“You got it. Credit was maxed out, then abandoned.”
“And whoever signed for them got stuck with the debt,” I said, thinking of Thomas.
“Yup, and a couple of men had to file bankruptcy because of it.”
Thomas was going to be furious when he realized he’d been scammed. Hopefully, Amy caught it soon enough that he didn’t lose too much.
“Thanks, Sherman,” I said. “You just confirmed a few things I was starting to suspect.”
“That woman is trouble, Pepper.” He hesitated for a moment. “She hasn’t scammed you, has she?”
“No, but unfortunately she’s done a job on my brother.”
“I am so sorry to hear that. I have all the info on her in a file. I’ll email it to you so your brother has it to present to a lawyer, though there is a chance he still may be liable for some of the debt.”
“Thanks, Sherman, I really appreciate it. You have gone far and above my prepper assistant duties we agreed upon.”
“Are you kidding?” he said with a laugh. “I love this stuff and working for you is more exciting than I would have ever imagined.”
“I’m glad you feel that way, since I really enjoy having you as my assistant. Talk soon and thanks again.”
After we hung up, I sat for a moment letting it all settle.
Then I picked up my phone and called Amy.
“Pepper,” she said, sounding a little distracted.
“Bad time?” I asked.
“No, just a busy one. I stopped by Ian’s photo shoot. I needed to ask him something about the festival.”
“What did you rope him into doing now?” I asked, and I could picture her smiling broadly.
“Photo booth. People can take pictures with him for a premium price.”
“Are you pimping my boyfriend out?” I asked with a laugh.
“It’s for a good cause. The money goes to Willow Lake’s Animal Shelter. The place desperately needs updating.”
“Knowing Ian, he’ll eagerly agree,” I said, looking from Mo to Roxie.
“He already has,” Amy said with satisfaction.
I could hear voices in the background and what sounded like someone laughing. The gunslinger photo shoot clearly hadn’t slowed down much.
“I actually called because Sherman got back to me about Lola,” I said.
Amy’s tone immediately sharpened. “That was fast.”
“That’s exactly what I said.”
“What did he find?”
“Enough to make me very worried for Thomas,” I said. “Turns out Lola has a history of scams. Different names,different hair colors, small towns where people are trusting and they don’t ask too many questions.”
“That sounds exactly like someone trying not to be noticed,” Amy said. “Though if she came here to run a scam, she picked the wrong town.”
“True, but it got me thinking about Vera.”
