Chapter 5 - The Number Margaret Was Not Supposed to Find
The phone number belonged to Vanessa.
Not her current number.
An older one.
Margaret discovered it through an old family Christmas card tucked inside a drawer.
Vanessa had changed carriers two years earlier.
Margaret remembered because Ethan complained about having to learn a new number.
The old number ended in 1184.
Margaret sat at her kitchen table staring at the card.
Someone had enrolled her pension account in online banking using Vanessa's former phone number.
There could be explanations.
Vanessa might have helped Margaret create an account and forgotten.
Except Margaret had never asked.
Vanessa might have entered the wrong number accidentally.
Except two-factor verification codes had been used repeatedly.
Margaret called the bank's fraud department from the branch manager's office.
This time she requested printed records.
The branch manager, a woman named Claire Donnelly, listened without interrupting.
When Margaret finished, Claire folded her hands.
"I need to ask a difficult question."
"Ask."
"Has anyone had access to your identification documents?"
"My daughter-in-law has collected my mail since my knee injury."
"Before that?"
"Family occasionally."
"Social Security card?"
"In my home safe."
"Who knows the combination?"
Margaret thought.
Samuel had known it.
Ethan knew where the safe was.
Margaret had never intentionally given him the combination.
Vanessa had helped move documents after Samuel died.
"I don't know."
Claire nodded.
"We're freezing external transfers today."
"Good."
"But some transactions may have been initiated through a gaming payment system. We'll need records from the processor."
"Can you get them?"
"We can request them as part of the fraud investigation."
"How long?"
"It varies."
Margaret disliked that answer but understood it.
Claire printed the enrollment details.
Email address.
Phone number.
Date.
Device identifier.
Margaret recognized the email.
Not hers.
MHayesRetirementSecure at a common email provider.
It looked plausible.
Almost respectable.
Created specifically to impersonate her.
Margaret felt something colder than fear.
Planning.
This was not Ethan grabbing a card while desperate.
Someone had built an identity.
The branch manager lowered her voice.
"Mrs. Hayes, you may want to contact law enforcement."
"I want evidence first."
"Evidence is their job too."
"I know."
Margaret looked down at the transaction history.
"I spent thirty-seven years catching payroll errors. One thing I learned is that if you accuse the wrong person too early, the right person starts cleaning."
Claire studied her.
"Fair point."
Margaret left with a folder beneath her arm.
In the parking lot, a black SUV waited two rows away.
Vanessa sat behind the wheel.
Margaret stopped.
Vanessa got out.
"What are you doing here?"
Margaret almost admired the question.
Not hello.
Not are you all right?
What are you doing here?
"Banking."
"You should have asked me. I could've driven you."
"I managed."
Vanessa looked at the folder.
"Everything okay?"
"No."
A shadow passed across Vanessa's face.
Margaret continued.
"I have less money than I should."
"Because of Ethan?"
"I didn't say that."
Vanessa crossed her arms.
"He's scared, Margaret."
"So am I."
That was not entirely true.
Margaret was angry.
Fear was underneath.
But anger was easier to carry.
Vanessa stepped closer.
"Victor Cole's people contacted Ethan."
Margaret paused.
"Personally?"
"Through an intermediary."
"Name."
"I don't know."
"Then how do you know it happened?"
"Because Ethan showed me."
"What did they want?"
"The debt settled."
"How much?"
"Two hundred forty thousand."
Margaret nodded slowly.
The figure had increased again.
Interesting.
"What happens if he doesn't pay?"
Vanessa looked toward the building.
"They could destroy his credit. Take the house. Maybe worse."
"Cazinos cannot take houses because a gambler loses money."
"You don't understand how private credit works."
"Then explain it."
Vanessa's jaw tightened.
Margaret opened her car door.
Vanessa grabbed it before she could close it.
"If Ethan comes to you asking for help, don't humiliate him."
Margaret met her eyes.
"Move your hand."
"He's your son."
"Move your hand."
Vanessa did.
Margaret drove home.
That night, she received a call from an unfamiliar number.
"Mrs. Margaret Hayes?"
"Yes."
"My name is Owen Mercer. I'm head of security operations at Cole Crown Casino."
Margaret sat straighter.
Vanessa had said Victor's people were contacting Ethan.
Now one was calling her.
"Why are you calling?"
There was a pause.
"We received an internal alert connected to an account bearing your name."
Margaret gripped the phone.
"What kind of account?"
"A payment source tied to gaming activity."
"I have never gambled at your casino."
Silence.
May you like
Then Owen said something that changed the direction of everything.
"Mrs. Hayes, that's what concerns me."
