by Sara Marks
Lizbeth woke up early to someone cuddling with her. She opened her eyes to see Jane.
“You’re here early,” Lizbeth said.
“Marie and I were both able to get earlier flights. She’s making breakfast.”
“What time is it?”
“Seven, why?”
“We have a nine am Skype meeting with National. I think all three of us should be involved.”
“What about Mrs. C?”
“Nobody knows where she is.”
“Are you worried?”
“Yes, I called Charlotte and they hadn’t seen her for the holidays. She was going to ask Colin’s siblings if they know where their mother is. If she doesn’t show up by tonight I’m calling hospitals and the police.”
Lizbeth listened to her sorority sisters share stories about their trip home. Marie had a ton of new tech to share with them.
“I think I’m going to make movies this year,” Marie declared to Jane and Lizbeth. “You know, like a YouTube horror movie with found footage or something.”
“Like Marble Hornets?” Jane asked.
“Last year it was music and the year before that fashion design,” Lizbeth said.
“I can score my own movies and design my own costumes.”
“Touché.”
“I ate too much food and thought about what I want to do with my life,” Jane said. “I did get some people at home to commission graphics and web-page designs.”
Lizbeth and Marie gave Jane their complete attention.
“I realized I’m not happy with the idea of being a teacher. I used all the flyers and web stuff I have done for the sorority and I sort of launched a side business.”
“Really?” Marie asked. “Would you do graphics for my movies?”
Jane laughed.
“Do you like doing that?” Lizbeth asked.
“I love it. Last semester I had done some graphics and webpages for free. It gave me a nice portfolio and helped me can get some businesses to pay me. I’m saving the money for Paris. When I went home for Thanksgiving I started talking to New Orleans businesses. My parents helped put me in touch with people.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before the break?”
“You were so busy with your own stuff and I wasn’t sure if it was going to work out.”
“But you’ve made enough money to pay for Paris!”
“Oh, and then some! I’m pretty sure I am going to buy my first Longchamp purse in Paris,” Jane said with a huge grin.
“That’s fantastic! You should definitely design some graphics for Marie’s YouTube channel!” Lizbeth said.
“I can contribute if we need to chip in to help Lydia,” Jane said.
Lizbeth sighed at the idea.
“I hate to think of having a fundraising party to get Lydia out of jail,” Marie said.
“Let’s see what National needs us to do. We may have to take a huge hit to help cover the cost. We may have to let go of staff. I don’t want to make decisions yet,” Lizbeth said.
“Maybe the university will help,” Jane suggested.
“Maybe Duke will help since they are the reason Jorge was on campus,” Marie said.
***
The Skype meeting didn’t go as well as Lizbeth hoped. They spoke with Kylie from the national office. She was a perky, former-cheerleader type. She looked petite, skinny, and brunette, though the bad connection made it hard to tell. She wore her brown hair in an even bob.
“I wish I had better news,” Kylie said. “We’ve been in touch with the university’s academic affairs office. I just got off the phone with our bank. We think the money and fraud may be the best thing to focus on. It looks like Mrs. Collins was making frequent and large withdrawals with checks directly at the bank. I suspect she kept the money for herself, gave some to Lydia, and maybe gave a lot of it to Jorge. “
“Why do you think that?” Jane asked.
“We have seen scans of the checks. She leaves memos on them that say ‘for Jorge’. It’s been on checks since late October,” Kylie said.
“That’s when he first met her. He and I were sort of dating and she invited him to dinner one night. What about Lydia’s safety?” Lizbeth asked.
“Let me finish,” Kylie said. “We might be able to work with the police to pursue Jorge because of the money. You should have had half your budget left, but right now you are barely going to be able to cover basic costs. All we can really do now is help the police and let them know we are agreeable to giving Lydia a deal if she will testify against Jorge and maybe Mrs. Collins. She won’t be allowed to come back to school. They’re going to expel her for this.”
“How much does the sorority have left?” Marie asked.
Kylie sighed.
“Mrs. C being fired will be a huge savings, but see if you can shave money in places. I don’t think you’ll have to cut staff. Think about, just in case the worst happens, what your minimal needs are.”
Lizbeth thought of what the bare minimum would be: cooking, cleaning, and landscaping were all part of their budget. She had no idea about how many people were working for them. This was under the jurisdiction of the house mother, thus Mrs. C.
“Has anyone heard from Mrs. C yet?” Jane asked.
“I have spoken to her daughter-in-law,” Kylie said. “She’s an active sister?”
“Technically, yes,” Lizbeth said.
“Charlotte thought she had been on campus for all of break. The family is looking for Mrs. Collins, but nobody has any idea where she could have gone. Her credit cards are being used, and it looks like someone has gotten a few new ones in her name. They don’t know if it’s her or if her identity was stolen.”
Lizbeth sighed; she suspected she knew the answer. She made a mental note to mention Jorge and his habit of identity theft to Lydia’s parents.
