watched my mother.
Diane stared back at him as if she had seen a ghost.
Then he spoke her name.
“Diane Mercer.”
She said nothing.
He opened his folder.
“My name is Thomas Vale. I’m an investigator with the bank’s financial-crimes division.”
My mother appeared to stop breathing.
Grant turned to me.
“Natalie, I need you to listen to me.”
“What is happening?”
He looked devastated.
“I didn’t go home for the hospital bag.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“I got a fraud alert this morning.”
The room became quiet except
