Chapter 7: The Company That Shouldn't Exist
The letter was dated two months before my mother died.
I read it once, then again, then a third time, hoping the words would rearrange themselves into something less frightening.
They didn't.
At the top of the page was the name Carter Family Holdings, followed by an address in Ventura County and a list of financial obligations. Near the bottom, somebody had typed my father's name beside a figure that made my stomach tighten.
$18,000.
Underneath it were the words outstanding business liability.
I looked across the kitchen table at Dad.
"What is Carter Family Holdings?""
He didn't answer.
"What's the eighteen thousand dollars?""
His face had gone pale. The fluorescent light above the table made him look older than forty-two.
"Where did you find that letter?""
"It was in the envelope with the bank statements.""
He held out his hand.
I didn't give it to him.
"Answer me first.""
Dad stared at the paper.
Then he sat down.
"Carter Family Holdings was a small business I started with a friend before you were born.""
"What kind of business?""
"We bought and resold used equipment. Mostly warehouse machinery, forklifts, shelving. Things companies wanted to get rid of when they upgraded.""
"Did it make money?""
"At first.""
"And then?""
He rubbed his palms over his face.
"And then we lost a contract. We had equipment we couldn't sell, payments we couldn't make, and a loan that was coming due.""
I looked at the letter again.
"So you owed eighteen thousand dollars.""
"That was the outstanding balance at the time.""
"And Mom knew?""
"Yes.""
"Did she pay it?""
Dad looked up sharply.
"No. Your mother didn't pay that debt.""
"But Yolanda said she used my money to pay a debt.""
"I don't know what Yolanda did with the money.""
"She said it was your debt.""
Dad's jaw tightened.
"That company closed years ago.""
"Then why is there a transfer to an account with its name on it six months ago?""
He stared at me.
For the first time since the bank had called, he seemed genuinely unable to find an answer.
Tiana sat beside me, scrolling through the photographs we'd taken of the documents.
"There's another page," she said.
She enlarged an image and turned the phone toward us.
It was a transfer confirmation. The date matched the withdrawal listed on the statement, and the destination account was identified as Carter Family Holdings.
The amount was $4,500.
Below it was a reference number and a note:
Final settlement — outstanding obligation.
Dad took the phone from her.
He studied the page.
"That can't be right.""
"Why?"" I asked.
"Because the company was dissolved.""
"Then where did the money go?""
He didn't answer.
I stood and paced to the refrigerator.
My thoughts were moving faster than I could organize them. Twenty-three thousand six hundred dollars had been set aside for me. More than twenty-one thousand had apparently disappeared by the time of the latest statement. Now we had evidence that at least $4,500 had gone to a company my father said no longer existed.
And nobody in the house could explain why.
"Can we look up the company?"" Tiana asked.
Dad shook his head.
"Not tonight.""
"Why does everybody keep saying that?"" I snapped.
He looked at me.
"Because I need to think.""
"You've had years to think! You knew Mom left money for me. You knew Yolanda was handling the account.
You signed papers without checking what they meant. And now you're telling me we can't even look up a company?""
His shoulders sagged.
"You're right.""
I stopped pacing.
He looked down at the table.
"I don't have a good excuse, Malik. I thought I was doing the right thing by trusting my wife. I thought she was keeping records. When she told me money had been used for emergencies, I believed her because I knew we were struggling.""
"So you just stopped asking?""
"Not entirely.""
"But you stopped asking enough.""
He nodded.
"Yes.""
The admission took some of the force out of my anger, but it didn't make the anger disappear.
Tiana unlocked her laptop.
"I can search the state business records.""
Dad looked at her.
"How?""
"Public records. I'm not hacking anything, Dad. I'm looking up a company name.""
She typed the words into a search engine, opened a government business registry, and entered the name from the letter.
We waited.
A result appeared.
CARTER FAMILY HOLDINGS.
The record showed that the company had been registered years earlier, then administratively dissolved.
Tiana clicked the details.
"Look," she said.
The listed registered agent was a man named Marcus Bell.
Dad leaned closer.
"Marcus?""
"You know him?"" I asked.
Dad swallowed.
"He was my business partner.""
"Is he the person you owed money to?""
"No. The loan was from a lender. Marcus handled some of the paperwork.""
Tiana scrolled farther.
The registry showed an address and an old filing date. It didn't show where the $4,500 had gone, and it certainly didn't explain why the account had received money long after the business had closed.
But there was another detail.
The company had been reinstated temporarily the previous year to resolve an outstanding filing issue.
The date was six months before the transfer.
Dad read it twice.
"Who reinstated it?"" I asked.
He pointed to the filing record.
The name beside the submission was Yolanda Carter.
Nobody spoke.
Then Tiana whispered, "She brought the company back just long enough to move the money.""
Dad shook his head.
"We don't know that.""
"She filed the paperwork," Tiana replied.
"And then money went into the company's account.""
"That still doesn't tell us what happened.""
"It tells us she knew the company existed.""
Dad pressed his fingers against his temples.
