“Take heart, daughter. God has not forgotten you,” Pastor Jonathan told her as she was leaving service.

  “Why does it feel like He has, Pastor? I don’t get any of this.”

  Pastor hugged her, then said, “I’m praying for you. Don’t lose hope. Things will turn for your good.”

  But Lisa didn’t see how anything good could come from all the terrible things she was dealing with. What hurt even more was Mike Barnes won the election, like it didn’t even matter he publicly revealed her personal information. Lisa figured someone at the precinct must have filled him in on the case she filed. She wanted justice but didn’t know how to get it.

  So she called the precinct on Thursday morning and demanded to speak with Officer Roberts. She waited on the line for two minutes before he picked up the call.

  “Good afternoon, Mrs. Coleman. I was getting ready to call you.”

  “Oh really?” Lisa said, a bit chippy. “Were you calling to tell me how my information found its way to Mike Barnes? That’s what I want to know.”

  “I know you’re upset, but I didn’t tell Mike about your case.” He then spoke lower, almost in a whisper. “I don’t know how he found out about the credit issue, but believe me, I will work tirelessly to figure out who gave him your information.”

  “How am I even supposed to trust you?” Lisa was so shaken up by how she was blindsided at the debate, she didn’t know what to believe or who she could trust anymore.

  “I’m not asking you to trust me. I know how this looks, but I have information and I wanted to share it with you.”

  She didn’t trust him. But curiosity made her ask, “What information do you have?”

  “The owner of the apartment building finally went to her father’s storage unit. She brought the lease agreement to me.”

  Lisa perked up. “So you know who stole my identity?”

  He was hesitant. “I’m not saying that. There was only one name on the lease.”

  “What’s her name?” Lisa quickly asked.

  “Do you know Yolanda Pierce?”

  Lisa racked her brain. Yolanda Pierce. Yolanda Pierce. “Doesn’t ring a bell. But I have worked with hundreds of women throughout the years at social services. She might have met me there and somehow got hold of my information.”

  “I need to find Yolanda Pierce and then get the name of her roommate. Once I have information on both ladies, I will get back with you.”

  Lisa was feeling some kind of way about the phone call. Maybe they were getting closer to finding out who stole her identity, or maybe this was another dead end. It was strange to Lisa how her life had been going in the right direction for so long, then things started unraveling, due to no fault of her own.

  She sat at her dining room table looking through the classified ads. John could handle the mortgage on his own, but they still needed to eat and pay the electric bill, and the temp jobs wouldn’t cut it. So she was planning to polish her résumé this week and apply for some jobs. She prayed a manager would give her a chance, even after the lies Mike Barnes told about her. Lord, please let someone give me a chance.

  Kennedy would be home soon. She went into the kitchen and began preparing her meal. Spaghetti was on the menu tonight. It was easy and cheap to fix. She put a pot of water on the stove and then searched the cabinet for the spaghetti noodles. There was no spaghetti, only macaroni noodles, and there was no way she was leaving this house to go to the store.

  The looks she received at church last night had been painful enough. She was not about to walk through the grocery and see the looks of pity on the faces of some of her neighbors. She pulled the box of macaroni out of the cabinet and decided they would have chili mac tonight.

  She browned the hamburger meat, added her favorite Ragú sauce to it, then boiled the macaroni. Simple was all she had the space for in her brain right now.

  Lisa heard the front door open and then slam. She peeked into the living room and saw Kennedy throwing down her book bag and kicking her shoes off like somebody had pulled her ponytail or something. “What’s going on? Why are you slamming the door?”

  Kennedy turned toward her mother. She balled her fists and yanked her arms in a downward motion. “I’m so mad.”

  Me too, Lisa wanted to say. But she waved Kennedy forward. “Come in this kitchen and get something to eat, then you can tell me all about it.”

  Kennedy washed her hands at the sink, then sat down at the kitchen table. “Mama, would you be mad if I punched Bobby Mitchell?”

