The Summer of Me (18 page)

D
ESTINY LET THE CALMING WARMTH OF THE SHOWER
soothe her tired spirit. She still couldn't believe that she'd been handcuffed and taken to the police station. Thank God, Daniel had contacts in California who'd been able to get her released. That she hadn't been booked or officially charged didn't make the incident any less harrowing.

When the water began to grow chilly, Destiny knew her shower time was coming to an end. She wrapped herself in a towel and stepped out of the shower. Catching herself in the mirror above the bathroom counter, she was surprised that the horror she'd endured today wasn't reflected in her appearance.

Destiny pushed away the negatives of the day and tried to focus on the positives. Fortunately, she had some things for which she could be grateful. She was grateful her kids hadn't seen her handcuffed. The police hadn't been particularly nice to her but they had honored her request to take her out the back so her kids wouldn't see. She was also grateful they'd
let her call her mother and let her know what was going on. That's where her gratitude toward the police ended. According to the attorney Daniel had found for her, they should never have handcuffed her and taken her to the station in the first place. He'd made noises about a civil suit against the department, but she figured that was only posturing to get her released faster. Whatever it was, she was glad it had worked and she was now back at the hotel.

She exhaled deeply. She'd put it off long enough. She had to face her mother. The woman deserved some answers. Unfortunately, Destiny didn't have many. Her attorney told her only that the police were interested in HR Solutions and Daniel would give her the details when he arrived. Why did he have to come all the way to California to tell her? Why couldn't he tell her over the phone? Had he spoken to Phil? What was going on?

“Destiny,” she heard her mother call. “You can't hide in there all night. You're not the only one who has to use that bathroom.”

Destiny sighed. Then she pulled open the bathroom door. “The bathroom is yours, Mom.”

“It's about time,” Patricia muttered. “You're not the only one who had a rough day. How do you think I felt sitting in that restaurant waiting for you, only to learn that you'd been taken to the police station? I was terrified. I didn't know what was going on. I still don't know what was going on.”

“You know as much as I do, Mother.”

Patricia huffed. “I know that's not true. Are you're going to tell me everything before we leave to see those kids?”

“We can talk later tonight,” Destiny said. “All I want to do now is drive out and say good night to the kids.”

Patricia began shaking her head. “You may want to wait until tomorrow to see the kids though. I told you that Kenneth was pretty angry when he picked them up at the restaurant.”

It didn't matter how upset Kenneth was. She needed to see her kids. They were the most important parts of her life and she felt like she'd come close to losing them today. She needed to see them to reassure herself that hadn't happened. If she had to bear Kenneth's wrath, so be it. “I'm going, Mom. It's up to you whether you go with me or not.”

“I'm going if you're going,” her mother said, though her tone told Destiny she'd be going grudgingly.

“Don't do me any favors, Mom.”

Patricia sat down on the side of the bed. “I was so afraid, Destiny. I didn't know what was happening with you. I've never felt so helpless in all my life.”

Destiny sat down next to her mother, full of compassion for her. “I'm sorry you were worried, Mom, but as you can see, I'm fine. Nothing happened to me.”

“How can you say that, Destiny? Something did happen. You were taken to the police department and I want to know why. Was it about the credit cards?”

“I'm not sure.”

“What do you mean you're not sure? What did your attorney say? Where did you find the attorney in the first place? You don't know any lawyers out here, do you?”

The fear and concern in her mother's eyes caused Destiny
to relent. Even though her mother was a tough taskmaster, she was her mother and she loved her. She didn't want her to worry and she didn't want her afraid. She started with the easy question. “Daniel found the attorney for me. He has friends with contacts out here.”

“When did you talk to Daniel?”

“I called him from the police station.”

“Why him? Are you two that serious? I would think this kind of incident would squelch a new relationship. What man wants this kind of drama?”

Her mother's words stung even though Destiny knew she didn't mean them to. She was only stating what she thought was obvious. “He's my friend, Mom. I trust him. He was the first person I thought of, so I called him.”

“Why did they arrest you? What are you not telling me, Destiny?”

“Honestly, Mom, I'm not sure yet. According to the attorney, Daniel will give me the details when he gets here.”

“Daniel's coming to Los Angeles?”

“He may already be here. His attorney friend is picking him up. They have the information that the police wanted from me.”

“You're talking in circles, Destiny. Just tell me.”

Destiny looked away from her mother. “Honestly, Mom, I don't know the details. All I know is that it has something to do with HR Solutions.”

“What is HR Solutions?”

“It's a temporary agency in Atlanta that I've been doing some part-time work with.”

“Since when? I didn't know you were working a temp job. When do you work? What do you do?”

Destiny thought her mother's questions sounded much like the ones the detectives had asked. “I did market and consumer research from home on the computer.”

