Chapter 6
Cady
Man, I could see the panic in his eyes. Good thing I stopped before I said, ‘commuting once we’re living together would be sweet.’
We’ve been working companionably at the table for a couple hours. Homework is done and, my shift is going to start in another forty-five minutes.
I don’t think he even realizes tomorrow is Christmas.
I have plans to make him a gift but need the printer when he’s not paying attention.
He’s been frowning at his computer for the last twenty minutes, his shoulders have stiffened, and his keystrokes have gone from normal tapping to literally pounding.
“Shea, what’s wrong?”
He looks up at me, jaw clenched. “I’ve been contacted by the Veterans’ Life Insurance office. I was listed as secondary beneficiary on Chris’s life insurance policy. They’ve been trying to reach you with the email they had on file, but there has been no response.
“They were contacted by your mom but since she was not on the policy they couldn’t respond. Now they believe someone is fraudulently trying to collect the benefits by pretending to be you.”
“What?”
“Cady, I know that Chris put you, and you alone, as beneficiary. He never wanted your mom or sister to get anything. Could either of them be up to something?”
I sit back in my chair. The hits just keep coming and coming from those two.
“For years I’ve known that they’d periodically go through my room looking for stuff they wanted. Clothes, makeup, jewelry. Then when I got part time jobs in the summer, it was money. Things would go missing from my purse and twice withdrawals on my checking account occurred.
“That’s when I started carrying everything important, driver’s license, social security card, gift cards, checking account info, laptop, everything in my backpack.
I even changed the lock on my bedroom door.
Then I changed my email address and would periodically change my passwords to most accounts.
My phone and computer log ins get changed almost weekly.
“It was Noelle, but the last couple months it’s been Mom too. She wears too much perfume, and I’ve noticed the lingering smell in my room after they’ve been in there.”
“That makes sense based on what the agent told me via email. You need to call her. Have your social security card and driver’s license ready. She’ll probably want copies. You’ll probably have to meet someone in person at this point.
“Cady, this is attempted fraud. A federal offense.”
“I am so done with them. I’m never going back. I’ll find somewhere else to live. And I will prosecute if it’s true.”
“You’ve always got a place here, no cost or expectation. I’m not saying that for any reason but that you’re Chris’s little sister. Family to me. I swore I’d watch out for you. I will help you however you want. You are not alone.
“I’ll go outside while you make the call.”
“No. I want you to stay with me.”
Because I’m already upset and afraid I’ll forget something, I put the call on speaker and ask Shea to take notes. The agent also states the call is being recorded.
Apparently, the day mom got the news about Chris’s death she immediately started trying to claim his life insurance benefit through the military.
She’d argued that the insurance company made a mistake and the policy was supposed to be in her name.
Then she tried saying she was calling on my behalf because I was too distraught to talk.
Next came Nicolle pretending to be me, and on and on.
At the end of the call I was told they turned the information over to their legal team and to expect that identity theft charges would be brought.
“Cady, are you okay?” Shea asks when we disconnect.
“Yeah, fine.” Overwhelmed. Disgusted. Furious. I need to be someone else for a while. I glance at the clock. “I need to go to work. Can we talk later?”
He nods. “What can I get you? Coffee or water?”
“Coffee and chocolate.”
“No chocolate, but there’s some hot cocoa packets. Want me to make you that?”
“Just dump it in the coffee.”
The rest of the day, he keeps me supplied with coffee, water and snacks. Not smothering, or overbearing, he anticipates what I need and it’s there before I ask. Even the left-over sugar cookies. The rest of the time he works quietly on his own computer.
My phone vibrates several times, but I never check when I’m working. Especially not today. At my official thirty-minute lunch break, I see three missed calls from my mother and one from Noelle. Then I scroll through the messages. “Bitch.”
Shea looks up. “What’s wrong?”
“My mother. She’s playing some new game. She’s acting like I’m unstable and she’s worried about me hurting myself. Oh wait, there’s a voice mail, too.”
“Wait. Don’t play it yet. Check your emails. See if there’s anything from the insurance contact.”
He comes to stand behind me. There is one. “Read it with me.”
Standing behind me, he reads over my shoulder. The agent says when they called Mom she went off, then tried to spin it that I was mentally unfit and would soon be committed to a psych ward. That I’m prone to self-harm and drugs and that I’ve been missing for a week.
“Good luck trying to prove that one, Mom,” I mutter.
The agent goes on to say that she and her supervisor, who has been brought up to date on the potential fraud, both feel this is yet another ploy to get access to the money.
“When do you start back to work?” Shea asks.
“Five minutes.”
“Cady, do you think they would hurt you?”
I look up at him. “I honestly don’t know.”
“We need to make sure they know that if something happens to you, the money comes to me. That should help keep you safe. Sheriff Harker is a friend of mine. I’m going to call him and let him know what’s going on and what we found out today.
I also want him to know that you’re safe with me.
And I’m not letting you out of my sight until this is resolved. Are you okay with that?”
My heart does a happy dance. “Yes. I do feel safe here, and there’s no place else I’d rather be.”
I clock back in but hear the soft drone of his voice from the other room. A peace settles over me. I hadn’t realized the stress I constantly carried because of my mother and sister’s games. Here I feel cared for, safe.
Now if he could only love me like I love him.
The sheriff asks that I send him all my mother’s and sister’s texts and messages, which I do once I’m off.
He texts me that he’d like a few minutes to review and we set a time for him to call.
As expected, he wants to record our conversation.
I agree something has changed with both my mother and sister.
It started before Chris died but has escalated since his passing.
Clay isn’t shocked by anything I tell him.
He says the two women, in his opinion, have become unstable themselves.
Based on reports and comments in town, they aren’t paying their bills and have been shut out at a few places.
He thinks they’ve squandered all their money and are living on the edge.
Some rumors say drug usage but as of now he has no proof.
“I can tell you that they have started to party together,” I offer.
“Can you elaborate?” the sheriff asks.
“Since husband seven left, Noelle and Mom have started to bar hop together and have friends from both their groups over to the house to drink, eat and party. Somedays I feel like I live in a frat house.”
By the time I’m off the phone, I’m exhausted. Is it too much to just want to live an ordinary life, to love and be loved like a normal person?
Shea steps behind me and massages my shoulders then asks if there’s anything special I want for dinner. He laughs when I say pancakes and bacon.