At the recorder’s office, Elaine had discovered that Dennis had applied for a $210,000 loan against my father’s land. The land was mine, legally protected by my father’s careful paperwork, yet Dennis had signed my name as though he owned it. The loan had not been completed only because the lender still required a notarized signature. Had I remained unaware, he would have taken the money and disappeared before I even understood what had happened.

Elaine had moved quickly after learning the truth. Within two days, she obtained a court order freezing every account Dennis controlled and placing a protective hold on the deed. Gloria then helped trace the money missing from our joint account. There had been $138,000 in it. Dennis had transferred the money into a savings account bearing only his name. But the trail did not end there. Part of it had already gone toward a deposit on a fishing camp in Mississippi. The more records Gloria uncovered, the worse Dennis looked. Click continue reading below