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I’ve never seen Ace this angry. Colton or Noah are also furious. Colton suggests, “I think it’s time we call our lawyers, the detective who’s been assigned to the case and the guy at the SEC who detected the emails. You can fill all of them in on your twisted vendetta, Rylee.”
Noah begins to go through the details. “Rylee, you were seen coming out of office 411 at 4:44 this morning, which is confirmed on video surveillance footage. Your knowledge of encryption software is obviously extensive. But you might have overlooked one important detail: activity records aren’t deleted just because an email account is.”
Colton continues. “The activity log from the computer in room 411 shows that an encrypted email account was deleted at 4:22 a.m., precisely twenty-two minutes before you were seen vacating that office. Coincidentally, the activity log of the deleted email account shows seven sent emails, sent over the course of nine weeks, to [email protected]—the very same email address that led the SEC to launch an investigation into Invested Enterprises.”
“It also just so happens,” Noah adds, “that the press are dangerously close to getting a whiff of that SEC investigation. And when they do get a whiff, IE will begin hemorrhaging clients like rats jumping off the Titanic.”
Rylee’s sobbing now. Despite everything, I feel for her. Here she is, crying, surrounded by these—rightfully—furious brothers, who are about to have her hauled off to jail.
I almost call him Ace. Then Mr. Maddox. Instead, I say, “Cash. If you give Rylee a chance to talk to the SEC herself, I’m sure this could be worked though without getting the police involved.”
Ace isn’t convinced. “If Dusty hadn’t caught you this morning, Rylee, would you have let us all get convicted? How could you be so obtuse? Didn’t you realize you’d never get away with something like this?”
“I deleted the account,” Rylee pleads.
“This has been hanging over our heads for months now,” Ace growls, “while you smugly watched us suffer.”
Rylee wipes her tears. “You wouldn’t even talk to me or give me the time of day! You were so mean, Cash. And now you’ve rebounded with her.” She breaks down once again into sobs. “You touch her like you never touched me.”
Ace sighs heavily and swears under his breath. When he continues, his rage is controlled, but barely. “I broke up with you because I didn’t love you, Rylee. Either way, it doesn’t justify what you’ve done.”
I don’t know why I’m trying to protect her, but she looks so heart-broken and outnumbered. “I think we can all agree that Rylee took it way too far, but if she confesses and talks it over with the SEC, this can all be worked out. It’s not too late.”
“I’ll fix this,” Rylee pleads. “I can, I promise.” More tears.
But Cash is unmoved. “You’ll agree to confess not only to the detective and the SEC but also to the press, if anything leaks. This is on you, Rylee. And you’ll submit your resignation immediately.”
Rylee nods, blowing her nose.
Noah’s relief is obvious. “You’ll still be lucky to escape jail time.”
“She can escape jail time if you don’t press charges.” I’m not even sure if that’s true, I’m winging this. My default mode is to always pretend like everything’s fine. If you do that long enough, eventually it mostly works. “She’ll confess, she’ll resign and the investigation of IE won’t go ahead. Rylee was obviously overcome by her emotions but if she’s willing to make things right, maybe you should let her.”
“I will,” Rylee whispers hopefully. “Please.”
Cash is watching me. His expression is stormy but there’s a softness behind it he saves just for me.
“So it’s settled,” I say, hoping like hell we can avoid more tears, fury and prison sentences. “You can contact the SEC now and Rylee will tell them everything they want to know. Then she’ll submit her resignation. And IE can submit a statement to the press saying the error has been isolated, to squash any rumors and face the issue head-on. There’s no case of insider trading and never has been. It’s business as usual and profits have never been healthier. Done and dusted.”
All four brothers are looking at me, like they’re slightly bemused by my no-nonsense approach.
Colton almost grins. “Done and dusted by Dusty Rose. Rylee, do you agree to these terms?”
“Yes,” she says quickly. “You really won’t press charges?”
Ace glances at me before answering her. “If you stay true to your word, cooperate fully and never bother us again, I’ll consider it.”
“Thank you,” Rylee says to him, but her eyes are on me.
Noah pats Cash on the back before heading for the door. “I’ll go issue the statement. And someone give Dusty Rose a promotion.”
31
The rest of the day miraculously goes according to plan.
Rylee cooperated completely and our lawyers have convinced the SEC to let the matter drop. Because the emails were staged—with information that was confirmed to be addressed to a person who doesn’t exist and was never seen by anyone except the CEO of Sanderson Fitzpatrick, who already knew it was either a hoax or something that was going to get him into very hot water if he acted on the information contained in the email—there was no actual case of insider trading.
At Tex’s request, I begrudgingly agreed not to press charges. The detective was highly entertained by the “crime of passion.” Rylee was fined ten thousand dollars for attempted fraud and the case is in the process of being closed.
