Molly

If I manage to offend any military personnel, especially Marines, I wholeheartedly apologize. I have several long-time friends that are both active and retired military. I listen to their stories with both awe and gratitude. I'd like to think I have portrayed them accurately. If I have not, please forgive my blunder. I meant no disrespect.

As I worked at my desk, I glanced over at my phone as it buzzed It was a text from my realtor, Kris. ***911*** Whatever it is it can't wait. Picking up my phone, I thumb her icon. "Hey Kris, what's the emergency?"

"Ryan, get here NOW. Take the afternoon off, quit, kill your boss, I don't care." She nearly screamed. "I've got an appointment for a house. I managed the very first showing, it won't get a second one, trust me."

I'd been looking for a place for several months now. So far, if I could afford it, it needed more work than I wanted to invest. If I liked it, it was too damned expensive. If Kris was this excited, it must be pretty impressive.

I told my supervisor I needed the afternoon off and headed for the realty office.

As I pulled up, Kris jumped in the passenger seat. "Head uptown, Bailey district." She instructed.

"I can't afford anything there." I protested.

"Drive.There.NOW!" She demanded.

I followed her rather terse directions. We arrived at the property in about 30 minutes. It was a nice 2 story Victorian with a good sized lot in a very upscale neighborhood. So far, so good.

Kris vaulted from the car. "Move it." She shouted, making a beeline for the front door. By the time I caught her, she was in the foyer.

I glanced around quickly. "Damn, this is nice." I commented. "How far over my budget is it?"

"Look at the rest of it." She grinned. "Then I'll drop the bomb on you."

The full tour took about half an hour, then we reentered the foyer. "Well?" Kris asked expectantly.

"I absolutely love the place." I answered. "No way in Hell I can afford it. It's got to be at least $300-325K."

"$225K, problem is they need to sell by the end of the month." She explained. "The husband has been transferred to Bulgaria or Bolivia or some God forsaken place, they need to sell...fast."

"So there's a burial ground or toxic waste dump or something." I mused. "It's WAY too good to be true."

"Make you a deal." She whispered. "You buy the place. You don't like it or find something wrong, I'll buy it from you. That's how sure I am that this is the chance of a lifetime."

"Kris." I said. "It's everything I wanted, and a few things I never thought I could get with my budget. I'm a little worried about the time frame. Seems like the used car salesman's hard sell, but..."

Kris opened her briefcase, removed the contract and laid it on a nearby counter. "Sign and it's all yours."

I took possession two weeks later. Over the course of the next week, I'd move some things in the evenings, after work. I managed to bribe a few friends to help me move the bulk of my stuff over the weekend. Interestingly, the previous owners left nearly everything behind, including what appeared to be most of the wife's wardrobe. Strange. I boxed the unwanted items and stored them in the detached garage. I'd donate the items after I finished moving in.

Several weeks later, on a Sunday, I spent the day trimming trees and shrubs, generally cleaning up the landscaping. I also addressed a few minor repairs. Caulking windows and touching up some paint on the gingerbread. Darkness put an end to my day, so I showered, had a late dinner then hit the hay.

The next morning, I was sitting in the breakfast nook, sipping my coffee and enjoying a danish before leaving for work when the front door opened, then closed. Startled, I hurried to the foyer only to run headlong into a woman. Before I could react, I was face down on the floor with her knee in my back.

"Who are you and what the fuck are you doing in my house?" She growled menacingly.

"Wait, what?" I sputtered. "I live here, I bought the place a couple months ago." As she backed away from me I got a better look at her. It took me a few seconds to remember where I saw her. "You were at the closing, Molly Jenkins, right?"

"How do you know my name?" She glared, confused.

"As I said, you were at the closing." I explained. "With your husband. You signed the paperwork."

"I've been deployed for the last two years." She growled. "I'm in the Marines, I can't tell you where I was, but I sure as Hell wasn't at any closing. I've only been on U.S. soil for a little over 24 hours."

She stepped towards me, seething. "I ask you again, why the fuck are you in my house?"

Slowly backing away, I attempted to explain. "I have the mortgage paperwork in my desk, I'll show you if you want?"

"Show me." She answered curtly.

After looking at the documents, she took out her phone. "I'll just call my husband, he'll clear this up."

I could hear voicemail come up immediately. She just glared at her phone. "Fuck this." She spat. "I'll call him at work."

