Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 136743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
“The audacity of that motherfucker,” Delores Callahan spits from the other end of the table. “After all this company has done for him. Are they any closer to recovering our money?”
“The FBI is following every lead,” I report with a frown. “It’s harder to trace than I would expect, especially some of the offshore accounts in countries that won’t cooperate because of privacy laws. Some of the trails lead to shell companies and some just vanish. It’s actually pretty elaborate and complex.”
“We need him to talk,” Brett says. “They froze his money, right? Get the Feds to apply pressure everywhere we can. Make his family feel it.”
My teeth grind with the effort it takes not to yell that it won’t make a difference. It will only hurt Soledad and her daughters, not Edward.
“That’s out of our hands at this point,” I say. “They have frozen the accounts by court order, but there’s not much more we can do as a company to exert pressure.”
“You’re not going soft on us, are you, Cross?” Brett booms, a crooked grin slicing across his face. “You’re usually the hard-ass of the bunch.”
“I just don’t think we should waste energy and time coming up with things that won’t get us what we want,” I assert. “Edward Barnes is a selfish asshole counting on a short sentence for a white-collar crime, after which he’ll go dig up the money he’s buried in accounts all over the world. At this point all we can do is assist the FBI’s investigation however we can.”
“We do control the family’s health-care benefits,” says Dick, one of the department heads, who more than lives up to his name. “That is one of the few places we can still exert pressure.”
Keeping my face expressionless, I grip my pen so tightly, it may start bleeding ink all over the conference room table.
“Maybe that pretty wife of his’ll buckle when she can’t pay for a sick kid or send them to that fancy private school,” Dick continues.
“Does it matter that she’s pretty?” Delores asks with raised brows, and, if I’m not mistaken, a touch of affront. “Sometimes I think I’m the only thing standing between this company and a sexual harassment suit.”
“I don’t care if she looks like the bottom of my fucking shoe,” Brett thunders, his good-natured smile replaced with a scowl on his florid face. “I want my money, and if squeezing Soledad Barnes gets it, then you damn well better squeeze, Judah. Dick’s angle on medical benefits may have some merit.”
The hell it does.
I stay silent but glance up at the CalPot CEO to at least acknowledge I’ve heard him. I’m the most logical, ruthless when I need to be son of a bitch in this room, and while I don’t think pressuring Soledad will yield any real results, I understand that is the smart play. But I can’t let them make it. I will find a way to stop them from making it. It’s irrational, this desire to shield her—to protect her from the fallout of Edward’s actions. What if my gut is wrong? What if she does know more than she’s letting on? Am I, the man who has always been impervious to distractions, being blinded by luxurious dark, amber-streaked curls, a pouty mouth the color of grenadine, and an ass that…
I blow out a long breath, forcing myself to refocus on the meeting I’m supposedly leading. “I believe if Soledad thinks of anything or finds something that will help us, will help her and her daughters,” I say, “that she’ll share it.”
“Maybe I should talk to her,” Dick drawls, his smile slipping into a leer.
“No,” I say, the word clipped and my unwavering stare flinty. “You won’t.”
I had a hard time not looking at Soledad in that gold dress at the Christmas party, but Dick didn’t even try. With his wife right beside him, he shamelessly ogled Soledad. The fuck he’s going to her house to “talk to her.”
“What I mean,” I continue, evening out my voice, “is that we should have little to no contact with Edward’s family right now.”
“Says who?” Dick demands.
“Says the FBI,” I shoot back. “One wrong word or interaction between us and them could jeopardize this case.”
Which makes the risk I took warning her all the more foolhardy, not to mention out of character. I hope that decision to go to her house doesn’t bite me in the ass.
“You seem to have taken a special interest in Mrs. Barnes, Cross,” Dick sneers.
“I have a special interest in getting our money back.” I look around the table at the ten or so directors and department heads, taking time to hold each person’s gaze. “If you recall, no one in this company knew there was a problem until I told you there was. If you’ve trusted my instincts to get us this far, trust me now.”