“And I saw Grandpa put money in the envelopes.”
The man in gray pointed at him.
“You should not listen to private conversations.”
“You shouldn’t scare old people,” Ethan replied.
The bank lobby became completely silent.
Customers who had been pretending not to listen now faced Carla’s office openly.
A teller stopped sorting deposit slips.
The woman near the brochure rack held her phone at her side, ready to call for help.
The man in blue lowered his voice.
“We should leave.”
His companion ignored him.
He leaned across Carla’s desk.
“Mr.
Carter owes money.
By midnight, he either signs the transfer or we begin clearing the property.
That is the agreement.”
Carla heard the soft click of the security camera adjusting above the doorway.
“Clearing the property?” she asked.
“Removing abandoned contents.”
“The home is occupied.”
“Not after tonight.”
Carla let the silence hold his words in the room.
Then she asked, “Did First Community Bank authorize you to collect cash from Robert Carter?”
The man finally realized that every sentence was being recorded.
His eyes moved toward the camera.
“We never said we were bank employees.”
Ethan answered before Carla could.
“You told Grandpa you were from the bank.”
The man in blue backed toward the office door.
At that moment, the front doors opened again.
Robert Carter entered the bank with Mrs.
Bell beside him.
Robert’s gray hair was uncombed, and he had pulled his shirt on so quickly that one button was fastened in the wrong hole.
He gripped the handle of his cane with one hand and searched the room with terrified eyes.
“Ethan!”
The boy ran from the records room.
Robert dropped his cane and caught him with both arms.
“What were you thinking?” he demanded, though his voice broke halfway through the question.
“You left without telling me.
I thought something happened to you.”
“I was trying to save the house.”
Robert stared at the deposit receipt in Ethan’s hand.
Then he saw the empty jar on Carla’s desk.
His face crumpled.
“No,” he whispered.
“Not your money.”
Ethan pressed the receipt against his grandfather’s shirt.
“You used your money to keep me safe.
I can use mine to keep us home.”
Robert closed his eyes.
The man in the gray jacket stepped toward them.
“Mr.
Carter, your grandson has created an unnecessary scene.
We can still finish the agreement privately.”
Robert turned.
The fear in his face changed into recognition.
