Chapter 11 - Somebody Was Still Using Her Name
Tasha played the voicemail for Kendra.
“You didn’t contact them?”
“No.”
“Did Malcolm?”
“If he did, why would they think it was me?”
Kendra’s expression darkened.
Tasha called Daniel Foster from BrightLine’s human resources department.
After verifying his extension through the company directory, she explained the situation.
Daniel went quiet.
“I’m glad you called directly.”
“What did you receive?”
“An email yesterday from an address containing your name.”
Tasha closed her eyes.
“What address?”
He read it.
Not hers.
“What did the email ask?”
“For documentation stating Mr. Reed’s position was eliminated as part of restructuring.”
Tasha gripped the phone.
“But it wasn’t.”
“No.”
“Did you send anything?”
“No. Our records wouldn’t support that language.”
“What did the email say the document was for?”
“A mortgage-related matter.”
Kendra mouthed, Mortgage?
Tasha wrote the word down.
“Was there an attachment?”
“A release form with what appeared to be your signature.”
The room seemed to shrink.
“Please don’t send anything to that email.”
“I won’t.”
“Can you preserve it?”
“Yes.”
Tasha thanked him and hung up.
Kendra stared.
“Why would somebody need proof that Malcolm was laid off for a mortgage?”
“The refinance.”
“But he isn’t on the refinance.”
They looked at each other.
Tasha called Malcolm.
He answered immediately.
“Hey.”
“Did you create an email account using my name yesterday?”
“What?”
“Did you contact BrightLine pretending to be me?”
“No.”
“Do not lie.”
“I swear.”
Tasha listened.
This time, something in his confusion felt real.
“Did Loretta?”
“I don’t know.”
“Devon?”
Malcolm went silent.
“I don’t know.”
“Why would the refinance need a letter about your employment?”
“It shouldn’t.”
“Then find out.”
“I will.”
“No.”
Tasha heard herself becoming firm.
“Don’t touch anything. Don’t warn them.”
“What?”
“I’m done giving people time to clean up before I see the mess.”
She ended the call.
Danielle Brooks called back that afternoon.
The attorney advised Tasha to preserve the fake email evidence and inform the lender investigating the personal loan.
“This could indicate continuing misuse of your identity,” Danielle said.
“Should I contact police?”
“That’s your decision. But if documents are being submitted under your name, creating a formal record may become important.”
Tasha hesitated.
“He’s my husband.”
“I understand.”
“I don’t want revenge.”
“Then don’t make decisions for revenge.”
Danielle’s voice remained calm.
“Make them for protection.”
After work, Tasha met Malcolm in a coffee shop.
Public.
Neutral.
No television.
No family.
He looked exhausted.
“I asked Devon whether he knows about the email.”
“And?”
“He denied it.”
“Your mother?”
“She said she didn’t know anything.”
“Do you believe them?”
“No.”
That answer was progress.
Malcolm slid his phone across the table.
“I found this.”
A text thread with Devon.
Three weeks earlier.
DEVON: Refi underwriter may ask about job loss. Need story clean.
MALCOLM: I’m not on the loan.
DEVON: Source of funds questions. Mom says handle it.
MALCOLM: Tasha doesn’t know.
DEVON: Then keep it that way until we close.
Tasha stared.
“You had this.”
“Yes.”
“And you still say they didn’t know?”
“I convinced myself he meant the property money, not your loan.”
Tasha scrolled further.
A later message.
DEVON: Need her income docs ready just in case.
MALCOLM: I already used them for personal financing. Don’t involve her more.
Tasha looked up.
“You told him.”
Malcolm’s eyes lowered.
“Yes.”
“You told him you used my documents.”
“Yes.”
“He knew.”
“Yes.”
“And then somebody created a fake email in my name.”
Malcolm nodded.
Tasha returned the phone.
“We preserve this.”
“I know.”
“You don’t delete anything.”
“I won’t.”
“And you do not call them.”
He nodded.
Then he said, “I want to give a statement.”
“To who?”
“The lender. Your attorney. Whoever.”
Tasha studied him.
“Why now?”
“Because last night I realized something.”
“What?”
Malcolm looked at his hands.
“I keep saying Mom used me.”
“She did.”
“But I used you first.”
Tasha felt tears threaten.
He continued.
“If I only tell the truth when it saves me from them, then it’s still selfish.”
For the first time, Tasha did not feel the immediate urge to argue.
She did not forgive him.
But she heard something new.
Accountability without a request attached.
Malcolm reached into his backpack.
“I brought the business statements.”
Tasha froze.
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
He pushed a folder across the table.
“I printed the last year.”
She opened it.
The transactions were ugly.
Inventory purchases.
Storage fees.
Credit-card payments.
RPH transfers.
Restaurants.
Gaming purchases.
Then something caught her eye.
A recurring transfer.
$600 every month.
Recipient: D. REED CONSULTING.
“Devon?”
Malcolm nodded.
“What was this?”
“Management fee.”
“For what?”
“He was supposed to be helping me scale the resale business.”
Tasha stared at him.
“You were paying your brother too?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Nine months.”
Five thousand four hundred dollars.
Kendra’s three thousand.
Their savings.
The personal loan.
Tasha looked back at the statements.
Devon had not merely benefited from the house.
He had been taking money from Malcolm’s side business for almost a year.
“What exactly did Devon do for six hundred dollars a month?”
Malcolm’s face tightened.
“I don’t know anymore.”
Then Tasha noticed one final thing.
Three large transfers into Fourth Quarter Resale.
Not out.
$2,000.
$2,000.
$2,000.
Sender: LORETTA REED.
Tasha looked at Malcolm.
“Your mother gave you six thousand dollars?”
His eyes widened.
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“No.”
“Then why does your business account say she did?”
