Page 38 of Reconciling the Consequences

“So we haven’t fucked you yet, you’re saying?” Derrick smirked against her lips.

“We’re here for boxes.” Kara rolled her eyes.

“So grab your boxes, boss lady.” Kevin smirked. “We’re going home.”

She eagerly nodded and headed toward the first row. “Let’s grab as many of the first set of boxes as we can fit in the truck.”

They made quick work of loading the truck with twenty boxes of files to take home. Once Kara was positive that Johnny had secured them in a way that the tops wouldn’t fly off going down the road—he put a tarp over them—she was ready to go.

“We’ll meet you at home,” Kevin said.

Kara nodded and walked over to her security guard. “Thanks for everything, Kenny,” Kara said. “I know you have things under control here, but I’m going to be calling your office and doubling down on security now that we’ve got things here. I don’t want you to think I don’t trust you, because I do.” She smiled easily. “I’m being extra cautious.”

The large black man had a jovial grin and an easygoing personality. She had immediately liked him when she first met him through the private security firm he worked for. “No worries, Miss Carmichael. I already told my boss that you’d probably be calling in soon.”

Kara got to work immediately on the boxes, digging through and cataloging everything she found. Everything she had looked through so far was legit, though. By the third day of digging, she was getting frustrated. She knew it would be a laborious job, but she had been hoping to findsomething.

She decided to take a risk and log into the network on her work computer. If she could search through the financials again, she could maybe pick up the trail.

She logged in and checked her emails first. She froze when she saw the email from Stephanie Stonewall of Stonewall Financials. It was sent today. Her heart leaped into her throat.

Of course! She had forgotten all about hiring her firm.

She had hired her friend Stephanie Stonewall and her company, Stonewall Financials, to do a thorough audit on their files. Kara had been so suspicious she had given Stephanie total access to their system and told her specifically not to email her and to only call her with her findings. Why had she emailed now?

Kara clicked open the email.

From: Stephanie Stonewall

To: Kara Carmichael

Subject: Lunch

Hey girl,

I know life is busy. We should do lunch to catch up. It’s been so long since we had a girls’ night. Remember all those nights at Valle’s? God those were the times! And when we’d hit up Arturo’s and Karma’s? Those were the best days. You should come around for happy hour today if you’ve got time. The usual place with the old crowd. It’ll be a blast from the past.

Let me know.

Steph

Kara’s heart hammered in her chest. There was no fucking way. Stephanie actuallyfound something.

She reached for her phone and checked the time. It was going on three p.m.; happy hour would start at four. Their usual place was in Rockwell, an hour north of Mourningside depending on traffic.

She was going to be late even if she left now.

She called Kevin, knowing he was the most likely to drop everything and not ask questions. “Hey beautiful,” he greeted when he answered.

“Kevin, I need you to drive me to Rockwell, like now. Can you get home fast?” she asked and headed for the stairs to change her clothes.

“On my way.” He hung up, no questions asked.

God, she fucking loved that about him. No fuss with Kevin, no extra posturing or throwing his weight around. No jokes when it came down to it. If she needed him, he was there. She was realizing how each of her men was different, how she could rely on them for different things.

Kevin was her rock: always solid and always there for her.

She ran up the stairs to the master bedroom as quickly as she could with a bum knee. She was getting better. Two weeks of physical therapy, and she was walking pretty well. She still had a slight limp and some pain, but she could handle walking a hell of a lot better than she was able to before.

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