Chapter 14 - The Practice Run
Mae Barlow looked physically ill when I showed her the photo in the presence of the fire inspector. "That was Thursday," she said. "We were rehearsing the ribbon-cutting program. The kids spent half an hour in the craft room."
The door had been locked from the hallway while they were there. Nothing bad had happened. That fact did not make what might have happened any less real.
Eli's checklist listed three rejected door assemblies and one failed emergency-light circuit. The replacement online report declared all four safe. It used an inspection number copied from a commercial kitchen on the other side of town.
Asha sat beside me afterward in my office, rubbing her eyes. "The board is asking for every invoice we've approved in two years. Maybe they should."
"We'll give them everything."
"Even if it means we close?"
I looked through the glass at the drafting desks, where our employees had spent years measuring roads and buildings that ordinary families relied on. "Especially then."
Asha opened the bank's review notice. The transfer to TrueSpan had been held. A forensic accountant hired by the charity had identified at least two hundred sixty-three thousand dollars in payments with no reliable proof of the goods billed. The larger figure was still under review.
That night Colin's lawyer sent a letter demanding we stop calling his company fraudulent. Brielle sent a separate message: DANIEL, YOU CAN FIX ALL OF THIS. SAY OWEN MISUNDERSTOOD AND I'LL TELL THEM THE WEDDING WAS A MISTAKE.
I read it twice. She had lied about a baby, blamed a child, and helped put other children at risk. Now she was offering me a way to protect my reputation by sacrificing his.
I typed one sentence: DO NOT CONTACT MY SON.
Before I could send it, Asha called again. "There's a delivery truck at Pine Hollow. It's Colin's. He has a key to the rear service bay."
May you like
"The building is closed."
"Then why is he taking boxes inside?"