“Well, if the police were asking about it, there must have been something fishy about it. If you had focused on school the way I asked, you wouldn't be in this mess. I told you that all these little jobs wouldn't amount to much. Now this one has landed you in jail. What were you thinking?”

Destiny bit her tongue to keep from screaming. When she was calm, she said, “Kenneth thinks hauling the kids between my house, his house, and school every day is too much for them. He wants them to live with him and Mary Margaret during the school week since his house is closer to their school.”

“When did he tell you this? Why didn't you tell me?”

“I'm telling you now, Mom.”

“Why did you wait so long to tell me?”

She met her mother's gaze. “I wanted to wait until I had an answer for you. I wanted to solve the problem myself. I didn't want you to solve it for me.”

“I would have helped, Destiny. The kids don't have to live with Kenneth.”

“I know,” she said. “Since I didn't like the option that Kenneth presented, I had to come up with another one.”

“So what did you come up with?”

“I decided that the kids and I needed to move into the school district so the school would be closer. I started looking
for places a few months ago, but the apartments are priced higher and they're much smaller than what we have now. I couldn't find anything that worked for us until I started looking at houses.”

“You've been looking at houses?”

Destiny nodded. “I found one that's perfect for us. The owners, a retired couple moving to Florida, offered me a great lease-purchase option. So I found a part-time job that would yield me the money I needed. Unfortunately, the offer was rescinded a couple of weeks before I was supposed to start. Then things got even more complicated when Kenneth decided to cut his child-support payments in half for the summer months because the kids were with him. So I took on the extra jobs because I needed them. It's just that simple.”

“Why didn't you come to me, Destiny? I could have helped you out. You didn't have to resort to criminal activity.”

“I didn't do anything illegal, Mom.”

“Well, I'm not a genius,” her mother said, “but if the police picked you up, I'd guess whatever it was must have been illegal.”

She knew her mother was right. “It certainly seems that way, but I don't really know. According to my attorney, Daniel will give me the details when he gets here.”

“Why would Daniel know anything?”

“All I know is that he's friends with the guy who runs HR Solutions.”

“This is an awful situation, Destiny.”

Destiny could only nod her agreement. “Go take a hot shower, Mom. You'll feel better.”

“I think I'll lie down first,” her mother said. “I'm too tired to think about a shower now.”

Destiny's heart ached with the knowledge that she had caused her mother's fatigue. “I'm sorry, Mom,” she said.

Her mother patted her shoulder. “I know you are, sweetheart. Just let me rest for a little while. I'm so tired.”

“You're still going with me to see the kids, aren't you?”

Her mother shook her head. “Not tonight,” she said. “Tell them I'll see them tomorrow. Tonight I need to rest.”

Destiny got up from the bed and watched as her mother slid under the covers. Though Destiny still looked the same after her ordeal, it seemed her mother had aged several years. Destiny despaired that she was the cause.

D
ANIEL PACED THE CONFERENCE ROOM OF HIS BUSINESS
suite while he waited for Destiny to arrive. Malcolm Winters, the attorney who had gotten Destiny released from jail, sat at the conference table going over the notes from their earlier meeting with the police. Daniel silently thanked God again that GDW's investigation had been complete by the time this happened. Otherwise, Destiny would be in a world of trouble. As it was, the local police were willing to fall in line with the Feds when it came to HR Solutions and the related fraud. Turned out that HR Solutions wasn't the only firm involved.

“You're wearing out the carpet with all your pacing,” Malcolm finally said. “There's no need for you to be nervous. Your girl got the best possible outcome. You should be celebrating, not pacing.”

“I hear you,” Daniel said, hoping the man was right. Sure, Destiny was going to be all right in this mess, but would their budding relationship survive? He'd learned one thing
during the long flight from Memphis to Los Angeles: he wanted their relationship to work. They both deserved a chance to see where it would go.

Malcolm chuckled. “You may hear me, but you don't agree. And I can't figure out why.”

Daniel stopped pacing. “I'm sorry, man,” he said. “I have a lot on my mind. I do appreciate what you've done for Destiny. I'll never be able to repay you for the way you quickly stepped in and got her released. I owe you.”

“It wasn't a problem at all,” Malcolm said. “George has helped me out numerous times. It was only right that I return the favor. Besides, it's turned into some solid work for me.”

“How's that?”

“George has tapped me to be the local intermediary between the Feds and the fraud cases here in the Los Angeles area. Apparently, there are several victims of this crime in the city. Many of them have become victims of identity theft, like Destiny. They need help extricating themselves from the fraud and navigating through the demands the Feds will have for them. I'll represent their interests.”

“How will you get paid? I don't imagine these victims have the money for the fees you normally command.”

