Chapter 2 - The AccountThe branch manager was a woman named Carolyn Price.
She closed the office door behind me.
“Mrs. Carter, before we discuss anything, I need to verify your identity.”
I handed her my license.
She studied it.
Then she opened a folder.
I recognized Mama’s handwriting on the tab.
My knees weakened.
“What is that?”
Carolyn didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she looked at me with an expression that was almost pity.
“Your mother came here six months ago.”
“She did?”
“Yes.”
“She was sick.”
“I know.”
“What did she want?”
Carolyn folded her hands on the desk.
“She asked me to prepare something.”
“What?”
“A sealed file.”
My pulse began pounding.
Carolyn opened a drawer and removed a thick brown envelope.
My name was typed across it.
LINDA CARTER.
I stared at it.
“Why didn't anyone tell me this existed?”
“Your mother instructed us not to contact you unless a specific condition was met.”
“What condition?”
Carolyn looked toward the flour tin.
“When you arrived here with that.”
I felt the room shrink.
“What does the money have to do with this?”
“Everything.”
She slid a document toward me.
It was a bank statement from 1997.
There was an account in Mama's name.
Balance on opening date:
$18,940.00
I stared at the number.
“That money came from where?”
Carolyn tapped the bottom line.
“An insurance company.”
My mouth went dry.
“What insurance company?”
She showed me the name.
It was the same company that had paid the settlement from my accident.
I whispered, “That’s my settlement.”
Carolyn nodded.
“According to our records, a settlement check was issued in your name.”
I stared at her.
“I never saw it.”
“I know.”
“Who deposited it?”
Carolyn turned the statement around.
There was a signature on the deposit slip.
Wayne Carter.
My stepfather.
I felt physically sick.
“So Wayne took my settlement?”
“Your mother believed so.”
“Believed?”
Carolyn hesitated.
“She didn't tell us everything.”
“What didn't she tell you?”
Carolyn opened the brown envelope.
Inside was a photocopy of a cashier’s check.
The amount was exactly $18,940.
“Your mother deposited the money here under her own name,” Carolyn said.
“Why?”
“She said she was protecting it.”
“From Wayne?”
Carolyn nodded.
I stared at the check.
“But why didn't she give it back to me?”
“She wasn't allowed to.”
“What does that mean?”
Carolyn reached for another paper.
“This account was placed under a legal restriction.”
I looked at her.
“By whom?”
She slid the document across the desk.
My name was on it.
So was Wayne’s.
And beneath them was a third name.
Samuel Reed.
I frowned.
“Who is Samuel Reed?”
Carolyn looked surprised.
“You don't know?”
“No.”
“He was the attorney who handled your accident settlement.”
I had never heard the name.
Not once.
Carolyn lowered her voice.
“Your mother told me the attorney disappeared before the final paperwork was completed.”
“Disappeared?”
She nodded.
Then she opened the last page.
A handwritten note from Mama.
Linda,
If you are reading this, Wayne is gone and I am too.
That means no one can force you to keep protecting him.
My eyes burned.
The money in the flour tin is not the money from your settlement.
I stopped.
“What?”
Carolyn went silent.
I read the next line.
The bank account is still holding what belongs to you.
My heart hammered.
“Then what is the $18,940 in the tin?”
Carolyn looked at me.
“I think your mother wanted you to ask that question.”
I flipped the page.
There was one final sentence.
Because Wayne never stole your settlement.
I stared at it.
Then came the final line.
He stole something worth much more.
I looked up.
Carolyn was pale.
“What did he steal?”
She didn't answer.
Instead, she reached for the phone.
“There's someone else who needs to speak with you.”
“Who?”
The office door opened.
A tall gray-haired man stepped inside.
He looked at me.
Then at the flour tin.
His face changed completely.
“Linda?”
I stood.
“Who are you?”
His eyes filled with something that looked like fear.
“My name is Samuel Reed.”
The attorney Mama had said had disappeared.
May you like
And he was standing in front of me.
Alive.
