Chapter 2 - The Call Connor Was Never Supposed to Receive
Connor knew something was wrong when the bank called him by his deceased wife’s account number.
He had been standing in the parking lot outside a contractor’s office, reading an email about delayed payments, when an unknown number appeared on his screen.
“Mr. Hayes?” a woman asked.
“Yes.”
“This is the fraud prevention department at Meridian National Bank. We need to verify a transfer connected to the estate of Amy Hayes.”
Connor stared through the windshield of his truck.
“My wife doesn’t have an estate.”
There was a pause.
“I’m sorry. Our records indicate Mrs. Hayes is deceased.”
Connor laughed once, not because anything was funny, but because his mind rejected the sentence.
“She was alive when I left home this morning.”
The woman stopped speaking.
Connor heard keyboard clicks.
“Mr. Hayes, I need you to confirm your identity. After that, I recommend contacting law enforcement.”
“What transfer?”
“I’m not authorized to disclose the amount until verification is complete.”
“Tell me whether someone is taking money from my wife.”
Another pause.
“An attempted transfer of $2.8 million was flagged at 8:14 this morning.”
Connor leaned against the truck.
Amy had never mentioned an account containing that much money.
Their finances were separate only in the most technical sense. Amy had inherited the family house from her grandmother, but she had always said the remaining trust was tied up in legal restrictions and worth far less than people imagined.
“Where was the money going?”
“To a company called Hawthorne Residential Holdings.”
Connor recognized the name.
It appeared on paperwork his mother had asked him to sign two months earlier. She had claimed it was connected to repairs on her flooded townhouse.
“What documents authorized the transfer?”
“A death certificate, probate order, property assignment, and spousal acknowledgment.”
“I never signed anything.”
“The acknowledgment carries your electronic signature.”
Connor suddenly remembered an evening in Teresa’s temporary bedroom.
She had placed a tablet in front of him while he was distracted by a call from the company accountant. She said she needed permission to contact an insurance adjuster on his behalf.
He had signed without reading the final page.
His stomach turned.
“Freeze everything,” he said.
“The transfer has already been suspended.”
“Who submitted it?”
The woman lowered her voice.
“The request was initiated by an attorney named Malcolm Vale.”
Connor had never heard the name.
A car door closed behind him.
He turned and saw his cousin Ryan approaching from the contractor’s office. Ryan worked part-time for Connor’s company and had been unusually nervous all morning.
“Everything okay?” Ryan asked.
Connor ended the call.
“What do you know about Hawthorne Residential Holdings?”
Ryan’s face changed.
Only for a second, but Connor saw it.
“Nothing.”
“My mother asked me to sign papers for that company.”
“She probably knows the owner.”
“Who is Malcolm Vale?”
Ryan looked toward the building.
“I’m late for a meeting.”
Connor grabbed his arm, then immediately released it.
“Ryan.”
“I don’t know.”
“You do.”
Ryan rubbed his jaw.
“Go home.”
“What?”
“Go home now. Don’t call your mother first. Don’t tell anyone you’re coming.”
Connor felt the air leave his lungs.
“What did she do?”
Ryan’s eyes filled with something that looked like guilt.
“She thinks she’s fixing the family.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means if you wait until tonight, there may not be a house left to go back to.”
Ryan walked away before Connor could stop him.
Connor got into his truck and called Amy.
The call failed.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Then a notification appeared from the home security system.
NETWORK DISCONNECTED MANUALLY.
He drove out of the parking lot so fast that his phone slid from the passenger seat.
Halfway home, another message appeared.
It came from an unfamiliar number.
Your wife has been legally dead for six months.
Do not interfere with the transfer.
Connor called the number. It was already disconnected.
He accelerated.
Forty minutes later, he turned onto his street and saw the dark sedan parked across from his house.
A man in the driver’s seat raised a phone and took Connor’s photograph.
Then the sedan pulled away.
Connor did not follow it.
Through the kitchen window, he could see Amy at the sink.
Noah was asleep against her shoulder.
May you like
Lily stood beside the birthday table.
And everyone else was eating cake.
