Breaking Into the Business by Hadley Knox Page B

current.
    “Excuse
me?”
    “I
want my money,” the muffled voice repeated.
    “What
money is that?”
    “One
hundred thousand dollars. You have three days.”
    The
line went dead. What the hell was that about? Who could possibly be asking me
for such a large sum of money? My first instinct was that Frank had finally
shown back up in the picture and had run out of money. Why wouldn’t he just
approach her directly? Maybe he just felt so ashamed for leaving her and the
kids in such a lurch that he was embarrassed to show his face.
    The
voice had been gruff, a very low tonal quality, which only made it impossible
to identify. I thought that I would recognize Frank’s voice if it had been his.
    There
was one thing that I was certain of about the caller. He meant business. Each
time he had spoken that same sentence, I could hear the threat laced in his
voice.
    I
knew from the first syllable that it was not something that I could ignore. It
appeared that I had three days to come up with one hundred thousand dollars.
     

 
    Chapter Nine
     
    It was
as if lightning had struck me square in the head. I knew exactly what I was
going to do.
    The
man on the phone had asked for one hundred thousand dollars. Even combining my
savings and checking, I was still short by a good deal. I would have to sell
nearly everything in the house, and even then, I wasn’t sure I could get to
that amount. There was no way to come up with the money.
    I
considered ignoring the threats or even going to the police. But what would
happen if I did that? My primary concern was, and always would be, my children.
I may not actually give the man the money, but I had to be prepared to do it if
it was needed to protect my children.
    Maybe
I should call Betsy and Pearl. They would provide clear heads for a solution.
They would certainly not approve of me giving into the caller’s demands. I
really needed to know more.
    However,
the truth remained that I was broke. Sure, I could afford the bills for a
little longer, but in a year, I would be out of cash. Once the children graduated
from high school, I could sell the house and move somewhere more affordable.
However, for now, I had to maintain my current residence. The problem was that
I still had four more years until Mallory graduated and that was more time than
I had money for.
    My
epiphany came as I glanced at the countertop and saw Greg’s card. Was I
completely nuts by giving his offer credence? The fact remained that I needed
money and he had presented me with an offer where I could make some on the side.
All I had to do was work out a schedule for him. What was the harm in that?
    I
felt immediately that my moral standards would lower if I did this, but I was
in a bind. Now my survival instincts were kicking in. If lowering my standards
were what it took for my children to get the best education, then was that so
bad? It wasn’t like I was the one going out and having sex. I would just be the
one who scheduled it.
    Before
I could talk myself out of it, I picked the phone up and called Greg.
    I
didn’t want to waste time with small talk. When he answered the phone, I spoke
quickly. “Twenty percent and I am in.”
    “That
was fast,” he said. “You were pretty set against not doing it.”
    “Are
you trying to talk me out of it now?”
    “No,”
he said quickly. “I just can’t believe it.”
    “Believe
it,” I said. “I need the money badly and your proposition sounds promising. Do
you accept the twenty percent?”
    “Of
course,” he said. There was a pause on the phone. “So what do we do now?”
    “I
guess we need to come up with a plan,” I said.
    “Do
you want to meet somewhere?” he asked.
    I
had been away from the house a lot lately and didn’t really want to leave
again. I would have to pick the kids up in the afternoon, so I wanted to be
close. There was something strange about mixing my new sordid business life
with my home life, but I knew that the combination was