Chapter 3 - The Motel on Highway 20
By noon on Christmas Day, Corbin, Elaine, and Julianna were standing in the parking lot of the Budget Inn on Highway 20.
All they had managed to throw into garbage bags before the deputy forced them off the property were a few clothes, Corbin's laptop, and Julianna’s makeup bags. Corbin’s credit cards were declined at the front desk one by one.
"Declined," the teenage clerk said, not even looking up from his phone. "Next."
"Try it again!" Corbin slammed his palm onto the counter. "It’s a Visa Gold card!"
"Sir, the machine says 'Account Frozen - Legal Hold,'" the clerk replied flatly. "You got cash or not?"
Elaine had to dig through her purse to find $120 in crumpled cash—her entire savings after giving the rest of her money to Corbin for his failed investment schemes. It was barely enough for one night in a room that smelled of stale tobacco and drafty windows.
Inside the cramped motel room, Julianna tossed her bag onto the stained bedspread and turned on Corbin with wild eyes.
"You told me you owned that house!" Julianna yelled. "You told me your wife had nothing! You said her father was an uneducated redneck living on a pension!"
"He is!" Corbin yelled back, grabbing his hair in frustration. "I don't know how he did this! He's just a retired soldier!"
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"He's a former Colonel in Army Intelligence, you idiot!" Julianna shrieked, pulling up Google on her phone. "Look at this! Everett Langston was the Chief Logistics Officer for the 101st Airborne! He managed fifty-million-dollar defense budgets!"
Corbin sank onto the edge of the bed, his hands shaking as he realized the magnitude of the trap he had walked into.
