Chapter 10: The Truth Buried Beneath Her Name
For several seconds, nobody in the conference room moved.
I stared at the name written on the back of the bank transfer.
*Nathan Cole.*
My former business partner.
The man who had supposedly died in a warehouse fire four years earlier.
The man whose death had been the reason Imani had insisted we needed to sell our workshop, liquidate our investments, and start over somewhere else.
The man whose final project had cost our company nearly two hundred thousand dollars.
The man I had spent four years believing was dead.
I looked at Calvin.
“Tell me that's a coincidence.””
Calvin shook his head.
“I can't.””
Evelyn pulled the photograph closer and examined it.
“Who is Nathan Cole?””
“My business partner,” I said.
“We built a sound-production company together. He handled the financial side. I handled the technical work.””
“And he died?””
“That's what I was told.””
“By whom?””
I swallowed.
“Imani.””
Thomas leaned forward.
“Malcolm, walk us through what happened.””
I sat down.
Four years earlier, Nathan had called me about a project that promised to transform our company. A major client wanted a complete sound installation for a new entertainment complex, and the contract was worth more than anything we'd ever undertaken.
Nathan handled the negotiations.
I designed the equipment.
We spent months preparing, investing our savings and borrowing against the workshop to cover the initial costs.
Then, two weeks before the installation, Nathan disappeared.
His phone stopped working. His office was empty. The client demanded answers, and the money we'd set aside for equipment vanished from the company account.
I went to the police.
Three days later, Imani told me Nathan had died in a warehouse fire outside Detroit.
She said she'd received the news from someone connected to his family.
I never saw a body.
I never attended a funeral.
I was too busy trying to keep our company from collapsing and too overwhelmed by the financial investigation to question the details.
Within weeks, the client accused me of misappropriating the project funds.
Then came the argument with Imani.
Then the recording.
Then the police.
By the time I was released, my business was gone, my reputation was ruined, and everyone who might have helped me had disappeared.
I looked at the photograph again.
“Why would Imani have a bank transfer connected to Nathan?””
Evelyn answered carefully.
“We don't know yet. But the transfer gives us a reason to examine the financial records more closely.””
“Could Nathan still be alive?””
“It's possible. We need to verify the death report and identify the account holder.””
Calvin stared at the table.
“I saw him.””
I turned toward him.
“When?””
“About six months after your arrest.””
My chair scraped backward.
May you like
“You saw Nathan six months after he supposedly died, and you said nothing?””
“I didn't