  Bobby Mitchell was a kid who lived two doors down the street. He and Kennedy were in the same grade and therefore had some of their classes together. “Why would you want to punch Bobby? You’ve always gotten along with him.” Lisa put the bowl of chili mac in front of Kennedy along with a glass of apple juice.

  Kennedy took a sip of her juice, then said, “Bobby says you deserved to lose the election.Says you owe too many people.”

  Sharp intake of breath. Lisa stepped backward, putting a hand to her face as if she’d been assaulted.

  “You know what I’m going to do?”

  Lisa didn’t want to engage with this conversation anymore, but she couldn’t ignore her daughter, so she said, “What?”

  “I’m going to run for office when I get older, and I’m going to make sure I don’t owe nobody nothing when I do.” Kennedy harrumphed and then started eating her dinner like she’d said what she said and wasn’t taking it back.

  Lisa was about to tell her daughter she didn’t owe anybody either, but the phone rang, giving her an excuse to end this humiliating conversation. She picked up the phone without checking the caller ID.

  “Hello. Can I speak with Lisa Whitaker, please?”

  She wanted to correct the woman on the other end of the phone. Her name was Coleman, not Whitaker. But since she didn’t know, Lisa wasn’t volunteering any extra info. “Who’s calling?”

  “This is Chase Bank.”

  Before the woman could get out another word, Lisa yelled into the phone, “Why do y’all keep calling me? I told y’all I don’t owe for that credit card. Someone used my identity, and you all let them do it.”

  “Ma’am, I’m not calling to collect anything from you. Your account has been paid in full. You no longer owe us anything.”

  “Wh-wh-what did you say?” Lisa was practically hyperventilating. Did the woman say the bill had been paid off?

  “The credit card balance has been paid in full.”

  “Who paid it?” Lisa asked.

  “I don’t have information on the payee. There was a notation on the file for us to call to inform you once the payment was processed through our system.”

  “What about my credit file? When will you remove the inaccurate information from there?”

  “All information from the credit card should drop off your credit file in seven years.”

  “Seven years?” Lisa shouted. “What is wrong with you people? I didn’t apply for your credit card; I didn’t use it. This should not be on my credit file.”

  The customer service rep responded, “Once you’re able to show us proof, we will have it removed from your credit file, but that’s all I can tell you for now.”

  They hung up and Lisa rubbed her temples. She felt like she was about to faint. Her blood pressure must be through the roof. Why was this happening to her, and who paid the bill?

  Chapter 26

  Dana hadn’t realized her heart could hurt so much over losing her mother, but it did. The shock of losing Vida and falling on those subway steps had caused complications with her pregnancy. She had been hospitalized for two days, but she was thankful she didn’t lose her baby.

  Once she was released from the hospital, she and Jeff had a small, private funeral for her mother. She was now left to grieve and mourn.

  But Dana didn’t want to mourn. She didn’t want to think about all she had lost.

  When Thanksgiving rolled around, Jeff said, “My mom invited us to dinner.”

  Dana rolled over, facing the wall. “You go without me.”

  On Christmas, Dana was in pajamas channel surfing when Jeff came into the room and handed her a box. “Merry Christmas!”

  Guilt knifed through her heart like a diver plunging into ice-cold water. She took the box but didn’t open it. Tears were in her eyes as she looked up at him. “I’m so sorry, babe. I kept meaning to shop, but I didn’t get you anything.” Truth was, even though she hadn’t spent many holidays with her mother since she’d grown up, she didn’t want to do the holidays without her.

  Jeff put a hand on her arm. She felt the warmth and closed her eyes, wanting to lean into it. But the pain in her heart wouldn’t let her.

  “It’s okay, hon. Get dressed so we can spend the day with family.”

  “Mmm.” She scratched her eyebrow. “I can’t today. Things are really busy at work. I need to go into the office.”

