Chapter 4 - JENNA'S SECRET
Jenna’s defense came immediately.
And it was not stupid.
Caleb had come to her six weeks earlier.
He showed:
payroll reports,
employee timesheets,
an unpaid customer invoice,
a bank account almost empty.
He told her four employees would miss paychecks.
He said:
“If I can get through one month, I’m okay.”
Jenna asked whether Ryan knew.
Caleb said:
“Dad already thinks the business is too big for me.”
That part was true.
Ryan had told Caleb twice:
“Slow down before you grow yourself broke.”
Jenna feared Ryan would force Caleb to close.
So she transferred:
$20,000
from the Whitfields’ emergency savings account.
Caleb signed a handwritten repayment note.
Six months.
No interest.
Jenna believed she was helping.
Ryan asked:
“Did he repay anything?”
“No.”
“Did you ask?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That two customers were late.”
Ryan turned to Caleb.
“Were they?”
“One was.”
“And the other?”
Caleb looked away.
There it was.
Jenna had been lied to.
But Ryan did not let her hide behind that.
“You moved twenty thousand dollars of our money without telling me.”
She replied:
“To help our son.”
“Our son is not a password that makes consent disappear.”
Jenna flinched.
Caleb said:
“Leave Mom out of it.”
Ryan looked at him.
“You put her in it.”
Caleb had no answer.
Then Mark Ellis handed Ryan another document.
The alleged guaranty.
Ryan looked at the signature.
It looked like his.
Very close.
But the date made his stomach drop.
May you like
He had been in Arizona visiting his brother that day.
The guaranty claimed he signed in Ohio.
