Chapter 13 - Eighty-Three People Who Never Met My Sister

The client meeting was held by video. I sat at the end of the hotel bed, dressed in a clean white blouse above my knee brace. Harborlight's municipal liaison asked whether an executive had authorized lodging funds for personal use. I wanted to say my sister was a liar and my parents were thieves. Instead I answered the question.

"No," I said. "The transaction was unauthorized. We froze the card, preserved records, placed affected families using other approved accounts, and initiated an independent investigation."

Nia outlined the controls we'd introduced. Ira confirmed he was examining all related invoices, including the previous $18,600 payment. The liaison did not smile, but she didn't terminate our contract. She asked for a written update within five business days.

After the call, Nia sat down hard. "That could have ended us."

"Is everyone housed?"

"All eighty-three. A nine-year-old got his medication into a proper refrigerator at eleven last night. His mom sent a thank-you message."

I turned away from her, ashamed of the relief that made me cry. These were the people my family had treated as an abstraction called money.

By afternoon a reporter had contacted me. I gave a short statement: I was cooperating with police and a financial investigation, and Harborlight's emergency operations remained active. I said nothing about who was guilty. The video and records could speak when the time came.

My mother called twenty-one times. On the twenty-second I answered. "Mom, I'm working."

"Your father has chest pains. Are you happy now?"

"If he needs medical help, call a doctor."

"Sloane is sobbing. Her life is falling apart."

"She pushed me down a staircase."

"She made a terrible mistake."

"So did you, when you used my recovery codes and signed my name."

The line went silent. My mother hadn't expected me to know.

Finally she whispered, "Your father said the company would never miss it."

"And what did you say?"

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She didn't answer. Someone spoke in the background, and my mother put down the phone without hanging up. I heard Sloane, unmistakable and furious.

"If Merritt won't sign the accident statement, I'll tell Theo what she did to make Dad desperate in the first place."