Chapter 4 - THE BANK ACCOUNT THAT STOLE MY MOTHER'S NAME|
At two in the morning, I learned that stealing someone's money could be only the beginning of stealing their life.
My mother had finally fallen asleep, surrounded by monitors and medical equipment.
I sat beside her hospital bed, holding the edge of her blanket, when Luca returned with two people I'd never met.
The first was Daniel Russo, his exhausted accountant.
The second was a silver-haired woman carrying a leather briefcase.
"Claire, this is Naomi Reed, my attorney," Luca explained.
Naomi shook my hand gently.
"I'm here to help preserve evidence and explain what we've discovered."
I looked toward my sleeping mother.
"Will any of this put her in danger?"
Naomi's expression softened.
"We're going to do everything legally available to protect her."
Then she opened her briefcase.
"But first, you need to understand how your identities were used."
Daniel placed several printed bank records on the table.
The first contained my name, employment information, and supposed direct-deposit authorization.
The signature at the bottom looked almost identical to mine.
Almost.
I pointed to the final letter.
"That's not how I write my last name."
Daniel leaned closer.
"What do you mean?"
"My father's last name was Bennett, and he taught me to write it with a very distinctive double T."
I traced the shape with one trembling finger.
"The person who copied my signature missed that detail."
Daniel examined the remaining forms.
His expression changed.
"Every signature has exactly the same shape."
Naomi nodded.
"Because they may all have come from one scanned image."
Seven weeks of payroll acknowledgments.
Seven different dates.
One signature copied again and again.
I stared at the papers and felt sick.
The next document was worse.
It showed a bank account opened in my mother's name during her previous hospital admission.
The address was not ours.
The telephone number was unfamiliar.
And the contact email belonged to Lakefront Administrative Services, a company associated with Adrian Vale.
"Your mother never controlled this account," Daniel explained.
"Someone used her personal information and signatures to create it."
I covered my mouth.
"Then where did my wages go?"
"Into that account, before being transferred elsewhere."
"How much?"
Daniel hesitated.
"With the missing overtime and reimbursements, more than fifteen thousand dollars."
I stared at him.
Fifteen thousand dollars.
Enough to pay for medication.
Enough to rent a small apartment.
Enough to keep my mother out of that freezing storm.
I'd spent seven weeks begging for money that had already left Luca's accounts under my name.
Luca stood beside the window, motionless.
"What about the $2.4 million?" he asked.
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
"The receiving company is connected to a larger business transaction."
"What company?"
"Hale Development Partners."
Luca slowly turned.
I recognized the change in his face.
He knew that name.
"Victor Hale," he said quietly.
Naomi looked at him.
"Who's Victor Hale?"
Luca's mouth tightened.
"A real estate investor who has been trying to buy several of my properties for years."
"Is he connected to Vanessa?"
"I don't know."
But his expression suggested he was beginning to suspect something terrible.
Naomi explained that the banks had received urgent fraud notices and requests to trace the transfers.
Some of the money had already moved through additional accounts.
Recovering everything would require investigators and the banks to follow the records.
I barely understood the financial language.
What I understood was that someone had used my mother's illness to steal from Luca and place my name at the center of the crime.
"Do the police know?" I asked.
"They've been contacted," Naomi answered.
"And Claire, I strongly recommend you have your own attorney."
I looked at Luca nervously.
"Would that offend you, sir?"
He stared at me.
"No."
He spoke firmly.
"You should have someone whose only responsibility is protecting you and your mother."
For the first time, I began to believe I might have a choice in what happened next.
Just before dawn, Naomi received a call from a contact helping coordinate the bank's fraud response.
She stepped into the hallway while Daniel showed Luca another transaction record.
When she returned, her face had lost its color.
"Claire, there's something you need to see."
She placed a printed photograph on the table.
It showed an apartment building on Chicago's Near North Side.
I frowned.
"What is that?"
"An address connected to documents submitted with the suspicious transfers."
"I've never been there."
Naomi took a breath.
"According to the lease records provided to investigators, you rented an apartment there three months ago."
I shook my head.
"That's impossible."
"Your identification and signature were used."
Then she revealed the final page.
It was an inventory prepared after the building manager reported suspicious items inside the unit.
Cash.
Financial documents.
Copies of Luca Moretti's banking information.
And a handwritten statement claiming I'd taken money from his company.
I stumbled backward.
"Someone put those things there."
Luca caught my arm before I fell.
I looked at him through tears.
"Sir, I've never even seen that apartment."
He held my gaze.
"I know."
But Naomi's next words made the room go silent.
"The police are already investigating that address."
May you like
She looked directly at me.
"And whoever arranged this may be trying to make sure you're arrested before they can be identified."
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