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I reach for the phone and call the only person who could be responsible His phone goes straight to voice e, then call my bank

Ten minutes later, my worst fears are confirmed I am, in the eyes of my financial institution, broke Every one of my accounts has been cleaned out, the funds wired froet the funds back No, they don’t knoon’t disclose where the funds went They did provide s They did have a copy of the wire transfer, which they promised to e-ative balances in two ofcare of those

They are rude and unhelpful, the sugary-sweet tones of prior calls gone, replaced by a bitchiness of the you-owe-us-h the thin Sheetrock of the nearest wall

Money It was so precious to me when I first le, and I had no clear idea of what to do for incoo I have forgotten what the panic feels like It feels like shit

I sit on the edge of the bed,the possibility that some random identity-theft individual out there hacked into my world and stole every dollar I had, Mike is the only one who could have done this He has full, unfettered access to iven by me, part taken or provided by him There have been times when I have questioned the wisdom of such access But I need hiital walls he can build to keep my identity safe And I have always paid hi froh the process of picking Sheetrock bits from my knuckles It Is Unthinkable Mike, damn my naïveté, wouldn’t have left me completely penniless We are, in some twisted sense of the word, friends He had to have leftIup the website for in credentials, and open o with login instructions

I can’t find it I can’t, two hours later, after painstakingly reading every e- in I know he sent it, I know I read it, have--once or twice--logged into the site I know the accounts are there I filled out and scanned in registration and account forms, wire authorizations I’ve spoken to the bank four or five times in the last year There should be a lance at et anyone on the phone I breathe deeply, send false reassurances to the part of h to believe me The offshore h I will be fine Theand, within e my PINs and protect the s, the alert of an inco e-e attach, only one thing capturing my eyes The memo line Repeated four times, one for each ofaccount The same word, all caps in each instance RUN

I stare at the words,to ain They now stand out froible but those words

RUN

RUN

RUN

RUN

What the fuck is going on?

Where the fuck would I run to?

And who the fuck a from?

I close the attach to take care of ht to crazy town I enter the number for Camscom and press "Send"

Camscom never closes Their 24-7 line is answered promptly and they are, apparently, used to demands for money I currently have 24,194 in my payout account, a pay period not yet complete, and am not scheduled for an ACH deposit until next Thursday But, according to the cheery-voiced customer service rep, they can deposit it in , for apercent In very colorful language I tell hi up and hope to God Mike is done ees without explanation

RUN

He’s not a drauy Not someone I’ve pissed off recently or who is in the habit of playing elaborate jokes I have to assume that he has either skipped toithis very wrong, what do my funds have to do with him? With his memo alert? Are the funds a tool of communication or a piece of the puzzle?