Page 17 of Raff
“Then we set things in motion. I started working on the permitting, surveys, environmental studies…”
“Sounds expensive.”
“It wasn’t cheap.”
“And, let me guess, he didn’t invest.”
“He set up the LLC and drafted up the loan paperwork.”
“Shit.”
“I looked it up. It was all very… normal. I never would have signed without researching. He was meant to pay me back from his portion of the sales of the homes. And then he got to work on the contractors. Things really seemed to be progressing.”
“Except, I don’t remember seeing any development around here lately.”
“I kept getting excuses. The contractor was finishing another job. The wood we ordered was on backorder. Everything seemed reasonable. You hear horror stories about building things. There are always delays. For the first few months, I didn’t question it too much.”
“And then?”
“And then Drake started being harder to reach. He claimed he was traveling. Visiting other building projects. It was another red flag I ignored.”
“When did you figure it out?”
“He missed a third scheduled meeting. At that point, I hadn’t seen him face-to-face in… six weeks. And it just felt wrong.”
“So you went digging.”
Boy, did I ever.
I tore through every document, pored over every line. And then, then I checked the account.
“Drained?”
“Nearly, yeah. And the bills started rolling in for the contractors, for the supplies...”
“So you decided to sell your condo.”
“I had enough left of the loan for some of it. And some savings. But it wouldn’t be enough.”
“Why not cancel the plan? Was his name on everything?”
My gaze cut to him.
“His name wasn’t on anything. He had access to the account we opened for the LLC, but he took no actual financial risk.”
“Let me guess the next part. He stopped answering his calls, and you never saw him again.”
“I had nothing but a mental image and paperwork that was forged. His name isn’t actually Drake Holland, as far as I can tell.”
“What were you doing in Florida? Did you track him there?”
“I think I did, but too late. I feel like I’ve been several steps behind this whole time.”
“To be fair, that was by design, wasn’t it? He’s a scammer. He planned this whole thing so he could stay ahead of you. He’d be a piss-poor conman if he didn’t.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Can I ask something?”
