Kristi Capello thoughts about consequences of what she was about to do for a week. She only had a week to get the money together, and all during the week she spent thinking about the consequences of her actions, not just of borrowing it either, but of not taking the money. The act of taking the money or borrowing the money was still an offense with jail time. Kristi thought about the consequences of not taking the money. It was for a good cause and would be easily paid back. She even constructed her argument to the jury if the plan went sour. After all, paying the money back would help her prove that there was no intention to rob or deceive anyone. She figured money paid back is money borrowed, or there was an accounting error and since the money was all there no crime was committed.

It began with not paying the mortgage for two months. It would be three months before the letters demanding payment would come. Then it was borrowing money from her in-laws, and then her own parents. Kristi was still short a couple of thousand though. She felt the only choice was to do something immoral and illegal.

Kristi listened to her husband John complain relentlessly about money after they had moved, how they needed to pay off the bills and then have some sort of investment income. John made sure to bring up the student loans that were still pounding them into poverty and their recent move so she could get the position she wanted. John had yet to find work and the budget was stretched thin.

Kristi had been a teacher for eight years and then a curriculum specialist for another six years. At forty years old she still retained her youthful body, but had a few spots where age was catching up on her. With her distinctive Mediterranean olive complexion and long dark hair, she stood out as exotic to some. Standing only five inches about five feet, she was still a force with her graceful and at times strong presence. Her large breasts never lost their bounce and her ass could still turn young heads when she wore yoga pants.

Kristi convinced her husband that with a few more years of school she could apply for an assistant principal position. The position opened up a few counties over and Kristi knew she had to take it. The problem was that John had to quit his job, but Kristi saw this as her chance to advance. She knew her husband could find another job, and the raise she got would offset him losing his job before finding another one.

Everything seemed to work until the car broke, and the roof of their new house needed to be replaced. John's desire to not listen to the house inspector came at a cost of the rest of their savings. Now John had a chance to make money to pay everything off. John made a point of bringing up the whole plan Kristi had for taking the new job, and that she was the cause of their downward spiral.

Kristi listened to how John's old boss was unloading his rental property on the coast for less than he bought it for years ago. It was worth at the time two hundred thousand, and now could fetch a hefty sum of three times that. The best part John said was that his boss was only looking to sell it for one hundred fifty thousand. The only catch was that he needed to sell it before his divorce papers were served which was in less than a month.

Kristi was quick to part with all her jewelry, and everything else of value that would sell. She knew that flipping the house would be easy and even selling for the low estimate would recoup all their losses of both the move, and all of their loans.

Kristi was still short four thousand, and her only option was an unused fund in the school's account. Banks refused to listen, and their credit was so low they never even got a call back. Everything was collapsing, and Kristin knew her only option to save everything was getting four thousand to buy the property. It was the light at the end of the tunnel.

Kristi had access to a school account that only had a number code to it. Kristi was about to ask why she even had access to the account, until she saw that it had over ten thousand dollars in it. Kristi was steps away from Mrs. Bolt's, the bookkeeper's door, when she got the idea.

With a few clicks of the mouse, Kristi could see the account had not be touched or accessed in three years. It was also in a non-interest bearing account that was separate from all other school funds and athletic funds. Borrowing from this account and paying it back would be easy and harmless.

Kristi decided that borrowing the money for a few months would be just the solution to her problem. She had access to the account and could transfer it to any other account she wanted. Not trying to look suspicious and transfer it into her personal account, she went to the bank to withdraw four thousand and leave six thousand in the account. She figured she would not raise any alarms as the bulk of the money would still be in the account and it was not being closed either.

With a form in one hand and identification in another, Kristi walked out of the bank with four thousand dollars and a chance to set her life back to normal. The moment the money was in her hands she thought about how it would end the months of fighting she had with John.

****

Kristi walked to the lunchroom to handle a discipline issue, when she saw Mr. Donovan call her over with his hand. Instinctively she put a finger up to let him know she would be there in a minute, so she could handle the disruptive student.

Walking over she could see Tom Donovan walking to his room which was right by the lunch room. Mr. Donovan looked about the same age, but she never really talked to him on a personal level. He had a bit of a gut, but still had the muscles of his youth in his arms and legs.

"You have a minute Mrs. Capello?" Mr. Donovan asked as he stood at the doorway to his room.

"Yeah. Something wrong?" Kristi asked, wondering what was wrong with an otherwise peaceful day.

"Need to talk in private though," Tom said as he walked into his room.

Kristi walked in and closed the door as she saw Tom Donovan go to his desk and pull out a folder. Kristi figured he just had some forms to be signed, or something else that needed to be looked over. The worse case was it had something to do with a student who had parent problems that needed the police to be involved.

Mr. Donovan had the folder in his hand as he stood with his arms crossed. "I set up an account four years ago for Forbes Elementary students to go on a trip to the Grand Canyon, and then camp in Yellow Stone. I had parents and students raise the money and then I deposited the money in a separate school account. Four thousand went missing last week."

Kristi instantly felt her heart stop beating as her blood pressure increased. The momentary lapse caused her to almost fall over. She knew she was caught, and that her whole world would come crashing down. Tom Donovan had access to the account and she did not realize it. The only person listed on the account was just a number, and then she realized it was his school ID number.

Kristi did not know if Tom knew it was her and she thought she could play it off as an accounting error. "I can look into it for you and get back to you."

Tom gave a straight face as he quickly replied to her diversion answer. "I already looked into it. The bank gave me a record of who withdrew the money, and their identification."

Kristi breathed heavily but tried to make it not seem obvious that she was flustered. She thought of a good excuse of why the money could go missing. "It might be an accounting issue though. I moved money around to pay for books purchased last month. When school funding comes in April, I can move money back to cover the losses."

Tom quickly answered with a sense of authority of her. "I don't buy that lie. Good try, but the account was not attached to any other account and the school has plenty of money. That and the textbooks are only three years old."

Kristi knew she needed to be more offensive than defensive if she was going to seem like she was not the culprit. "Excuse me...It doesn't matter why the money was taken out, it will be all put back in April when the state gives us our funding. If that is all, I have somewhere to go."

Kristi did not like being put on the spot, and Tom Donovan was only a teacher. She did not like being called a liar or being put on the spot, even if it was the truth. She felt her pulse quicken as she knew he had to be put in his place.

Tom again responded quickly as he almost smirked. "The school board might have more questions though. The meeting is tomorrow, and they might want to know why the money was taken out in cash. They might ask why you and not Mrs. Bolt took the money out. Mrs. Bolt might have questions too, as to why she did not authorize the dispersal of any funds."