A Two Thousand Dollar Nebraska Land Purchase Leads to a Federal Fraud Case

I reached into my cardigan pocket and pulled out my checkbook. I had already written the check, using the black fountain pen my father had given me when I graduated from college. I handed the paper to him, the ink dry and clear. “This is for your first week of real maintenance work,” I said….

“The family trust paid it,” Norman said, adjusting his wool cap. “Your children will have a roof over their heads as long as they need one.” “Thank you, Norman,” I said. He looked down at the snow, his face softening as he watched my two youngest boys peer out through the kitchen window at the…

The patchwork dress rustled around my ankles as I stopped before the small gray headstone. Albert’s name was carved into the granite, the letters clean and sharp against the dark stone. I knelt down on the cold grass, the heavy blue chambray of my skirt spreading out around me. “I did it, Dad,” I whispered,…

The studio had only one window in the kitchen area, a deep sill that looked out over the small gravel alley behind the building where a neighbor’s climbing hydrangea had died back for the winter. At two o’clock, I carried my three potted ferns from the cardboard box near the bed and set them along…

By four in the afternoon, the rain had stopped, leaving the brick driveway of the Oakhaven estate damp and dark. I found Linda in the backyard, standing near the old stone wall where the climbing roses had grown wild and tangled over the last several seasons. She was wearing her heavy canvas work jacket and…

I reached out and picked up the silver key chain, feeling the cold weight of the keys in my palm. They felt like a promise kept from a lifetime ago. “Is the transfer complete?” I asked. “All you need to do is sign the deed of trust acceptance,” Frank said, handing me a heavy gold…