"Hello Gina, this is Molly, is Brett there?" She said into the phone. "What?, When? No I don't remember the going away party, I wasn't there. Yes I'm sure, I just got back from deployment. Yeah. OK, thanks."

Molly looked up at me. "He quit his job." She said dejectedly. "Apparently 'we' moved to South America." She all but collapsed into one of the kitchen chairs, dropping her phone onto the table. "I don't understand."

"When did you last hear from him?" I asked.

"A little over a two months ago." She answered. "Told him I was coming home, that I'd see him soon. I should have known."

"Known what?" I inquired.

"He wasn't happy when I was deployed, but I come from a military family." She explained. "My Dad was career. He was killed in Afghanistan when I was a kid. I wanted to honor his memory. My Mom was supportive, but both my siblings thought I was crazy. Brett sided with the sibs. Since you say you saw me at the closing, that just leaves one conclusion."

I sat quietly, wondering if she was batshit crazy, or there was something really wrong going on.

"You see, Mom died about a year ago." She lamented. "In the will, the estate would be split between any of the kids that served. That was me, and me alone. Boy were they pissed. I got the house and all the assets. The only way the house could have been sold was if I sold it, none of them were on the deed."

She still wasn't making much sense, but I wasn't going to piss off a Marine, especially a potentially unstable one.

"You're sure you saw me?" She asked.

"Looked like you, talked like you." I answered. "Your husband was all lovey-dovey with you. I mean her. I only had contact for a few minutes, and I was focused on paperwork, but, yeah."

Molly launched into a cursing tirade that would make a Marine blush. Wait, she IS a Marine, and she's not blushing, so, nevermind.

"That fucking bitch." She spat. "I didn't think she'd really do it."

I sat, looking confused.

"My twin sister Holly." She clarified. "Stole more than one of my boyfriends. Though I could see Brett putting her up to it. What better way to get the house. I'd be surprised if they haven't cleaned the bank accounts out as well."

"Uh, this may be a bit awkward." I said. "There was a lot of what I assume are your clothes left behind when I moved in. I have them in the garage, if you want them. Along with most of the furniture."

"Yeah, that kinda confirms my theory, my sister would rather die than wear anything I owned." She stated. "Can you hold on to them until I can figure this out?"

"Sure, happy to." I assured. "Do you have somewhere to go, can I call someone?"

"That's very kind..." She paused. "I don't even know your name."

"Ryan." I answered. "I'm Ryan Hoskins. If there is anything I can do? This must be..."

"Unless you know where my bitch sister and asshole husband are, then no." She sighed.

"I just might be able to help you there." I grinned. "I'm a computer security and cyber threat analyst. I have some 'skills' that, while not entirely legal, may be useful. Let's fire up my computer and see what I can find."

Molly grinned wickedly. "It would make my day."

I made a quick call to work, telling them I wouldn't be in today and I'd explain later.

Over the next several hours, I found out when they'd left, and where they were. I was able to determine that they had indeed cleaned out any accounts they could find. "They don't appear to be trying to hide very hard." I observed. "Your sister is even using your name."

"Little did they know I had a secret account." Molly grinned. "Try this account number."

"Just over $350K." I confirmed. "Account's not in your name though."

"I can prove I'm that person." She nodded. "Don't ask how."

"I have several documents that you supposedly signed." I added. "My mortgage papers, and a few from the bank I found online. I think we can prove fraud, but I don't know what good it will do. They're in Bolivia, they don't extradite. That's not entirely true. They will, if we pay them enough. This case isn't big enough for the government to give a shit."

"Well fuck." She sighed. "Smarter than I gave him credit for."

"I can, however, freeze, and maybe transfer the funds in several of the accounts." I said. "You may not get it back, but they won't be able to access it. At least for a while."

"Do it." She spat. "Should fuck them up for a bit. Give me time to think."

A flurry of keystrokes and about 20 minutes later, I pushed back in my chair and smiled. "Done. At this point, all the funds they have are the cash in their pockets. If I may suggest, you need to contact someone in our government, I have no idea who but the military, at least, should be pretty pissed that someone has stolen the identity of an active duty Marine.

It was early evening by that time. "I don't know about you." I stretched. "But I'm starving. Can I get you something to eat?"

"Thank you Ryan." She smiled, sadly. "I've dumped my problems on you, and you've been nothing but polite and understanding. I'm grateful."

