The Parent Trap

Chapter 41

Melissa Frank

POV

My phone rang just after my lunch break. Seeing as it was a call from my bank, I couldn’t not answer. I was waiting for a response on my business loan.

I smile apologetically at my client Martha. She was pastor Richards wife and one of my best clients.

"Excuse me for one moment." I tell her.

She smiles in understanding.

I call Anna to take care of Martha while I’m on the call.

I step into my office and answer the call. "Good afternoon, this is Melissa."

"Good afternoon, Ms. Frank. This is Amanda Logan from First National Bank’s Fraud Department."

I frown. Did something happen? Did the business loan I applied for?

"Is everything alright?" I ask.

"I’m just calling to verify a large transfer request from both your business and personal account." she tells me.

"I? What? What transfer?" I ask confused.

"There’s been an attempt transfer of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars from your personal account and then seven hundred and fifty dollars from your business account to a newly added external offshore account." she says.

My heart stopped. "I’m sorry? What?" my voice cracks.

"So I’m assuming you didn’t authorize this transaction?" she asks.

I take a seat in my chair, scared I lose control of my legs. I shake my head. Realizing Amanda couldn’t see me. "No..." I stutter out.

How could one million dollars just get transferred out of my accounts just like that?

"When?" I ask.

"Sorry?" Amanda asks.

"When was the transfer made?" I ask.

"Last night around seven p.m." she says.

"There’s no way. I was home that time. I was busy making supper my boyfriend was with me all night. I never even touched my laptop when I was home..." I recall everything I did last night. I wasn’t anywhere near the laptop.

Amanda’s tone became more serious. "Are you sure did not initiate the transfer?" she asks.

"No. I’m sure. I have employees to pay and I have rent to pay and vendors to pay. There’s no way I’d move money like that..." The thought of losing all that money scared me. Not being able to pay my employees or my vendors would put me in a bind.

"Very well. We’re placing an immediate hold on the transaction and freezing the recipient account until we complete our investigation. Also your accounts will be placed on hold as well."

My knees weaken, thank God I was sitting.

"Oh my God..." My voice cracks. What about all the supplies being delivered this week. Or my rent due next week, what about paying my staff? "How long will this investigation go on for?" I ask.

"In all honestly I couldn’t say. It could take a week or even two weeks." She says.

I sigh... There was nothing I could do. I’ll just might have to get a loan or sell something to make up for it. I can’t not pay my people...

"For your protection, we recommend changing all passwords immediately." Amanda advices.

"Yes, thank you... I’ll do that as soon as I get home." I needed to. I needed protect myself from whatever this is.

A part of me hopes this was an error. And that no one tried to get into my bank accounts. Could this have been the work of hackers? I’ve heard from my father the lot of them were getting so good at it, that he advised against internet banking since he deemed it not safe.

How I was beginning to wonder if it truly wasn’t safe.

"Ms. Frank we’ll be in touch when the investigation concludes..." she says.

"Yes, thank you. Have a nice day further I have to get back to my clients..." I tell her.

"Thank you Miss Frank, you should enjoy the rest of your day as well. Good day Miss Frank..." she says before hanging up.

I sit in my office for a minute composing myself. I still needed to do Martha’s nails.

As I walked back into the salon, I can’t help but think about last night with Austin, when I walked into my apartment he was on my laptop.

Of course I didn’t suspect him. Austin had his own money, he supported Koah for years.

"No..." Shake my head.

He wouldn’t. Would he? Maybe he thought it was his own account?

I did Martha’s nails, we talked about church and she talked about how Koah’s missed a couple of services recently. The church was worried about her and kept asking about Koah and Austin’s relationship. I kept in my comment about how she’d abandoned him.

Koah could stay gone for all I cared!

I had two more clients after that then I spoke to my staff. I told them their pay might be a little late this month because a fraud charge on my account.

Most of the girls were very understanding. Our new girl Quinn wasn’t too happy. She was a new hairstylist. She demanded her pay on time and I shouldn’t make my problems their problems.

I sighed and promised I would figure something out. I still had to call my landlords and vendors to explain the situation.

The drive home felt endless, I couldn’t help worrying about how my landlords would react. My apartment landlord might be understanding but I’d have to pay a late fee.

By the time I got to my apartment I was tense with worry. Every part of me wished I’d wake up from this nightmare.

It was so embarrassing to admit to my staff that there was an issue with payments.

Maybe someone had hacked my computer, that had to be it, or maybe the bank made a mistake.

Austin looked up from the sofa as I walked into my apartment.

"Hey." He smiled warmly. "How was work?" he asks from the sofa. He pauses the show he was watching.

