Even after seeing the questionable documents, hearing those words made everything feel enormous.

“That makes this real.”

“It’s already real.”

Rachel looked through the window.

Her father was walking between the rows with Chloe sitting on his shoulders.

“Okay.”

“And Rachel?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t assume the $260,000 loan was the final objective.”

Her expression tightened.

“What do you mean?”

“People rarely create this many questionable documents for a single transaction unless there’s something larger behind it.”

Rachel thought about the unexplained transfers.

The Nevada house.

Miami.

The unfamiliar man in Brandon’s hotel room.

“What else?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Daniel made no promises, but he told her which records she should secure.

Tax returns.

Credit reports.

Property searches.

Business filings.

Insurance records.

Retirement accounts.

Then she searched Brandon’s name through Nevada’s public corporate registrations.

Three results appeared.

Two were older dealership-related businesses.

The third had been formed eight months earlier.

BPC Holdings LLC.

Registered address: the Nevada property.

Managing members:

Brandon Carter.

Paige Mitchell.

Rachel’s heart began beating faster again.

No Brenda.

Paige.

She continued searching.

BPC Holdings had filed paperwork describing its purpose as “vehicle sourcing, transportation, and private resale.”

Brandon worked at a dealership.

Rachel understood dealership accounting well enough for the discovery to concern her.

She called Daniel again.

“I found an LLC.”

“Send it to me.”

She did.

He called back five minutes later.

“Don’t access or interfere with anything connected directly to Brandon’s workplace.”

“Why?”

“Because if this involves dealership inventory, title transfers, or questionable financing, investigators should handle that.”

Rachel’s mouth went dry.

“Are you saying he might be taking cars?”

“I’m saying don’t speculate. Just preserve whatever evidence you already have.”

But once the possibility entered her mind, Rachel couldn’t stop noticing connections.

Brandon’s unusual late nights.

His sudden access to cash.

Paige’s frequent Nevada trips.

The property.

The transfers.