  “You’re joking, right?”

  “No, I’m not.” Dana glanced at the clock on the end table. “I’m meeting Sierra at noon.”

  Sierra didn’t have family in New York and didn’t go home for Christmas, so she agreed to come into work for an hour or so.

  Jeff went to his family’s house, and Dana went to work, busying herself with new ways of marketing her hair-care products. She and Sierra discussed a mailer campaign and how they could gain more customers by mailing samples or newsletters to potential customers.

  “Where would we get a mailing list with people who would be interested in our products?” Dana asked.

  “We can purchase customer mailing lists from companies who sell to African American women.”

  Dana didn’t believe it. “Companies I do business with are allowed to give my information to another company?”

  “It happens all the time,” Sierra told her.

  As far as Dana was concerned, that was a shady way of doing business. She didn’t know if she wanted any part of this mailer business. And now she was concerned about all the companies she had done business with. Were they out there selling her information? That would explain why she received so much junk mail.

  Things were going well with Hair Fabulous. They were still shipping out products to stores and making money like leaves falling off trees in autumn. So Dana tabled the mailing-list idea. “Let’s see if we can find new stores to partner with.”

  Before leaving, Dana walked through the building. The production line was shut down today, but she stood in the area, looking at the conveyor belt that guided her products along the way. Her staff packaged and mailed the hair-care products here. It was a beautiful thing to see. “This is where the work gets done,” she said, imagining her mother was standing next to her, spending Christmas with her.

  “We’re employing people from the neighborhood, Ma. That’s a good thing.” A tear drifted down Dana’s face as she turned the lights out. “I wish you could have seen it.”

  * * *

  After Christmas, Dana kept a grueling schedule, with Jeff complaining all the way. “I don’t think you should work such long hours. Think about the baby.”

  “The baby’s fine,” she would assure him. But work . . . work was the only thing that eased the pain.

  It was almost eight at night in late January and Dana was talking on the phone with Jeff. “Are you on your way home?” he asked.

  “I’m locking up now.” She did as she said she would and went home before Jeff filed a missing person’s report on her.

  “Hey, babe. Did you eat?” Jeff asked when she walked into their apartment.

  He was always asking if she had eaten, like she was so out of it she was going to forget to feed herself and the baby growing inside of her. “I’m fine. Just want to soak in the tub and then go to bed.”

  “You want me to run your bathwater?”

  He was standing in the living room, looking like he’d lost his best friend. She walked past him, headed to the bedroom. “No, Jeff, I don’t need you to run my bathwater. I am capable of doing things for myself.”

  “I never said you couldn’t do things for yourself. I’m here for you, but you are shutting me out.” He shook his head. “This is not the way to deal with your grief. We need each other.”

  Dana stopped walking. She turned to face him again. Something in the way he said the word we touched her heart. “I’m sorry. I know I’m not the easiest person to live with right now. Give me some time, please.”

  He nodded. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  She soaked in the tub for thirty minutes and silently cried the entire time. When she came out of the bathroom, she felt her stomach growl. She wanted to sit down and eat with Jeff, but when she saw the look of pity on his face, she decided to go to bed and get some sleep, hoping by morning she would feel better about this life she was living.

  But in the morning, as she and Jeff were preparing to leave for work, the doorbell rang. When Jeff opened the door and she saw another police officer standing on the other side, Dana knew with certainty life was not going to get better for her.

  “I’m looking for Mrs. Dana Williams,” the officer told Jeff.

  Jeff looked back at her. She hoped he couldn’t see how she was shaking. It was never a good thing to have the police at your door.

  Jeff turned back to the officer. “I’m her husband. Can you speak with me?”

  The officer shook his head. “This is a criminal investigation. I must speak with your wife directly.”

  “Criminal? Why do you need my wife?”

  Dana had been holding her breath, but a whoosh of air escaped her lips as she sat down at the dining room table. She had kept so much from Jeff that he naturally wouldn’t think she would have anything to do with something criminal. She waved the officer in. “Can we talk here?” she asked.