"Well." I chuckled. "I'm no saint."

"Compared to Brett, you're a fucking God." She sighed.

"Tell you what." I smiled. "Why don't you take a nice relaxing shower while I cook dinner. If you need anything let me know."

"That sounds nice." She said. "Thanks."

Molly returned as I was finishing. "That smells heavenly."

"I like to cook." I explained. "One of my many idiosyncrasies."

"Look, I'm going out on a limb and inviting you to stay here until you get this mess figured out." I stated while we ate. "I'm not after anything, nevermind the fact you could easily kill me, probably wouldn't even need to leave the chair you're sitting in."

Molly chuckled between bites of food. "True, pretty sure I could take you, or the taxpayers spent an awful lot of money for nothing. Again, thanks."

"Nice to hear you laugh." I observed. "Take whichever room you want."

"Would you mind if I turned in?" Molly asked. "Jetlag's a bitch."

"No problem." I said. "I'll leave my contact numbers on the fridge in case you're not up in the morning. If you need anything, please call. I hate what has happened to you and I want to help if I can."

"OK." She smiled. "Nite Ryan."

Molly wasn't up before I left the next morning.

Once at work, I put in a call to Randy in Legal. We'd become friends over the years. I gave him a brief overview of the situation and asked if he had any suggestions.

"Let me do some digging and I'll get back with you." He answered. "Jesus, What a clusterfuck."

Everything ground to a halt as the wheels I'd set in motion slowly turned. About 10 days later, I got the call from Randy I'd been waiting on.

"Hey Ryan." Randy chirped. "Wanted to update you on what was happening."

"Good news?" I asked.

"Mostly." He answered. "You were right on the extradition, our contacts confirm they're not interested."

"Fuck!" I muttered

"Hang on, it gets better." He affirmed. "I did manage to get all the funds you located transferred back to Molly. I also got Molly's passport rescinded. Her sister is effectively stranded there. Can't run even if she wants to."

"What about the husband?" I queried.

"I've alerted our Embassy in Bolivia. They're aware of the situation but don't have any authority to act." He explained. "If he tries to leave, they really can't stop him. They are, however, effectively penniless. Where are they gonna go with no money?"

"I'll take a win where I can get one." I chuckled. "At least we put the hurt on them."

"You know it brother." Randy laughed. "I'd like to be a fly on the wall about now."

"Thanks Randy." I praised.

"Anytime man." He gushed. "Nice to do something that's not mind numbingly boring for once."

That evening when I got home, I told Molly what had happened. After checking her accounts, she'd gotten back over 80% of what her sister and husband had stolen from her.

"Better than I'd hoped." She smiled faintly. "Still..."

"I know." I nodded. "Still sucks."

She agreed, still coming to grips with the disintegration of her marriage and the betrayal of her sister.

"I want to talk to you about something. Just kinda throwing it out there." I said. "I want you to have the house back."

"What?!" She gasped. "I can't ask you to do that."

"Look Molly." I explained. "The sale was illegal in the first place. Honestly, if you pushed, I'd have to give it back and fight your sister and husband for the money. I'm in no position to 'give' it back. I was hoping we could come to some kind of an agreement where you'd get your house and I won't lose everything. I hate that this has happened to you and I want to try to make it right."

"So you're just looking out for yourself then?" She spat.

"I'll do whatever you want." I defended. "Check with your attorney. He'll probably tell you I'm right. If that's the way you want to go, I'll walk away."

"Right." She nearly screamed. "You're just gonna walk away from a quarter of a mil."

"If that's what it takes to make this right with you, then yes." I stated dejectedly. "This is your childhood home. It's all you have left of your parents. I can't take that from you. I couldn't live with myself."

I left Molly to her thoughts and went upstairs and started packing. This hadn't gone as I'd hoped. I understood Molly's anger. Truthfully, I was livid at how they had treated her. I knew her ability to trust was severely bent but I'd obviously fooled myself into thinking she trusted me. Not gonna lie, that hurt me, deeply. I was only trying to help her. Fuck! I HAD helped her. Without me, she wouldn't have known where they were and would still be missing a rather large sum of money. There's gratitude for you.

I left a note on the kitchen table on the way out telling her I'd make arrangements to pick up the rest of my stuff as soon as I could, dropped my keys next to the note and with one last look over my shoulder, closed the front door.

