Page 52 of Found By Him

“Okay, Ella. Just wait here. Someone should be in shortly. I’ll make sure the front desk knows Chris will be here soon, and he should be sent back immediately.”

All I can say is a weak “Okay.”

He gives me one more reassuring smile and leaves me.

A shiver runs down my spine. The room is cold, but it’s from more than just the temperature. I continue deep breathing to calm myself as I wait.

The door flies open mid deep breath, and I yelp in surprise. Three men stand at the door, all dressed in suits, one significantly more expensive looking than the others. I assume that one is my lawyer.

“Gentlemen, I need a moment with my client,” my attorney, who Carlos called Chris, addresses the two detectives, an air of authority to his tone.

The younger of the two rolls his eyes. “Rivers, she isn’t being arrested. It’s a preliminary investigative interview.”

Chris scoffs. “I may not do this anymore, but I didn’t magically forget how this works. Give me five minutes.”

The two men glance at each other. The younger one says, “You have two.”

With that, both men walk out and close the door.

Chris turns to me with a smile that doesn’t meet his eyes. It’s not necessarily unfriendly, just very sedated. “Okay, Ella. I would love to say it’s good to meet you, but under the circumstances, I’m sure neither of us feels that way. Now, since Carlos brought you in, I assume he off-the-record told you what you need to do?”

I simply nod.

“Great, just to confirm, answer their questions. Nothing more, nothing less. Understood?”

“Yes,” I croak out. My stomach rolls with how nervous I am.

“Perfect.” He reaches back and knocks on the door, alerting them that we’re done.

He takes the seat next to me as the two men file back into the room and sit across from us.

The older man leans forward and places a large file folder filled with papers on the table. “My name is Detective Thomas, and this is Detective Bronson.”

“Okay.” I don’t bother introducing myself.

Detective Thomas gives me a smile as he flips the folder open. “Gisella Easton, thirty-five, soon to be thirty-six. Accounting degree, MBA, CPA. Impressive.”

He looks up at me, and I raise my eyebrows in question.

“Can you tell us about your job?” Detective Thomas asks.

I give them a brief overview of my duties. I’m impressed I’m able to do so without throwing up or rambling nervously.

“Sounds important.”

I shrug but don’t say anything more.

“You had a lot of responsibilities. Did you ever hope you made more money?” Detective Bronson asks.

“No, I’m compensated fairly for my position.”

Benton nods thoughtfully.

Thomas flips through the papers in the folder and lays a few on the table before us. Both Chris and I lean forward to look at them. My muscles tense when I see what they are. Thomas taps one of them with his finger. “Do these look familiar?”

“Yes, they’re invoices for payments that the company made.”

“Uh-huh. Is that the only reason they look familiar?”

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