Chapter 3 - THE COMPANY WITH HER NAME INSIDE IT
Maya Torres did not waste time comforting people when facts were more useful.
That was why Clara trusted her.
Within ninety minutes, Maya had two laptops open, a paralegal pulling corporate records and a forensic accountant named Daniel Keene on speakerphone.
Bennett Coastal Holdings LLC had been formed four years and two months earlier.
Six weeks before Clara purchased the mansion.
The registered manager was Richard Bennett.
The secondary authorized manager was Julian Bennett.
The original filing address was a mailbox service.
The stated business purpose was real estate investment and consulting.
Clara had never heard of it.
Daniel’s voice came through the speaker.
“I’m seeing another entity.”
Maya leaned toward the phone.
“Name?”
“BC Resource Management.”
“When formed?”
“Two years ago.”
“Managers?”
“Richard again. Julian again.”
Clara stared out the office window.
“What are they doing?”
Daniel continued typing.
“I can’t tell yet. Public filings won’t show banking activity.”
Maya asked, “Any liens?”
“Working on it.”
Clara’s phone vibrated.
Victoria.
She ignored it.
Maya looked at her.
“They’re still calling?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Clara frowned.
“Good?”
“If they think you’re only angry about the vacation, they may not destroy evidence.”
That sentence changed the room.
Clara’s anger sharpened into strategy.
“So I should let them think I’m sulking.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel spoke again.
“Found something.”
Maya straightened.
“What?”
“A UCC financing statement filed eighteen months ago.”
Clara had no idea what that meant.
Maya did.
Her face tightened.
“Debtor?”
“Bennett Coastal Holdings.”
“Secured party?”
“Meridian Crest Funding.”
“Collateral?”
Daniel paused.
“That’s interesting.”
“What?”
“General business assets, contractual receivables and assigned revenue streams.”
Maya looked at Clara.
“Assigned from where?”
Daniel read.
“Schedule A references interior design consulting revenue associated with CBG.”
Clara went still.
“My company.”
Maya’s jaw tightened.
“Does it specifically identify Clara Bennett Design Group?”
“Not in the public summary. We’d need the attachment.”
“Get it.”
“I will.”
Clara stood and began pacing.
“I don’t understand. They can’t just borrow against my company.”
“No,” Maya said. “They can’t.”
“Then how did they?”
“They may have fabricated assignments.”
“Using my signature.”
“Possibly.”
Clara stopped.
“My father used to review contracts for me.”
Maya looked up.
“How often?”
“When I started the company? Constantly.”
“Did he have copies of your identification?”
“Yes.”
“Tax information?”
“Yes.”
“Banking information?”
“Probably.”
“Digital signature samples?”
Clara felt sick.
“Yes.”
Julian had briefly worked for Clara Bennett Design Group five years earlier.
Briefly because Clara had fired him after discovering he spent company money on personal dinners.
Richard had forced her to rehire him as a consultant for another six months.
Clara suddenly remembered.
Julian had access to the accounting system.
Not full access.
But enough to view client invoices.
“Maya.”
“What?”
“Julian knows my receivables.”
Maya’s expression darkened.
Daniel returned.
“I pulled the secured lender profile. Meridian Crest is a private lender specializing in bridge loans.”
“How large?”
“Loans from two hundred thousand to ten million.”
Clara sat down slowly.
“Can we find out if they borrowed?”
“Yes,” Daniel said. “But not immediately from public records.”
Maya leaned back.
“We can subpoena it if necessary.”
Clara rubbed her forehead.
“Why would they need that much money?”
Nobody answered.
Then Clara’s phone rang.
This time the screen showed a number she knew.
Her bank.
She answered.
“Ms. Bennett?” a man said. “This is Aaron Blake from Sovereign Atlantic Private Banking.”
“Yes.”
“We’re calling to verify an unusual request.”
Clara looked at Maya.
“What request?”
“A representative contacted us seeking confirmation of your business deposit history.”
Clara’s throat tightened.
“When?”
“Approximately twenty minutes ago.”
“Who?”
Aaron hesitated.
“He identified himself as your authorized financial agent.”
Clara already knew.
“Name.”
“Julian Bennett.”
Maya stood.
Clara closed her eyes.
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing. Your account has a verbal security phrase he could not provide.”
Thank God.
“Did he say why he needed it?”
“Yes.”
Clara waited.
“He said it was related to a temporary liquidity verification for a family real estate transaction.”
Clara looked at Maya.
The mansion.
A sale.
Maybe a loan.
Maybe something worse.
Aaron continued.
“He also stated you were currently unavailable because you were traveling internationally with the family.”
Clara’s mouth went dry.
Julian had removed her from the cruise.
Then told the bank she was on it.
Maya wrote something on a legal pad.
Clara asked, “Can you freeze third-party information requests?”
“Already done.”
“Thank you.”
When the call ended, Maya turned the pad around.
Three words were written across it.
THEY NEEDED YOU GONE.
Clara stared.
Not excluded.
Not humiliated.
Gone.
For a specific period.
Three weeks.
Long enough to make calls.
Long enough to sign documents.
Long enough to pretend Clara was unreachable in the middle of the Mediterranean.
Her phone buzzed again.
This time it was a photograph from Victoria.
Champagne glasses on a ship deck.
Caption:
WE’RE HAVING A WONDERFUL TIME DESPITE YOUR TANTRUM.
Clara stared at the image.
Then enlarged it.
Behind Victoria, Julian was sitting at a table with a laptop.
On the screen was a document.
Clara zoomed in until the pixels blurred.
May you like
At the top she could just make out two words.
MERIDIAN CREST.
