Chapter 9 - The Bounced Card
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Suzanne Foster stood at the checkout counter of a high-end Miami boutique, her arms crossed in profound irritation. A stack of silk blouses and a designer handbag sat on the glass counter between her and the apologetic sales associate.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but the card has been declined again," the associate said, handing the shiny piece of plastic back to Suzanne.
"That's impossible," Suzanne snapped, snatching the card. "Run it again. It's a joint account, there’s plenty of money in there."
"I have run it three times. It's coming up as a frozen account."
Suzanne pulled out her phone, her face burning with embarrassment as the other customers in line began to whisper. She dialed her brother's number. Derek answered on the second ring, sounding distracted.
"Derek, you said you fixed this!" Suzanne hissed, marching out of the boutique empty-handed. "My card just declined again! I looked like an absolute idiot in front of everyone."
"What do you mean it declined?" Derek asked, the annoyance clear in his voice. "I checked the balance yesterday. There was fifteen thousand dollars in the joint savings."
"Well, the bank says it's frozen. Did Skylar do something?"
Derek paused, sitting at his desk. He hadn't heard from Skylar in twenty-four hours. She hadn't come home last night, which was entirely out of character for her. He had assumed she was sleeping on a friend's couch, throwing a prolonged tantrum over the coffee incident.
"I'll check the online banking portal right now," Derek said, minimizing his spreadsheets and opening his browser.
He typed in his credentials and hit enter.
A red error message popped up on his screen: Access Denied. Account locked or credentials invalid.
A cold spike of adrenaline hit Derek's system. He refreshed the page, but the result was the same.
"Suzanne, meet me at the apartment," Derek said, his voice dropping an octave. "Something is wrong. She locked me out of the online portal."
"I told you she was being vindictive!" Suzanne complained. "You need to put your foot down, Derek. This is unacceptable."
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"I'll handle her," Derek promised, his fists clenching. "Just meet me at the apartment. We're going to get to the bottom of this right now."
He hung up the phone, completely unaware that he was walking blindly into a legal minefield.