"I need to call Marcus.""
"Do you have his number?"" I asked.
"I might.""
He went to the living room and opened an old contact list on his phone. After several minutes, he found a number saved under Marcus's name.
He called.
The phone rang four times.
Then a man answered.
"Hello?""
"Marcus? It's Reggie Carter.""
There was a long pause.
"Reggie?""
"Yes.""
"I haven't heard from you in years.""
"I know. I need to ask you something about Carter Family Holdings.""
Another pause.
"What about it?""
"Did you receive a payment of $4,500 six months ago?""
Marcus didn't answer immediately.
Dad gripped the phone.
"Marcus?""
"I need to know where you got that number.""
"I have a transfer record.""
"From whom?""
"An account connected to my son's custodial savings.""
The silence on the other end changed.
It no longer sounded like confusion.
It sounded like recognition.
Finally, Marcus spoke.
"Reggie, you need to be careful.""
Dad stood straighter.
"Why?""
"Because that company was closed. I haven't operated it in years.""
"Then why did it receive money?""
"It shouldn't have.""
Dad looked at us.
"What do you mean?""
Marcus exhaled.
"I received a notice about an outstanding filing issue last year. Someone contacted me and said the company needed to settle an old obligation. I told them I had no involvement with the business anymore.""
"Who contacted you?""
"I don't remember the woman's full name.""
"Was it Yolanda?""
Another long silence.
"Yes," Marcus said.
"I believe that was her name.""
Dad closed his eyes.
"What did she tell you?""
"She said she was handling financial matters for the Carter family. She claimed the payment was authorized and that you knew about it.""
"Did you receive the money?""
"I received a transfer, yes. But I returned most of it after my accountant questioned the transaction.""
Dad's eyes opened.
"Most of it?""
"Four thousand dollars went back to the account listed in the transfer instructions. I retained five hundred to cover an outstanding administrative charge and a fee that had accumulated. I can provide the records.""
My heart began pounding.
"Who received the four thousand dollars?"" Dad asked.
"I don't know. The instructions came from the person who contacted me.""
"Can you send me the paperwork?""
"I'll look through my records. But Reggie, listen to me. I never asked Yolanda to use your son's money. If she told you the payment was for the old business debt, I want nothing to do with that.""
Dad thanked him and ended the call.
For several seconds, he stood in the living room without moving.
Then he walked back into the kitchen.
"Marcus says most of the money was returned.""
"To whom?"" I asked.
"He doesn't know. The transfer instructions came from Yolanda.""
"So she took $4,500 from my account, sent it to a closed company, and arranged for most of it to be transferred somewhere else.""
"That's what the records suggest.""
"Then we need the recipient information.""
Dad nodded.
"We'll ask the bank.""
I looked at the time.
8:53 p.m.
Yolanda still hadn't come back downstairs.
I went to the hallway and knocked on her bedroom door.
"What do you want?"" she called.
"We need to talk.""
"I'm tired.""
"Marcus Bell says he returned four thousand dollars.""
The room went silent.
I continued.
"He says you contacted him about Carter Family Holdings.""
The door opened.
Yolanda stood in the doorway, her face expressionless.
"Who is Marcus Bell?""
"Your husband's old business partner.""
"I don't know what you're talking about.""
Dad appeared behind me.
"Yolanda, stop lying.""
She looked from him to me.
Then she stepped into the hallway and closed the bedroom door behind her.
"You want the truth?"" she asked.
"Yes," I said.
She folded her arms.
"Your father had debts before we got married. Debts he never told me about until we were already struggling. When I discovered the old company had outstanding obligations, I thought I was protecting our family by settling them.""
"With my money?""
"With money that was sitting in an account nobody was using.""
"It was my account.""
"You were a child!""
"And I still didn't give you permission!""
Her eyes flashed.
"You think I wanted to do this? You think I wanted to spend years cleaning up the mess your father left behind?""
Dad stepped forward.
"Leave me out of this. You moved the money. You signed the forms. You tell us where it went.""
Yolanda looked at him with open contempt.
"I saved this family from losing everything.""
"By stealing from my son?""
"By doing what needed to be done!""
Her voice echoed through the hallway.
Then she lowered it.
"The money was going to be transferred eventually. Malik was going to get it when he was old enough. I was trying to make sure there was still something left for everybody.""
I stared at her.
"You spent my inheritance to protect yourself, and now you're pretending you did it for me?""
She didn't answer.
Dad held out his hand.
"Give me the remaining account documents.""
Yolanda laughed bitterly.
"You think it's that simple?""
"What does that mean?""
She looked directly at me.
"It means the $4,500 isn't the biggest problem.""
My throat tightened.
"Then what is?""
She hesitated.
For the first time, I saw something like regret in her expression.
Then she said, "Your mother didn't leave you the money you think she did.""
Dad went still.
"What are you talking about?""
Yolanda glanced toward the stairs.
May you like
"Ask him what happened to the life insurance policy.""
And just like that, the past opened another door.
