Chapter 6: O Plano de Fuga

The clock was ticking. With only a week left on the eviction notice, Roxanne’s frantic movements became more pronounced. I saw her making late-night trips to Harmony Creek Gaming and Gentry’s Pawn Shop, her car parked discreetly in alleys, her figure cloaked in shadow as she slipped inside. She was tying up loose ends, just as Marcus had warned.

My gut told me she was preparing to disappear, to cut her losses and vanish with whatever she could salvage from Arthur’s estate. I had to verify her exact plan.

One afternoon, while the children were at school, I received a cryptic text message from an unknown number. It was a single word: “Trust.”

I knew immediately what it meant. Arthur Thorne’s family trust fund. The one Elias knew nothing about, the one Roxy was planning to liquidate. This anonymous tip had to be from Marcus, a final warning.

I knew Arthur had always kept certain financial affairs separate, old-fashioned, off the books in many ways. A trust fund Elias didn’t know about would be the perfect target for Roxy’s escape. It would be liquid, untraceable, and she could drain it before anyone realized.

I decided to check my own home office, a small room off the living area. I remembered Marcus mentioning that Roxy might try to frame me. If she was fleeing, she would need a scapegoat.

My heart pounded as I entered the room. Nothing seemed out of place. But then, I noticed a file folder on my desk, tucked beneath a stack of old bills. It was one I didn’t recognize. My name was scrawled on the tab in messy handwriting, clearly not mine.

I opened it. Inside were meticulously faked bank records. Statements from Arthur Thorne’s trust account, showing a series of large, unauthorized withdrawals. And under “beneficiary,” my name was listed. A fabricated paper trail, complete with forged signatures, designed to implicate me in the theft of the trust fund.

Roxy wasn’t just planning to flee; she was planning to frame me for grand larceny. She would drain the trust, blame me, and disappear, leaving me to deal with the legal fallout, the eviction, and the wrath of Harmony Creek. It was a cold, calculated move, perfectly aligned with her criminal history.

I tucked the fake records into the briefcase Marcus had given me, adding them to the growing pile of evidence. This was the final piece of the puzzle. Now, I had everything I needed.

My original plan to expose Roxy had focused on the legal system, but Marcus’s words echoed in my mind: “These men she’s dealing with now… they play for keeps.” Going to the police with evidence of a past jewel heist and a future frame job might get Roxy arrested, but it wouldn’t guarantee justice from the criminal underworld she had scorned. They would handle their own.

My new strategy was precise. I wouldn’t go to the police. I would let Roxy’s “partners” do the work. They would collect their debts, and in doing so, expose her for the double-crossing criminal she was.

I needed to get the information to the right people, discreetly and effectively. I thought about Jacob Stone at Harmony Creek Gaming, and Thomas Gentry at the pawn shop. They were owed money, lots of it, according to Marcus’s ledger. And they wouldn’t take kindly to being left holding the bag.

I crafted a series of anonymous messages, carefully worded to sound like an insider’s tip. I didn’t mention my name, or Marcus’s. I simply presented the facts: Roxanne Bellweather, her true identity as Roxie Mae Jensen, her past involvement in the Riverside Ruby heist where she double-crossed her crew, and her current plan to liquidate Arthur Thorne’s trust fund and flee Harmony Creek, leaving her local associates in the lurch.

I included specific dates and amounts from Marcus’s ledgers, detailing what Roxy owed Jacob Stone and Thomas Gentry. I also mentioned the fake bank records she planned to plant, implying she would frame someone local for the trust fund theft – a warning that they might become collateral damage.

I used a public library computer, wiping my digital footprint after each message, sending them to burner email addresses I’d found for Stone and Gentry listed in Marcus’s dossier. I attached scanned copies of the most damning pieces of evidence: the grainy photo of Roxie Mae, select pages from Marcus’s ledgers showing their debts, and a copy of the fake bank records I’d found on my desk, clearly showing my name as the intended scapegoat.

The goal wasn’t just to inform them, but to provoke them. To make them realize they were being played, just as Marcus had been. To make them understand that Roxy was about to cut and run with their money, just as she had done before.

I sent the final email, feeling a strange mix of fear and exhilaration. The trap was set. Now, I just had to wait for Roxy to step into it.

The eviction deadline was upon me. I had packed essential bags for the children, just in case. But I knew that if my plan worked, we wouldn’t be leaving this house. Roxy would be.

The air in Harmony Creek felt charged. I could almost feel the tension radiating from the quiet corners of Main Street, from the back rooms of the arcade and the pawn shop. The whispers would begin, not about me, but about Roxy. The local underworld was a network of tight-lipped individuals, but once suspicion was sown, it would spread like wildfire among them.

I knew Roxy was busy with her final preparations. She was likely making arrangements for her flight, probably buying a ticket, setting up offshore accounts. She was confident, arrogant even, in her ability to outsmart everyone. That arrogance would be her downfall.

Elias called again, his voice now tinged with genuine worry, though still directed at me. “Cassie, the rumors are getting worse. People are saying you’re losing it. That you’re making up crazy stories about Roxy.”

“Let them talk, Elias,” I said, my voice steady. “The truth will come out. And when it does, it won’t be pretty.”

He sighed, a sound of profound helplessness. “Just… be careful, Cassie. Roxy has powerful friends.”

“I know,” I replied. “And she’s about to lose them all.”

I hung up, knowing that our next conversation would be very different. Elias was still blinded, but even he would not be able to ignore what was coming. The entire community would finally see Roxy for who she truly was.

My heart pounded with a nervous energy. I had set in motion a dangerous chain of events. But I had no choice. My children’s future, and Arthur’s legacy, depended on it. Roxy was a criminal, a parasite, and she needed to be stopped. And sometimes, the only way to fight fire was with fire, even if it meant stepping into the shadows myself. The pieces were in place. The confrontation was inevitable.