the cops on your own family?”

Amber smiled like she had already won.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Before I could answer, a loud bang shook the house.

The front door flew open.

Part 3

Two police officers stepped inside.

Behind them came a woman in a navy blazer, a badge clipped to her belt, her eyes scanning the room like she already knew exactly where the lies were hiding.

“Megan Price?” she asked.

I raised my hand.

She nodded.

“Detective Laura Bennett. Your bank’s fraud department contacted us after the emergency report you filed from the backyard.”

Travis’s smile disappeared.

Amber whispered, “What emergency report?”

I looked at her, then at my purse.

“The one I sent before I came back inside.”