“That's the beauty of it. I'll be paid out of a fund the Feds establish from the money they confiscate from the crime ring. Between your IT experts at GDW Investigations and the IT experts at the Justice Department, they were able to find an account where much of the money was stashed. They hope they'll find others, but what they've found already is more than enough for us to get started helping people.”

“And that's how you'll be paid for helping Destiny?”

“Exactly. Normally an attorney in the Atlanta area would do her case, but since her problems surfaced here, I'll handle it. I know she was scheduled to return home on Monday. I suggest she stay a couple of days longer so we can get all the necessary paperwork filed. The travel costs for her and her mom will also be covered by the fund. Like I told you, she has the best outcome possible. She'll be fine.”

When he heard a knock at the door, Daniel said, “That must be her.” He opened the door without asking who it was and was not surprised to see Destiny standing there. Her sad countenance told him that she'd had a rough day. Instead of asking how she was, he just pulled her into the room and into his arms and held her close. She collapsed against him and began to weep.

When her tears subsided, she said, “What have I done, Daniel? Please tell me what's going on.”

He wiped at her tears. “It's nothing that we can't fix,” he said, guiding her over to the table where Malcolm sat. “Sit here and let Malcolm tell you what's going to happen next.”

She nodded a greeting to the attorney. Then she turned to Daniel. “You're going to stay, aren't you?”

“Of course,” he said, pulling out the chair next to hers and sitting down.

Destiny turned to Malcolm. “I know I've said it before but I need to say it again. Thank you so much for everything you've done for me. I really appreciate it. You haven't mentioned money yet, but I want you to know that I don't expect
your time to come free. I'll pay. I probably won't be able to use a credit card or a check, but I'll pay. Somehow.”

Malcolm began shaking his head. “Don't worry about money,” he said. “You were the victim here so I'll be paid out of the victims' fund.”

Destiny's eyes widened. “A victim?” She turned to Daniel. “I don't understand.”

“Malcolm will explain,” he said.

She turned back to her attorney.

“You were a victim of identity theft,” he told her. “That's why the police were asking about your credit cards. Several credit accounts have been opened in your name. A woman, using your credit information, purchased a car in Sioux Falls, Iowa. Somebody else bought a house in Denver. Those are just a few of the accounts. I'm pretty sure more will pop up over the next three months. By that time, your credit will be ruined and the scammers will be on to their next victims. That's how identity theft works.”

“So that's why my credit cards were rejected at the restaurant?”

Malcolm nodded. “They're all over the limit. Somebody's been buying high-end electronics.”

“And it hasn't been me. How did they get my information? Did I do something wrong?”

Her attorney cleared his throat. “That's where HR Solutions comes in. The company was acting as a front for an international bank fraud network. The work you were doing for them was an elaborate form of electronic money laundering.”

“Money laundering?”

He nodded. “Money was wired into your account. When you took your cut and wired the rest into another account, you were turning the dirty or illegally gained money into clean or legal money.”

She shook her head. “I can't believe I was so gullible. I knew in the beginning that job was too good to be true. I should have listened to my first instincts.”

“Don't beat yourself up too badly,” Malcolm said. “You're not the first person to get caught up and, unfortunately, you won't be the last.”

“It was a very sophisticated scheme, Destiny,” Daniel added. “Phil did a good job of knocking down each of your concerns. That was his primary role in the fraud and he was good at it.”

Destiny clearly remembered her first session with him. He had done a masterful job of addressing all of her questions and skepticism. “So Phil was in on this from the very beginning?”

“I'm afraid so,” Daniel said.

“Does Bertice know about his involvement?”

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

“I'm sure she didn't know what he was up to. She never would have involved me if she had. If she knew, she would have told me.”

“She didn't know,” Daniel said. “Phil never told her.”

“I can't believe Phil used us like this. I thought he was a nice guy. Poor Bertice. She was falling in love with him.”

“It's not all bad,” Daniel said. “Phil has been working with
a security firm to shut down the network for the last year. His work is part of the reason Malcolm is going to be able to help you.”

“That's something,” she said. “But how is this related to the identity theft?”

“They used information from the application you submitted to HR Solutions. It's another angle to the fraud. They set you up as an electronic money mule and then they steal your identity and ruin your credit. It's a one-two punch. The good news is that the fraud had been unraveled by the time your identity was stolen.”

“I guess you could call that good news.”

“Believe me,” Malcolm said, “it is. Now where were we?”

“You were telling me about the victims' fund.”

“Oh yes,” he said. Then he went on to explain the fund to her in much the same way he'd done earlier with Daniel.

“Well, that's nice to know,” she said. “Exactly what do I have to do?”

