Chapter 6 - The Accounts Nobody Explained
Rebecca sent copies of the company disbursement summaries to an attorney, not directly to Kelly. The records were incomplete and involved private financial information, so they needed careful review before anyone accused an employee of theft. Kelly met Rebecca at a café with a lawyer present. It was a strange introduction: the woman who had married the man Kelly called her father brought ledgers instead of questions about birthdays.
Rebecca was in her late forties, poised but visibly exhausted. "I've known about the relationship with Nora for years," she said. "Julian told me it ended before we were married. He never mentioned a child. I was furious when I found out, but I'm not angry at you."
"You don't have to make me feel better about it."
"I'm not. I need to know whether somebody used this family's money to keep another family quiet."
The lawyer explained that the old relocation agreement had been administered by a holding company. Payments were recorded for eighteen years even though Nora said she received money for only the first four. Some entries were reimbursements or bookkeeping transfers, not necessarily actual checks. Establishing misuse would require bank records, signatures, and explanations from the people who authorized them.
Kelly thought of the years Nora worked two jobs while the company filed statements saying she'd received support. The possibility made her furious. But she also saw the danger of treating every line in a ledger as proof of a crime before she knew what it meant.
Julian came to the next meeting with counsel. He acknowledged he had allowed his father to control the original arrangement and hadn't reviewed it for years. When his father died, the corporate administrator told him all obligations had been satisfied. He hadn't asked to see the records. Julian said he didn't know the payments continued; Rebecca wasn't certain she believed him.
"You wanted not to know," Kelly said. "That's different from having no way to find out."
Julian looked at the table. "You're right."
For once, the acknowledgment wasn't enough. Kelly wanted him to do something concrete: support an independent review, make no promises about a result, and tell Thomas the truth without asking Kelly to stand beside him. Julian agreed. He also offered to pay Nora's actual documented medical bills directly after consultation, but Kelly asked him to wait until Nora could decide whether she wanted that.
At home Nora listened to the summary, then surprised Kelly by saying she wanted to attend the next meeting. "I'm tired of being talked about like a file," she said. "I signed the first agreement. I can explain why."
Kelly helped her mother organize old bank statements and letters. Among them was a receipt showing the last payment Nora actually received. Another document, dated a year later, appeared to bear Nora's signature authorizing funds to an account she'd never opened. Nora studied the signature with narrowed eyes. "That's how I cross my sevens," she said, "but I don't remember signing it."
Kelly asked whether Nora might have been asked to sign a form without being told its purpose. Nora said it was possible. She had once trusted an accountant associated with Julian's father to prepare tax filings. Kelly resisted turning the memory into certainty. She gave the document to the attorney and waited for a proper review.
Meanwhile, Julian asked whether Kelly would meet him again without discussing money. She agreed to a walk along the river. They watched people on bicycles and talked about small memories: how she learned to swim, whether he liked baseball, what music he played in the car. Julian admitted he had been scared of becoming like his father. Kelly looked at him and said he'd managed to repeat one of the old man's cruelties anyway.
He nodded. "I did."
At the end of the walk, he asked whether he could come to her next college advising appointment. She laughed despite herself. "Absolutely not. You haven't even earned the right to know which classes I'm considering."
"Fair enough."
May you like
That evening Nora called with bad news. The accountant who handled the old support payments had approached her outside the clinic and asked her to stop asking questions. He claimed Julian was trying to fix things and said the family should let the past stay quiet.
Nora had felt the old fear return. This time she went straight to the lawyer and documented the contact.
