Page 86 of Truth

“Mr. James.” I walked into the room and took a seat across from his desk.

“I’m...” He took a deep breath. “I was going through some paperwork this weekend, and I came across this.” Michael handed me the papers he’d been looking at, and I recognized them immediately.

“Where did you get these?”

“They were on my desk, underneath the second quarter financial reports.”

I tried to think back to last Friday when I’d returned the reports to his office. There was no one to blame here but myself.

“I have to ask, Mr. Coleman. Who is Ian Pierce, and what does he have to do with The Coleman Foundation? I can’t find any record of him, and believe me, I’ve been trying after seeing that mess.”

“He doesn’t.”

Michael blew out a breath he appeared to have been holding. “That’s a relief.”

His response had me intrigued. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, it’s quite obvious there is some illegal activity going on there. I did my research on this organization before interviewing for this job, Mr. Coleman. Your parents were good people, and from what I can tell, so are you. It was bad enough finding out someone was skimming, but this...” He pointed to the documents in my hands. “That is something altogether different.”

“Are you saying you can follow this? You can prove there is illegal activity here?”

He looked confused. “Of course.”

“Mr. James, I need you to do something for me, and I need your assurance that you won’t speak a word of this to anyone.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“I need you to go through this with a fine-tooth comb, and tell me everything you can find that is questionable.”

“All right,” he said reluctantly. “But I don’t understand. If this man has nothing to do with The Coleman Foundation, why am I looking into his bank statements? Shouldn’t this be something for the FBI?”

“If you can prove illegal activity, then I’m sure they’ll be involved at some point. Right now, I just need to know.”

“Can I ask why?”

I handed the statements back to him and stood. “Because he hurt someone I love.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Stephan

I was an emotional mess by the time I arrived home to Brianna. Michael’s news both thrilled and worried me. I was taking a gamble having our new CFO go through Ian’s bank statements. What he would do when he discovered, if he hadn’t already, that my name and bank account were on there as well, I didn’t know. Given what I knew about him, and that he’d noticed something neither Oscar’s experts nor I had, I doubted it had escaped his attention.

Brianna was on the couch reading another one of her library books when I walked through the door. She immediately laid it down on the coffee table and came to me. As always, having her in my arms again calmed me. We’d deal with whatever came, no matter what it was.

Leaning down, I brushed my lips against hers. “Did you eat?”

She nodded. “I made a plate for you.”

Brianna sat beside me on the couch while I ate the dinner she made. Maybe it was my conversation with Michael, but the dining room seemed too far away from her. I needed her near me.

When I was finished, I laid my plate aside and pulled her onto my lap. “Tell me about your day, sweetheart.”

“Lily called. She’s picking me up tomorrow at three.” Brianna glanced up at me, and I could see she was worried about something. “I won’t be home to make you dinner.”

I smiled and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I think I’ll be able to fend for myself for one night.” She still appeared unsure, so I decided to move on. “What else did you do today?”

Over the next hour, Brianna told me about her new book and a phone call she’d received from Jade. Cal’s girlfriend wanted Brianna to go grocery shopping with her. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, although Jade’s reaction to Brianna’s meltdown the previous Friday was encouraging. “When does she want to go?”

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