I crashed at a friend's house for a couple days as I tried to find somewhere to live. Finding a place on short notice wasn't as easy as I'd hoped and I still needed somewhere to store all my possessions. Just fucking peachy!

A few days later, I was at my desk at work when a Godawful ruckus caught my ear. Several people were shouting and angry voices and sounds of a scuffle were coming closer. Eventually, one voice became clear.

"Ryan, where the fuck are you?" It shouted. "I know you're here somewhere. Get your ass out here before I hurt somebody."

Molly. I'd know that voice anywhere. I bolted from my office and started down the hall just as security arrived. Seeing them draw their tasers, I called out. "Wait guys. She's looking for me. I've got this."

"I don't know what you're doing here, but threatening people isn't going to solve the problem." I hissed. I motioned to a conference room. "In here."

Molly stormed into the room with me on her heels. I closed the door and wheeled on her ready to unload a raft of shit at her. Didn't make it.

Molly pinned me against the door and laid a knee buckling kiss on me, then smiled and stepped back as I attempted to reassemble my brain.

"What the fuck was that?" I sputtered. "I thought you were here to kill me."

"The thought had crossed my mind." She giggled. "I've behaved badly. I apologize. I checked with my lawyer. You were right. Since the house was sold under fraudulent circumstances, the contract is void. Your only recourse is to sue Holly and Brett. We both know how that's going to go. Were you really going to walk away?"

"I already have." I answered.

Molly dropped her head, gazing at the floor, then stepped into me, head on my shoulder. She hugged me and sighed. "You really are a good man, Ryan. Through all of this, you helped me, asking for nothing and when you did finally ask, I freaked out. You have every right protect yourself, especially given the situation you're in. What you asked is fair, as long as you let me pay you back every dime you spent on the house. This is non negotiable. This is my cross to bear."

"I-I don't know what to say." I stammered.

"Just agree with me, dumbass." She smiled. "You know I'll get what I want one way or another. Also, please come back. I really miss having you there. We can work out something. I need someone I can lean on through all this. This tough Marine is trying to ask nicely. I can't do this alone."

I'd not seen this side of Molly. She was always the hardass. Seeing her like this, broken and vulnerable made me even more determined to rain fire and brimstone on her husband and sister.

I nodded. Molly smiled and pressed my keys into my hand. "Please walk me out so they don't arrest me."

"Gladly." I grinned.

I pulled the door to the conference room open and the head of security fell into the room.

"Hey Bob." I chuckled, offering him my hand.

"Uh, everything OK in here?" He inquired.

"It is now." I confirmed. "Just going to see her out. That OK?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Next time, if there is a next time..."

"There won't be." I said.

"Cool, OK, no problem then." He sputtered.

Once outside, Molly kissed me again softly and smiled. "See you at home?"

I nodded.

With one last glance over her shoulder, she was gone.

I spent the rest on the day explaining to my co-workers who the crazy lady was.

After work, I swung by my friends house, gathered my things and texted him a thanks for putting up with me. Told him I'd explain later and everything was good, then I headed home. Home, I liked the sound of that.

Not wanting to frighten Molly, I started to call for her only to find her standing in the foyer, bouncing on her toes. "I wasn't sure you'd come back."

She moved forward slowly. "Can I hug you?" She asked demurely.

I held out my arms and she crashed into them erupting into tears. "Fuck!" She hissed. "My C.O. would be so pissed at me right now. Marines don't cry Dammit!"

I held her, stroking her hair. "Everyone has a breaking point, Marine or not."

"I'm sorry for how I've treated you." She confessed. "Brett really fucked me over. That's on him. You're not Brett. I wrongly took out my anger with him on you."

"Understandable." I said. "You were hurt. He and your sister betrayed you. It's probably a really good thing they're four thousand miles away."

"You have no idea." She sneered. "Five minutes alone with them, just five minutes, I'd be happy."

"You'd be in jail."

"Still be happy." She sighed.

"Oh, I almost forgot." She pulled away from me and grabbed an envelope on the table next to the door. "Here."

"Whats...?"

"Open." She commanded.

Inside I found a check for something just over two hundred and thirty-two thousand dollars.

"Molly." I said sternly. "This is too much."

"Non-negotiable, remember." She chided.

She took me by the hand and led me to the dining room where she'd set up something of a welcome home feast.