Chapter 11 - The Trap Springs
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I answered Evelyn's call on speakerphone so Maya could hear.
"Jason!" my mother shrieked, her voice shrill with panic. "Where are you?! The police just showed up at my house! They have a search warrant for my financial records!"
"I'm at a hotel, Mom," I said calmly. "Just like I told you."
"They're taking my computer! They're asking about the money you sent for Maya!" Evelyn was crying now, the fake tears replaced by genuine terror. "You have to come down here and tell them it's a misunderstanding! Tell them the money was a gift!"
"I can't do that, Mom," I said, leaning back in my chair. "Because it wasn't a gift. It was child support. And I have the wire receipts proving it."
"Jason, you can't do this to your own mother!" she screamed. "I raised that girl for you! I put a roof over her head when you abandoned her!"
"You put her in a basement," Maya spoke up, her voice steady and clear, cutting through the speaker. "You locked the pantry, Grandma. You took my dad's money and gave it to Uncle Greg."
Evelyn gasped, realizing Maya was listening. "Maya, sweetie, you know Grandma loves you. We were just on a tight budget!"
"A tight budget that included an eighteen-hundred-dollar laptop that I never saw," Maya replied coldly.
"Mom," I interrupted, ending the charade. "Greg just called me. He's already cooperating with the authorities. He told them you orchestrated the whole thing."
"He... he what?" Evelyn's voice dropped to a stunned whisper.
"Your golden boy threw you under the bus to save his own skin," I said, twisting the knife. "The police know about the welfare fraud. They know about the Airbnb. It's over, Evelyn."
"You're a monster, Jason," she spat, her true colors finally showing. "You and that ungrateful brat deserve each other."
"Goodbye, Evelyn," I said, and ended the call.
I looked at Maya. She let out a long, heavy exhale, as if a physical weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
May you like
"It's done," I told her.
"Not yet," Maya said, looking at the door. "We still have to talk to Leo."