“What about getting Lydia home?” Jane asked.
“We can’t promise much,” Kylie said. “Lydia is an adult and this wasn’t an official sorority trip in any way. We’ve contacted the US Embassy in Mexico for help. We can’t do much more for her. Hopefully their police force will be able to find her and help her. Our focus is on the money and Jorge. I wish I had better news about getting Lydia home. You can touch base with her parents about it and see how you can help.”
“Are you washing your hands of this?” Jane asked.
“No, we’re just setting priorities. We’re also worried about Mrs. Collins. She has several complaints filed against her from your members for inappropriate behavior. It’s clear she’s involved in this, but we don’t know if she was willing or coerced. Lizbeth, you said yesterday that you know Jorge. What can you tell us?”
Lizbeth sighed and told the story Wil wanted her to share.
After the Skype call, the three sorority sisters made an agenda and split the duties. Marie focused on finding Mrs. C. while Jane reached out to the other sisters, especially those who lived in the house, to see if they could help. Lizbeth dealt with Lydia’s family. After that call was over, She went out and got lunch for the three of them. As they ate together, they reported what they learned. Jane started and she looked panicked.
“It was a bust. Nobody can really help right now. I’m saddened by all of this. None of the sisters knew she was in Mexico. There had never been a group going with her. Everyone has said they’ll chip in money if that is what we need, but we can’t raise thousands of dollars quickly and we’ll need it for our bills. Maybe if we all save everything by the end of the semester, but she could be dead by then. I feel like we’ll have to crowd-source her rescue!”
Lizbeth and Marie hugged Jane as she started to cry.
“I don’t think Lydia has any real friends,” Jane said through her tears. “Kitty thought they were good friends and now she’s very upset about what happened.”
&
nbsp; “Nobody can find Mrs. C,” Marie said. “The police said the family filed a missing-person report. Charlotte said none of them know where she is. She and Colin are planning to be here for the first week of classes to meet with professors to plan their independent studies. If Mrs. C isn’t back by then they’re going to look into hiring a private detective. I think she is hiding because she knows what she did was wrong.”
Both women turned to Lizbeth.
“I don’t know, but I hope it isn’t true,” Lizbeth said. “Who has been filing complaints about her?”
“I have, since the start of the semester,” Marie said.
“Without telling us?” Jane asked. “You agreed to not rock the boat until the end of the year.”
“I’m treasurer and secretary. I started a review of the bank account over the break. She’s been having us pay for a lot of her own personal purchases. Any gift she buys us, meal she feeds us, and any travel she does to spend time with us gets submitted as expenses. She charged us mileage to go to the Halloween party and then submitted receipts for the alcohol she brought with her. Clearly I wasn’t paying enough attention if she has been writing checks and withdrawing money on the side. Things just got so busy with finals.”
Lizbeth sighed.
“Did she charge us for the Thanksgiving meal, when she had Jorge and Lydia over?” Lizbeth asked.
“I was going to make a point of addressing it when we got back to school. She controls most of the banking so she just paid herself back. Normally, I would see bank statements over towards the end of the next month after she resolved them with her records. It’s fraud, and I was obligated to not only submit the financial details, but the context of why she was doing this. I’m going to make sure I see all the banking stuff first from now on,” Marie said.
“You did the right thing without question. I just wish I had known. I’m not sure how nefarious her plan was. She loves Lydia. If Lydia promised to pay her back and lied about using this trip to land a husband, Mrs. C wouldn’t hesitate to help,” Lizbeth said.
“Why would Jorge want someone like Lydia? She has nothing compared to others in the sorority. You were a better pick for his motives, Lizbeth, but he gave up on you,” Jane said.
“What?” Marie asked.
“Jorge would want someone with good credit to steal, and lots of money to give him. That’s why he went after Wil’s sister,” Jane said.
“Oh, I get that, but Lizbeth isn’t rich,” Marie said.
Lizbeth felt obligated to clear the confusion and explained her family’s circumstances.
“Everyone on campus assumes I’m poor and I never correct them. My family has money. My tuition, expenses, and spending money all come out of the trust. Jorge might have stolen my identity and I just don’t know it yet. I planned on checking my credit report and then this happened.” she concluded.
“Do you think he really did that to you?” Marie asked.
“That could explain his sudden departure from my life. Lydia could have told him about her parents’ continual trips to Europe and he probably assumed that meant she was well off or he simply picked his next and easier victim.”
“Well, she would have made it easy,” Jane said with a sigh.
“Maybe crowdsourcing really is the only way we can help,” Lizbeth said.
“I feel so useless,” Jane said.
“We have to focus on Mrs. C,” Marie said. “Finding her may be the only thing in our power.”
“Also, check your credit just to be safe,” Lizbeth said.
