Harland Community Bank occupied the corner of a renovated commercial block downtown. Tall glass windows reflected traffic and the clean white stone of the courthouse across the street. Inside were marble floors, a row of teller windows, a brochure display promising financial security for every stage of life, and a brass plaque declaring that the bank valued trust above all else. Loretta noticed the plaque as she entered. She had banked with the institution and its predecessors for four decades. She remembered the days when a branch clerk knew Thomas by the sound of his voice.
Nina Alvarez looked up from the second teller station. She was twenty-nine, with dark hair pinned into a careful knot and tired eyes that became warm when she smiled. "Good morning, ma'am. What can I help you with?"
"Good morning, sweetheart. I have a settlement check I'd like to deposit, and I need to make sure the funds are available before a county payment comes due. I brought all the supporting documents."
"Of course. Let's start by looking at the check and your account."
Loretta had just unfastened her folder when a man's voice interrupted them.
"Well, well. What have we got here?"
Gregory Harlon crossed the lobby from his glass office, adjusting the cuffs of an expensive pale-blue shirt. His hair was silver at the temples, his shoes shone like mirrors, and his manner carried the easy confidence of someone accustomed to employees moving aside before he had to ask. He was branch manager, a position he had occupied for years, and he knew exactly how to make a small confrontation feel like an official proceeding.
He took the deposit slip before Nina could finish checking it. "Loretta. Lorita. However we're saying it today. That's quite a transaction for a Monday morning."
"Loretta May Johnson," she said. "It's written there."
"You'll have to speak up, Mrs. Johnson. We keep proper records here."
Loretta heard the deliberate emphasis and felt her shoulders tighten. Nina opened her mouth to explain the standard verification process, but Harlon held up one finger without looking at her.
"I'll handle this one," he said.
Nina kept her hand beside the keyboard. "Mr. Harlon, Mrs. Johnson has an existing account. I can verify the settlement administrator against the issuer information, and if there's a hold period I can explain it to her."
"Did I ask you to explain our policy to me, Miss Alvarez?"
"No, sir. I only meant—"
"Then let me do my job."
A silence opened around the counter. Loretta could hear the printer running at the far end of the lobby and the faint music from a radio in the back office. Harlon looked down at the deposit slip as though it contained some offensive surprise. "A substantial check," he observed. "And where, exactly, did you acquire it?"
"From the settlement administrator. There is a letter attached."
"Settlement?" He drew the word out. "How convenient."
"It is compensation for fees that were improperly charged. The case was resolved, and this is my payment."
Harlon gave Nina an amused look, inviting her into a joke she did not want to hear. "You see the stories people bring us? Somebody sends a letter with impressive words, and suddenly we're expected to hand over a great deal of money."