Page 70 of Buried Treasure
Chapter 23
Eighteen months later
"Hey, Sydney! Do you want to see this?"
Sydney pulled on her Detroit Pirates t-shirt — given to her by her fiancéwho worked for the team — and headed into the living room where said fiancé was sitting on her sofa watching the television.
"Has it started yet?" she asked as she sat down next to him.
"Nope. They haven't led him out yet." Andy grabbed her hand and ran his fingers over her new ring. "How are you feeling about all of it?"
"It'll be nice to have some closure," she said quietly.
Last week, Lucy called her on a random warm fall afternoon to tell her that after more than a year, the case against John Martin was done. Sydney's former boss had been able to successfully negotiate a deal with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He would still have to go to jail, but the number of years were less than what he would've received if the case had gone to trial and he lost. And he would've lost. Sydney had worked with Lucy to help the S.E.C. put together its case against John. After all he had done to his clients, she felt it was the right thing to do.
Plus, she got a job out of it. She was now an independent forensics accountant and was actually pretty in demand. In addition to Lucy's firm, she had several other law firms as clients, particularly those dealing with family cases like divorce and inheritance. There was the occasional dirty case or two when people were hiding money from their spouses during divorce proceedings — those were never fun. But most of the time, Sydney helped families sort out bank accounts and funds when grandma died or helped couples unwind their shared finances. It actually felt good to help people, especially after what had happened at her office with her former boss.
Sydney especially took pride in the case of a couple who used to be her clients and needed to get their accounts unfrozen after the S.E.C. somehow forgot to take care of finishing their paperwork after her financial firm had been shut down. When they left with all their accounts in order, they made a point to thank her and tell her they never lost faith that she had always done right by then.
A breaking news banner flashed across the television screen, and Sydney sat up a little straighter. The news report showed a live picture from the courthouse in downtown Detroit as John Martin was led outside for about ten seconds and into a waiting van to take him off to jail. It was just a short shot, just a small moment, but it was a big one for her. That part of her life could finally be put to rest.
Andy squeezed her hand in support. "You did a good job helping the government with that case."
It may have been a good job, but that didn't make it any easier knowing that her boss was a crook, had ripped off a bunch of his clients, and was going to jail for it for the next two decades.
But she couldn't dwell on that now. She was hungry and knew exactly what Andy wanted this morning. Well, besides her.
"We need to eat," she said, her voice plastered in cheerfulness as she hopped off the couch.
Andy followed her lead towards the door. "Yes, we do, which is surprising considering how much food we ate last night."
The pair went out last night with Lucy and Ryan to celebrate their engagement after the hockey star had finally returned from spending the summer up north. It had only been two weeks since Andy proposed to Sydney, getting down on one knee by the fountain on Belle Isle during one of their summer afternoon picnics. But she had been so excited to finally celebrate with her friends, even more than celebrating with her parents, who were trying to convince her to have the wedding in the Upper Peninsula. Sydney loved that Andy knew it wasn't what she wanted and would do anything to make that not happen.
Sydney was reaching for her phone on the counter when it beeped with a text from her next door neighbor.
Send help. I need donuts.
She sighed. "Speaking of Ryan and food, he needs our help."
Andy's face lit up. "Oh, I love when Ryan needs our help!"
"We should stop doing this at some point," she said. "Like, once we get married, we won't bail Ryan out anymore, right?"
"I hope not." Andy's eyes lit up. "Oh! What if I walk in with our baby strapped to me and do my whole 'What is going on?' thing?"
Sydney gave him a surprised look. "Our baby?"
He ducked his head. "Perhaps we should leave our hypothetical children out of this."
"We can include whatever hypothetical baby there is." She walked over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "But maybe we should worry about planning the wedding first."
He turned and kissed her, his lips warm on her own. She could stay like that all day with him. But then her phone bleeted again.
Donuts! Pleeeease!
She typed out a quick response that they would be there shortly and hit send. But something about this morning seemed a little off.
"Who do you think he picked up if he was alone when he came home with us?"
