Chapter 26

He was pleading and crying by the time he left my office. I heard from his sister not two minutes afterward. She lit into me, so I told her what he’d done and asked her if I should have him arrested and charged. The silence over the phone was telling. She hadn’t known about Gary’s skimming. I also said her husband and sons had been in on the scams and told her we could prove it. She was angry when she hung up, but not steamed at me.

Jeff and I went out more often now, as we cleaned up and closed out Gary’s enterprise. We traveled around the county ending storage-shed leases and sending the word out to Gary’s cohorts that their scamming days were over. Everyone was more surprised than belligerent when we faced them. We said we weren’t pressing charges—yet—but if we ever saw any more underhanded dealings with Behr Construction people involved, we’d immediately call the sheriff.