Chapter 12 - The Childcare Account
The investigation widened overnight.
Once Leah knew what to search for, the system began revealing layers.
Fake insurance.
Fake retirement plans.
Fake transit benefits.
But the worst discovery involved childcare.
Blackwell Domestic Services had received tax incentives for subsidizing childcare for low-income employees.
The records showed hundreds of thousands of dollars distributed every year.
June had never received a dollar.
Neither had most eligible workers.
The money went through a nonprofit called Bright Futures Family Assistance.
Leah opened the board registration.
Daniel Mercer was treasurer.
The chairman was Raymond.
June stared at the screen.
“They used our children?”
Her voice was colder than I had ever heard it.
“In the paperwork.”
“They put Lila and Micah's names down?”
Leah nodded carefully.
“Yes.”
The database claimed both children received $780 a month in childcare assistance.
June stood so quickly her chair scraped the floor.
“My mother was using grocery money to pay a woman down the street to watch Micah.”
Nobody spoke.
“I skipped meals.”
She pointed at the screen.
“And they're saying my children were getting seven hundred eighty dollars?”
“Yes.”
June walked toward the window.
For days, she had been afraid.
Now she was angry.
That mattered.
Fear makes people hide.
Anger sometimes makes them speak.
“Show me all of it.”
Leah hesitated.
“June—”
“Show me.”
For the next hour, June reviewed records.
She recognized names.
Housekeepers.
Cooks.
Women who shared buses.
A man who cleaned pools.
A single father who worked nights.
“These people talked about this.”
She pointed to one name.
“Angela thought she was stupid because she couldn't understand her deductions.”
Another.
“Derek was evicted.”
Another.
“Sonia borrowed money for daycare.”
Another.
“Maribel stopped taking insulin regularly.”
The spreadsheet stopped being data.
June gave every row a face.
At 3:11 p.m., Marcus entered.
“We have movement.”
“Raymond?”
“Mercer.”
“What did he do?”
“He withdrew ninety thousand dollars from a personal account and tried to book a flight to Mexico City.”
“Stop him.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Police already did.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Our lawyers made the first disclosure this morning.”
“Investigators were waiting.”
Mercer had been detained at O'Hare.
He had not been charged yet.
But he was talking.
Raymond would know within minutes.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Raymond's voice came through.
“You really went to the government.”
“Yes.”
“You stupid bastard.”
“You sound nervous.”
“You think they'll separate your clean businesses from everything else?”
“No.”
“You think cooperation saves you?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
I looked at June.
“Because you threatened children.”
Silence.
Then Raymond laughed.
“You always did get sentimental too late.”
The call ended.
Marcus checked his phone.
“His company car just left his house.”
“Where is he going?”
“We don't know.”
Leah turned to her laptop.
I looked toward June.
“Your children stay here.”
She nodded.
Then another phone rang.
June's.
She looked at the screen.
Her face lost color.
“It's Lila's school.”
“But Lila is here.”
June answered.
“Hello?”
Her expression changed.
“What?”
She stood.
“No.”
“What man?”
Marcus was already moving toward her.
June pressed the phone closer.
Then she looked at me.
“They said a man came this morning with paperwork authorizing him to pick up Lila.”
The room went silent.
“Who?”
June listened.
May you like
Then whispered the answer.
“Raymond Cross.”
