13. Summer
Once again,I stood before a sleek, modern bank, file in hand. Stomach churning with nerves and anticipation.
For days, I’d dug through dad”s secret office, increasingly convinced that something shady was going on.
Why the hidden room? Had my mother known about it?
Why the banker”s strange reaction to my last name?
And lastly, was there something bad actually going on, just as Rook claimed? Why chase me away? Why did he even care what I did?
Questions I was determined to find the answers to.
And, until I had them, I decided to wait to tell Callie.
She would kill me if she knew everything I’d done, especially at my botched attempt to bribe that creep at Southeastern Financial with sex.
I had to take care of her, no matter how many failures were already piling up.
As I approached the building, I smoothed down my deep blue, velvet dress, hoping no one would notice the coffee stain—my dad’s old Mercedes had unexpectedly jerked. The thing had a mind of its own. And, since it had no air conditioning, I had to keep the windows rolled down, and now my hair looked like a frizzy bird”s nest.
In other words, I looked like I’d just emerged from the forest, instead of the polished look I’d hoped to present.
The Magnolia, inscribed in gold on the black, iron doors, along with the same symbol on a letter in my father’s office—an OV over a magnolia flower—told me I was in the right place.
Below it, in smaller letters, read a Chapter of the Obscura Veritas.
A breeze whipped through my hair and I scurried through the doors to keep it from getting even worse.
As soon as I stepped inside, the sweet smell of the same flowers filled my nose.
”May I help you?” A young woman with deep ebony skin and an icy-blue, Caesar-cut hairstyle, crooked a perfectly shaped eyebrow at me. Her words, perfectly polite, but her tone reflected the opposite. Her thumb was poised over the slate of glass covering the display screen of her phone.
She was sitting at a large desk in the middle of the room.
I made my way towards her over a glossy, obsidian-black floor—so clean, I could see a distorted reflection of myself, staring back at me.
I looked wide-eyed and nervous.
I blinked the thought away, forcing my shoulders and face to relax.
”Hi, I, uh—“ I shuffled, the butterflies in my stomach flitting as her eyes followed the wild tangle of my hair down to my shoulders and...right on to the coffee stain.
I cleared my throat, trying to pull her attention away from it. ”I”m sorry, I”m not sure, is this a bank?”
Her russet brown eyes narrowed in on mine. ”Are you lost?” She glanced at the file folder clutched tightly to my chest—I was now using it as a shield to hide the coffee stain.
“It”s just that I—” With a defeated sigh, she’d already seen the stain anyway, I placed the folder on her desk. ”My dad recently died,” at this, her gaze softened, “and I was going through some of his stuff.” Pushing my hair from my face, I pulled out the papers I’d discovered and slid it towards her. “I found this.”
She picked it up with a curious look, her eyes scanning the text.
It was a letter welcoming him to the company, along with an account number, and an incredibly high dollar balance. The OV logo on the letter had a small, actual magnolia flower embedded into it. A business card was attached, with this address.
I hadn’t been able to find anything about them on the internet and wasn”t even sure if they would still be here.
Discovering the letter had filled me with a hope that I was almost afraid to feel. Surely, Terrance would’ve told me about the money. But, what if…what if he hadn’t known about it for some reason? The paperwork was in a secret room. Maybe my dad had kept it hidden.
As the woman, Luxury Fortwright—stated in bold script on her gold name plate, considered the papers, I waited patiently, my heart fluttering. I looked around the room, noting there were no tellers, no other offices or desks. Just a large and impressive modern space, filled with bronze sculptures and a sleek, black reflective water feature.
”I see,” she finally responded, sliding the paper back towards me, her red lipsticked lips pressed together in a firm line. “And you would like to know…”
“If he had some kind of account here? Can you look up that account number?”
“Of course.” Gold earrings jangled as she typed on a sleek tablet. It took only a second before she frowned sympathetically. “I’m sorry. It looks like he closed this account about seven months ago.” Shortly after he got his diagnosis.
Distress speared through me. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, hon.” She pat my hand, sighing. “I wish I could tell you something different. I’m sure it would be nice to have that kind of money.”
I frowned, biting down on my lip, my eyes burning. I had hoped… “Well,” I collected the papers, “Is there any way—I mean, maybe they could give me a loan?” I was sure, after every other bank had denied me, that they wouldn’t. Especially not a fancy bank like this. But it didn’t hurt to ask.
It took her a long moment to respond, her eyes studying me. Then finally, “Are you sure about this?”
I stared at her blankly, then suspiciously. “Yes. Why wouldn’t I?”
“It’s just that,” she paused, her eyes sliding to her phone, her finger tapping the desk. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but this isn”t the kind of place where you”d want to borrow money.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It means, honey,” she met my gaze, “that the interest rates in this place aren’t the kind of rates you’d want to pay. If you know what I’m getting at. They’re predators.”
I thought of the loan officer. How I’d taken my shirt off for him. Allowed him to touch me.
Then I thought of Callie and how she’d jumped into my father’s grave. How Benson had grown up at our house, just like we did. And now he had?—
Selling the house would kill them.
If she meant what I thought she meant, I’d already offered myself up once. I would do it again. I set my shoulders determinedly. “Please, if you would. I would like to apply.”
“Okay,” she sighed, shaking her head. “If you insist.”
“I do.”
“Let me see what I can do for you.” She tapped on the tablet and I fiddled with my hair and dress, trying to smooth it out while I waited.
”Here,” she passed a white cloth at me, eyeing the coffee stain, ”this might help. I spill my coffee all the time. It”s like a magnet to white shirts.” Her soft smile made me feel a little bit better, though my stomach was churning again.
I blotted at it, surprised at how well it was working. “You must be a witch, because this is magic.”
She belted out a surprised laugh. It was rich and full. “Well that’s not the first time I’ve ever been called a witch but I certainly wasn’t expecting it from you.”
“Oh, I…I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I’m teasing,” she winked, then extended her hand, standing, “I’m Luxury, but you can call me Lux. The board is meeting today, and they”ve just finished up. They have time to meet with you.”
”The board?” I stared after her as she strode towards the back of the room, her heels clicking on the dark marble floor.
When she didn”t answer me, I rushed to catch up. ”I don”t know that I need to meet with the board. Maybe there”s a teller, or a loan officer...” My words trailed off as I watched her pull out an ornate key from her pocket, smoothly fitting it through a keyhole.
”Unfortunately, we don”t employ any of those positions here.”
”But...” I was so confused.
”We provide specialized, personal service. Each of our members receives one-on-one assistance.” She gave me a tight smile, extending her arm to guide me through the doorway. “Go ahead. I’m not allowed entry.”
”Oh.” I walked forward, entering a dark hallway lit with soft yellow sconce lights on the walls. “Why no?—“
I was cut off by the door shutting behind me, and a definitive click of the knob. My mouth dropped open.
Did she just lock me in?
I tried it. The knob rattled but didn”t budge. Stunned, I swiveled on my feet, panic flittering through my chest.
Now that my eyes were used to the low light, I could see another door at the end of the hallway. ”Okay then,” I spoke to myself, ”Guess I”ll just go that way.” This place was definitely weird.
Steeling myself, I walked quickly towards the exit to find another black iron door with the same insignia as the front entrance. I swung it open. What had you been into, dad?
I jolted when I saw a large group of men and women in the shadows of the room, all staring at me.