“It’s not,” I said, peeking up at Lincoln. I still had on his hat and did not intend to give it up. “Ellis talks a big game, but he knows better than to show up to the ranch after what happened last night.”
Lincoln grunted but said nothing else as Charles stepped out of his car. He waved our way before stepping to the back and pulling his briefcase from the trunk. “Josie! Lincoln!”
Behind us, the front door opened, and my father stormed out. Cleo followed on his heels, mumbling something about keeping alevel head. His face was dark and thunderous, matching in time with each stomp of his feet.
“You have some fucking nerve showing up here, Charles,” he growled, stopping at the nose of his car. “After what your son did, I should have Josie press charges.”
Charles’ shoulders slumped as he dropped his head on a sigh. “After the information I found last night, you might be right. Mind if we go inside and talk?”
Dad’s brows furrowed as he gestured toward the house. Charles thanked him, striding into the house with Cleo.
“You okay with this?” Dad asked, turning toward me. “I can tell him to leave.”
I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. I want to know what this is about.”
“Alright, sugar. Let’s find out.”
Lincoln and I followed my dad inside. We settled at the large dining room table, waiting not-so-patiently as Charles set his briefcase down. He began pulling out files, stacking them along the table, as Cleo brought everyone a glass of tea.
“Alright, Charles, you’ve got our attention. Tell us what’s going on,” my dad said, sipping from his glass.
Charles looked down at the files, running a hand through his tousled hair. He looked like he’d hardly slept a wink. Dark circles were prominent beneath his beady eyes. “I don’t know where to start, but I feel like this is my own damn fault,” he huffed, sitting down in the chair at the head of the table. “After all, Ellis is my son. I taught him all he knows about this job in the hopes he’d one day run my firm, but that ship has long since sailed.”
Charles glanced my way. “I know it isn’t right, but I want to apologize for his behavior last night. He dropped by the house yesterday afternoon—hell, it wasn’t even four—mad as hell and spitting nonsense about your infidelity.” Lincoln tensed beside me but relaxed as I placed my hand on his knee. “Please knowthat I didn’t believe a word of it. Ellis is… well, I don’t know anymore. I barely recognize the kid these days. If I would’ve known he was headed to you when he left my house, I would’ve stopped him.”
“It’s fine, Charles. It isn’t your fault. I don’t blame you,” I said, looking down at my lap.
Lincoln stretched, laying his arm over the back of my chair. “I might, though. Seeing as you knew he was intoxicated and let him leave your house.”
Charles raised his hands. “You’ll get no argument from me. There are many things I’m realizing I failed at when it comes to my son.”
“What is all this, Charles?” my dad said, gesturing toward the files. “I imagine this isn’t about what happened last night.”
He shook his head. “Ever since Josie left my office after our meeting, I’ve been doing some searching on my own. It’s been incredibly slow. Whenever I thought I was getting somewhere, it ended up being a dead end. Until last night.” He paused, grabbing his glasses from his briefcase and slipping them on. “I was doing some research when Ellis came to visit. You remember me telling you about those shell corporations?” I nodded. “Well, I found the owner.”
Charles reached over and set a stack of documents in front of me. I briefly glanced over them, not understanding most of the legal terms I saw. It was only after a few pages that I saw a name that made my blood run cold. I glanced up, seeing Charles staring at me with sympathy.
“It was Ellis,” I whispered, glancing back down at where my ex’s name was written in bold, black letters. “Ellis stole the money. These are his companies.”
“What?” Dad asked, sitting up straighter. I handed over the documents, watching his face grow redder by the second. “How could this happen?”
Charles pursed his lips before setting down the next file. “Because he did a goddamn good job of forging your signature.”
He set two more documents on the table before us, and we leaned over to examine them. Both had my dad’s signature, but minor differences set them apart. Ellis’ attempt was too neat. It was like he took my dad’s choppy scrawl and turned it into symmetrical loops and curves, a perfect copy across every document.
“Christ, how did we not catch this?” I said, rifling through the stack. “There must be at least twenty-five transfer agreements here.”
“I didn’t think I’d have to go over his work with a fine-tooth comb when he started. You know how Ellis is—stubborn, cocksure. Always thinking he’s got something to prove. I showed him the ropes, and he was damn good at what he does. He learned things from his years at school that I didn’t even know. That was why I sent him there in the first place. I didn’t want my legacy to be dead before it ever had a chance to grow. Maybe that’s what drove him to do what he did.” Charles shook his head, voice breaking. “Maybe I did this.”
“Naw, that ain’t it,” my dad said, scrunching his nose. “Whatever mess your boy made, he did it himself.”
“Be that as it may, it slipped under my radar and has caused quite a mess.”
“On that, we can agree,” Dad said. “What’re the next steps then?”
Charles took off his glasses, tossing them on the table. “I’ve sent my findings to the auditor this morning. They’ll review the documents, authenticate them, and ensure I haven’t missed anything. Now that they know what they’re looking for, it might be easy to find patterns. These amounts, though… They match with what we’d found earlier. I don’t think there’s any more.”
“What’s the legal recourse?” My dad turned to stare at me asthe question left my lips. I settled back in my chair, crossing my arms. “What? That asshole—no offense, Charles—stole over a quarter of a million dollars from you, Daddy. He’s not getting away with a slap on the wrist and a measly fine.”