Malcolm laid out the terms she had to agree to in order to get consideration from the Feds. The consideration included immunity from prosecution for any crimes related to the HR Solutions fraud and access to monies from the victims' fund. In return, she had to supply the Feds with a signed statement of her involvement with the fraud. The Feds specifically wanted to know what she knew and when, who else she knew was involved, and what damage had been done to her as a result of her involvement.

Malcolm handed her a sheet of paper. “This outlines the terms as they relate to the statement. We won't start working
on that tonight. Over the next couple of days, I want you to try to think through answers to the questions on that sheet. Write them down. When we next meet, we'll take your answers and turn them into a formal statement. Any questions about that?”

Destiny shook her head as she scanned the sheet.

“Okay, next we have to deal with the identity theft. I have several standard documents for you to sign that I will have sent to all your financial institutions and the credit bureaus. We can't stop the fraud that has already happened but we can prevent anything else from happening.”

Destiny nodded. “Will all my credit cards be suspended?”

“Yes, it's best to start with a clean slate. We'll have a couple of the companies send replacement cards with new numbers so you'll have them for the remainder of your trip.”

“So that's all I have to do to clear up the identity theft and any resulting fraud?”

Malcolm shook his head. “Those are only the first steps. Once we pull your credit report from the three bureaus, we'll have to identify the fraudulent accounts, close them, and notify the creditors that you were a victim of identity theft. Fortunately for you, the creditors will believe you because of the backing of the Feds and the short window of time during which you were subject to identity theft. Normally, people have a much more difficult time proving they were victims. The Feds have named you a victim so they have taken care of that for you. And since you've been involved with HR Solutions for less than six months, we have a short window of possible fraud actions. I'm not teasing when I say you have
friends in high places. Your case will probably be the simplest one that comes across my desk.”

She gave a dry laugh. “I don't know how simple it is. I did end up handcuffed and taken to the police station.”

“And I told you, and the police chief, that was a gross overreach by those officers. There is no way they should have gone to those lengths. We may have a good case for a civil suit, but the Feds are going to want to include indemnifying the police in the terms of their deal with you.”

“What does that mean?” Destiny asked.

“It return for consideration, you can't file suit against any governmental entities for actions related to the frauds.”

Daniel cleared his throat. He had kept quiet until now. “Isn't that asking a lot of her? Personally, I'd like to see her sue the LAPD. Like you said, they were way out of line.”

Malcolm tapped his pencil against his chin. “At this point, I'm not sure it's worth it.” He turned to Destiny. “Depending on how you look at it, the police actually helped you by letting you know you had been a victim of identity theft. We could counter that you would have found that out anyway, but the timing does matter. If you want me to pursue this further I can, but I'd have to charge my fee for doing that work directly to you because the fund won't cover it. You don't have to decide now. Think it over and you can let me know when we meet in a couple of days.” He looked at Daniel. “Any more questions?”

He shook his head. “Not right now.”

Malcolm then turned to Destiny. “Are you all clear on what you need to work on over the next couple of days?”

She nodded.

“Good,” he said. He slid one of his business cards toward her. “If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call my office.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I can't seem to say it enough.”

Malcolm chuckled as he began picking up the scattered papers from the table and putting them in his briefcase. When he finished, he said, “I'm going to head home. I just may get there in time to kiss my kids good night before they go to bed.”

Destiny stood. “I hope you make it. I want to see my kids tonight as well.”

Daniel extended his hand to Malcolm. “Thanks, man. You've been a great help and we appreciate it.”

After Daniel walked Malcolm to the door, he returned to where Destiny was still seated at the conference table.

“What's on your mind?” he asked.

She looked up at him. “I need to see my kids. I really need to see my kids.”

He nodded. “Then we'll go see your kids. I'll drive.”

“You don't have to do that,” she said. “I can drive myself.”

“You're emotionally exhausted, Destiny, so you don't need to get behind the wheel. I'll drive you and wait in the car while you say good night.”

“Wait in the car?”

He nodded. “I don't want to meet your kids or your ex under these circumstances. We can plan for me to meet them if, and when, the time is right for both of us.”

“Are you sure?”

“I'm positive,” he said. “Do you have everything you need or do you have to go back to your room for something?”

“I really should check on my mom,” she said. “What happened with the police today upset her badly. I think it would ease her mind to know that everything has worked out.”

He nodded. “Makes sense to me. I'm sorry she was worried.”

Destiny sighed. “You have no need to be sorry. This has been nothing but another case of me letting her down by not living up to her expectations.”

“Don't be so hard on yourself.”

She shook her head. “I have to be. Even though things have worked out well for me, I made a reckless decision that landed me in this situation. I need to own that. My mom saw as clearly as I did what I almost lost.”