I set my handbag on the chair by the door.

I sigh. "I got a call from my bank today..." I tell him.

His smile freezes. "Oh was it about the business loan?" He asks.

"No there was a fraud transfer on my account."

He leans back. His eyes widen. "And what did the bank do?" he asks.

"They’re going to investigate the transaction, so for now my accounts and the transaction is frozen... I won’t able to access my accounts until the investigation is done..." I explain.

The whole thing is upsetting me enough to want to go to the hospital to get a check up to make sure the baby was fine.

His eyes met mine. "So you won’t have any money until the investigation is over?" He asks.

I nod. "Yes, I’m worried about my vendors, rent, my employees salaries..." I didn’t know what I was going to do.

I look around my apartment to see if there was anything I could sell. I needed to make space for the baby anyway.

My voice caught. "I hope this doesn’t affect my loan. I can’t stop thinking about all the things I need to do..."

"Calm down Mel. Let’s think of something. I’m sure everything will work out.

"You don’t maybe think you could have accidently transferred the money out when you were on my laptop last night right?" I ask him.

His expression hardened. He stood slowly. "You think I stole from you?" His voice low and steady.

The tone he used sent shivers down my spine.

"N-no. I didn’t say that. I was just asking." I stutter out.

"You just said I transferred the money out of your account."

"I only asked..."

He cuts me off, he shouts. "You don’t trust me?"

"I do! Of course I trust you Austin..."

"Then why are you accusing me of stealing from you Melissa?" he asks glaring at me.

"I’m not accusing you! I just wanted to understand what happened..."

He kicks my coffee table the wood smashes into pieces.

I jump so the pieces don’t come flying toward me.

I jumped.

Austin walked toward me.

I instinctively walked backward. When my back hits the door I freeze.

"You think I’m a thief?" He asks.

I shake my head. "No."

"You think I’d steal from the mother of my child?" he asks again.

"I never said that." I try to beg. I shouldn’t have asked. I should have kept it to myself.

"Then why are we having this fucking conversation Melissa?" he glares at me.

"I..." I struggle to form words. The look in his eyes scared me. They were ice cold, the warm brown eyes I fell in love with was gone.

"I didn’t mean to question you..."

"What happened?" he laughed, his laugh sending a chill down my spine. "What happened is you questioned me like I was a God damn thief."

"I didn’t..."

Before I could finish speaking, he kicked me in the stomach. I fell side ways. The impacted knocked the wind out of me.

A sharp pain hit me right in the abdomen.

I gasped, trying to breathe through the pain, the room was spinning around me. When I looked down, I saw a pool of blood seaping through my jeans.

"No..."

"Melissa?" Austin called out to me.

I looked up at him in disbelief.

"No..." I held my stomach in hopes of stopping the blood from flowing "No, no, no..." tears ran down my face.

I looked up at Austin again. "P-Please..." my voice begging. "I need to go to a hospital."

He looked at me, his eyes cold and empty as if he wasn’t seeing me bleed out in front of him.

"Please." I begged. "The baby... Please, Austin."

He clenches his jaw, he looked at me as if I were a speck of dust in his way. "You aren’t going anywhere." He gritted out.

I stared at him in disbelief. "What?"

"You heard me, you aren’t going anywhere."

"Austin the baby. Please my baby."

He slaps me across the face. "I fucking said no!" he roars.

He crosses his arms and glares at me. "If I take you to a hospital, the doctors will call the police and the police will start asking questions. They’ll find out about us and I can’t have that."

"I promise I won’t tell them anything. Please Austin. My baby. Please my baby." I couldn’t stop the tears. I couldn’t lose my baby. I already loved her so much.

He rolls his eyes. "You’re being dramatic. The baby will be fine..." He tells me.

"You don’t know that!" I shout.

"You need to calm the fuck down." he says.

"I need a hospital Austin!" I shout hoping he would listen to me.

"You need to stop making a God damn scene." he warns.

I couldn’t believe him. I looked at Austin, really looked at him. I couldn’t find the man I’d fallen in love with. But there wasn’t even a trace of him.

The pain was becoming unbearable. I could barely keep my eyes open, but I was fighting it so I could get through to Austin.

A wild thought hit me as I was fading.

Koah Harbor.

I remembered two years ago a couple of ladies were talking about how someone spotted a bruise on her arm when they were in the restroom together.

I’d taken it as a nasty rumor to hurt Austin.

Now I wasn’t so sure. He didn’t even care I was bleeding out in my living room.

Did Koah leave because of this?

No, no. I must have just made Austin really angry because I called him a thief. He wasn’t normally like this.

The cold look in his eyes is the last thing I see before I fade.