***
Students started returning to campus over the next few days. Lizbeth and Marie talked to the staff about what was going on. None of them had any new information about what had happened to Mrs. C. They met with groups of sisters and explained what they knew about Lydia. When classes started on Monday, neither Mrs. C nor Lydia returned. Charlotte and Colin came to campus for a few days and followed up with the police. They had a spare key to Mrs. C’s rooms. They went through her belongings, but found no sign of what had happened. Colin noticed that some of her personal items were gone.
“He’s very upset,” Charlotte said on Tuesday when she and Lizbeth had lunch together. “He told me about Thanksgiving. When his brother called on Thanksgiving to speak to her, they all learned the truth about her staying on campus. She brushed it off like it was no big deal. I wish Colin and his siblings spoke to each other more often than holidays.”
“Well, that explains why he was so distracted.”
“His brother and sister are calling every night. Ms. de Bourgh won’t lift a finger to help us. Colin feels like he has to pick between his mentor and his mother.”
“Katherine is probably trying to imply that, but he has to do what he thinks is best.”
“Has anyone heard from Lydia since she called you?”
“No.”
***
On Wednesday they finally heard from Lydia’s parents. The police in Mexico had raided the casino, shut it down, and Lydia was home. She wasn’t talking yet, but Lizbeth agreed to ship some of her things home. Her parents said they would come out in a few weeks to get the rest of it.
***
On Thursday the news came that Jorge had been arrested, but Lydia made a deal and wasn’t going to be charged with anything. Jorge arranged his own deal quickly and was going to spend about five years in prison. Lizbeth wondered if other states would file charges against him.
***
On Friday Mrs. C showed up in her rooms as if nothing had happened. Marie was only too happy to contact the police, who took her in for questioning.
***
On the following Monday Kylie from Nationals swooped into town.
“Mrs. Collins has been fired. She hadn’t spent all the money she had withdrawn from your accounts, so we were able to recover it. It will make things a little easier for you this semester. Her son, Colin, will come by and take her personal items to his home. Marie, do you think you would be able to manage the house until we find a replacement?” Kylie said.
Marie looked at Lizbeth and Jane. It was all up to the three of them now. They had already talked about this and had taken on these roles. Marie would manage the money, Lizbeth would supervise the staff, and Jane organize the house.
“This will be a great help. It took us a while to hire Mrs. Collins last summer, so it may be all semester,” Kylie said.
“I’m going to be around this summer,” Marie said. “I can start working with potential new officers now to get them used to helping out.”
“What did Mrs. C say happened?” Jane asked.
“She told us that Jorge came into town for Thanksgiving, so she invited him to join her and Lydia. He was very attentive to her and seduced her.”
Marie made a face.
“That was it?” Jane asked.
“She was only too willing to give him money in exchange for the attention. She also wanted to push him away from you, Lizbeth.”
“Why?” Lizbeth said.
“She wanted to get back at you for not marrying her son.”
Lizbeth rolled her eyes.
“No, she was quite serious. She said you lied to everyone, but you’re filthy rich and very well connected. You could have done wonders for her son’s position in society. She had been trying all semester to put the two of you together, but you are, and these are her words, ‘a stubborn bitch who refused the best thing that could have ever happened to you.’”
Lizbeth, Jane, and Marie all laughed at the mere idea.
“Anyway,” Kylie continued as the other three laughed, “when Lydia claimed she wanted to marry Jorge, Mrs. Collins gave her some of the money she had withdrawn. She gave Jorge more just for the trip.”
“Wait,” Marie asked, “he was sleeping with both of them? Mrs. C was willing to give him up for Lydia?”
“What do you mean?” Jane asked.
“Lydia knows who saved her and paid the debt, but she isn’t speaking much yet and she said she promised she wouldn’t say.”
Lizbeth thought that was odd, but was just happy that Lydia was home. She didn’t have to look at Jane to know she was crying. She grabbed her best friend’s hand and squeezed.
“We’re glad she’s home now,” Lizbeth said.
“What about the money?” Marie asked.
“The bank might return what Mrs. Collins took because we pay for fraud protection. What we spoke about a few days ago is still relevant. Cut where you can and see how you can raise some money and maybe get some newer sisters to move into the house.”
“Marie, you admitted you wouldn’t have caught the fraud in time. If she had only started doing this after Thanksgiving, it wouldn’t have shown up until we got back from break,” Lizbeth said, hoping to make her friend feel better.
“We should get one more person to help us,” Jane said. “Someone to take over for Lydia.”
Lizbeth and Marie knew this. Jane’s little sister, Kitty, was more like Lydia than Jane. She had followed Lydia around and was quick to defend her big sister. Kitty may have been Lydia’s only friend. She had offered to help with Lydia’s responsibilities for events. The officers had talked to her about what they wanted to do for the rest of the year. Without Lydia to encourage questionable behavior, Kitty fell into line with what the older sisters wanted.