  “Yes, of course.” He stood in front of her. “I’m Officer Roberts, and I’m investigating an identity theft case against Lisa Coleman.”

  Dana opened her hand in the direction of the chair. “Have a seat.”

  Officer Roberts sat in the chair next to Dana. Jeff came to the table and sat across from Dana. “I saw something about this on the news a few months back. But why would you think we know anything about it?” Jeff asked.

  The officer turned to Jeff. “You can sit here if your wife doesn’t mind having this discussion in front of you, but I must ask you to allow me to do my investigation.”

  Jeff directed his gaze at Dana. “Is it okay with you if I stay?”

  Her chest heaved as she sighed. It was time to stop hiding the truth from him. If he decided to leave, then she and the baby would be alone, as she always was. “I want you to stay.”

  Officer Roberts pulled a notepad and pen from the front pocket of his shirt. He set the notepad on the table and opened it. “Now, can you tell me how you know Lisa Coleman?”

  “I didn’t say I knew anyone by the name of Lisa Coleman.”

  He nodded, then tapped his fingers on the table. “Right. You know her by Whitaker. Isn’t that right?”

  His eyes bored into Dana’s, daring her to lie. “Yes, of course I know Lisa Whitaker. We grew up together. Went to the same schools and all.”

  “So how did you get your hands on Lisa’s Social Security information?”

  “Excuse me?” Dana said as if she didn’t have a clue what he was talking about.

  Officer Roberts flipped a page in his notepad. “Let me come at this in a different way. All the accounts Mrs. Coleman said weren’t hers when she filed the report for identity theft have since been paid off, and they were paid off by Hair Fabulous.” He looked back at her. “That’s your company, isn’t it?”

  Dana rubbed her belly. Six and a half months . . . two and a half to go. “Yes, it is.”

  “And you were once roommates with Yolanda Pierce, correct?”

  “What does Yolanda have to do with anything?” Dana asked.

  “The person who lived in that apartment also had a UPS mailing address where they received bills for the items on Lisa Coleman’s credit file. We think you owned the mailbox.”

  Jeff stood. He looked from Dana to Officer Roberts. Shook his head. “We aren’t answering any more questions. You will need to speak with our lawyer.”

  Officer Roberts asked Dana, “Is this how you want to play it?”

  Jeff walked to the front door, opened it. “That’s the way she wants it. You will not accuse my wife of things she has not done. We contributed to Mrs. Coleman’s campaign for goodness’ sake.”

  Officer Roberts stood. He looked down at Dana, smirked as he asked, “Did you like your four-year stay in New York’s prison system so much that you wanted to go back?”

  Dana didn’t respond. Her attention shifted to Jeff as he held the front door open. She saw his eyes grow wide with shock, and she knew she had some explaining to do.

  * * *

  “Did you say Dana Jones?” Lisa’s mind rolled back to the commercial she’d seen Dana in. The company she owned.

  “She’s married now, so her name is Dana Williams. Her company paid off those accounts on your credit file,” Officer Roberts told her.

  “Dana paid the bills for me?” Her business must be doing well. Lisa felt good about purchasing her products. But then she found herself wondering why Dana would pay off those bills without saying anything to her.

  “We believe Dana Williams is the person who stole your identity.”

  Lisa’s mind drifted back to first grade when she and Dana first met. Dana was sitting next to Lisa at the cafeteria table. She was crying. Lisa noticed she didn’t have a lunch tray in front of her.

  “You okay?” Lisa asked.

  “I-I lost my lunch t-ticket,” Dana said through sobs.

  Lisa opened her lunch bag, pulled out a turkey and cheese sandwich. Her mother had cut it in half. She handed Dana half of her sandwich, then gave her half of her apple slices.

  Dana wiped the tears from her face. “Thank you.”