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Maybe I wasn’t seeing the entire thing. Maybe there was something I hadn’t thought about that would be helpful to Bryn. Maybe I just need to talk about it because it was building up pressure inside my skull and I needed to let it out.
Whatever the reason, I ended up telling Gabe all about it. That wasn’t so bad. He took it from a professional perspective, and we were able to talk through everything so I could be completely confident in how I was approaching it. It was when I accidentally got my brother Quentin involved that things started to go a little sideways.
So, there we were. Sitting in the conference room with Bryn at the doorway, staring at the two men she didn’t know. I gestured for her to come inside, and she sat down. I tried to gauge her reaction as I introduced the two men.
“This is my older brother, Quentin,” I said. “And this is my good friend and business partner, Gabe. I told them about your situation, and they have some input they’d like to give.”
“Input?” Bryn asked, sounding unsure.
“Both have friends in law enforcement,” I explained. “So, they wanted to be sure I was doing everything right.”
I did my best not to let the aggravation I felt trickle into my voice. In reality, the whole thing rankled me. I understood both men had insight into the situation and really did have friends in law enforcement. They would want to make sure I was handling all aspects of the situation properly. Both from an investment perspective, and from a legal one. But I knew what I was doing. I didn’t need them hovering over me.
As much as it frustrated me, though, I decided I might as well go along with it and willingly accept the help. Not only did I not have much choice in them butting themselves in, but I trusted both of them. They would do everything they could to help. These were the kind of circumstances that would dig at both of them. Neither responded kindly to crooks. Especially crooks who took advantage of women who cared about and trusted them.
“I already told you there might be some illegal dealings going on here. Gabe is going to speak with his friend on the police force and see if he has any ideas. Quentin here is going to get in touch with the cybercrimes unit he is friendly with, as well as his contact with the police department. They are going to make sure everything I do is properly documented so there is no question or ambiguity about what’s going on.”
“This sounds like it’s getting pretty complicated,” Bryn said.
She looked kind of pale, and I noticed her lean back in her chair and rest her hand on her stomach for a second. It was the same kind of gesture my father did when he ate too much, too fast and got heartburn. I was fairly confident she hadn’t spent the five minutes prior to coming into my office gorging on chili cheese dogs, so I figured it must be the stress getting to her.
“It could be a pretty complicated situation,” Gabe agreed. “But we’re going to help you figure it out.”
Bryn glanced over at me, then back at the other two men and nodded. I sat back and let Quentin and Gabe talk. They asked her questions about her relationship with Justin, how they handled their finances, and how she found out about the theft. When she had told them all of that, they asked again, then delved into other elements of their relationship and her life before it.
By the way she kept glancing over at me, it seemed Bryn wasn’t totally on board with how much they were prying, but after a while she either gave up wanting to be put off by the questions, or figured out they were asking to get a full picture of what was going on. They had been talking and going over everything she knew about Justin and the situation for over an hour when I finally called an end to the meeting.
“Alright, I think we got some pretty good work done this afternoon, but we should go ahead and wrap this up. I’m starving. Is anybody else hungry? We could order some food in,” I offered.
“Can’t,” Gabe said. “I really got to get back to Cynthia.”
“No problem,” I said. “Let her know I’m thinking about her and hope she is on the mend.”
Gabe said goodbye to Bryn and headed out of the office. I turned my attention to Quentin.
“How about you?” I asked. “Are you hungry?”
“I, too, have a wife I need to get back to. She’s been bringing the baby to work, and I need to get back there to take over for a bit,” he said.
