“As principal, I’ll need to speak withyou,” he pressed. “How about your office, tomorrow morning at eight a.m.?”
If she didn’t want to meet with this accountant, she didn’t have to. No matter what they scheduled.
“Sure, yes, of course,” Amanda said, her voice regaining the refinement she’d spent years cultivating. “Tomorrow at eight a.m. would be lovely.”Lovelywas a good word, though probably too much under the circumstances.
“Uh, okay, great,” Teddy said skeptically. “See you then. Okay, bye.”
As if on cue, Sarah appeared in Amanda’s office door as soon as she hung up.
“Everything okay?”
“I’m not sure. That was the accountant. He was very insistent,” Amanda said. “But he wouldn’t even tell me why. We have to meet in person, apparently.”
Sarah narrowed her eyes. “That’s weird, isn’t it?”
“I suppose,” Amanda said. “Maybe I should send you to the meeting in my place.”
“I do love being your bad cop,” Sarah said, her eyes shining with delight. “Providedyou and Zachbothcome to Kerry’s birthday dinner tonight.”
Amanda smiled. “We wouldn’t miss it. It sounds lovely.”
Lovelywas a better word now. Still a bit much, maybe, but Sarah looked pleased.
Sarah checked her watch. “And now I’ve got to scoot, if that’s okay with you, boss? I’ve got a cake to bake and a house to scrub. My place, eight p.m.?” She motioned toward her own eyes, then back at Amanda. “And I’ll be looking for thebothof you.”
Amanda spent more than forty minutes trying to find the perfect gift for Kerry at the Park Slope Spirit Shoppe. At least Kerry was a collector of whiskey and wine, which made him easier to shop for than Zach. Even after all these years, Amanda couldn’t say with any genuine certainty what her husband would actually enjoy as a gift. The only thing he seemed to truly derive pleasure from was his work.
Amanda caught sight of one particularly pricey bottle of whiskey from Cork on a high shelf. Wasn’t that the area of Ireland that Kerry’s family was from? He’d mentioned it once; Amanda was almost certain he had. She looked closer. It was a very expensive bottle, though, and sometimes expensive gifts made people uncomfortable. Amanda had once given a bracelet as a birthday gift to a woman in her Palo Alto tennis group. She’d selected it because it was the woman’s—Pam was her name—favorite color: blue. Amanda hadn’t thought of the cost until Pam, quite forcefully, said that she couldn’t possibly accept “that kind of gift.” After that, Pam avoided Amanda.
But the whiskey was meant as a real thank-you for all of Kerry’s help, which ran the gamut from the small but inconvenient—getting Case’s cards down late on a Sunday—to the downright selfless—chasing off that huge, sick-looking raccoon Case had been so scared might die right there in their backyard between the already-dead lilac bushes. The gift would be a thank-you to Kerry, and an apology for Zach’s absence, though it would surely be only Sarah who was offended by that. Kerry had never said anything pointed about Amanda’s marriage or asked accusingly where Zach was. For his part, Sebe had probably never even noticed Zach’s absence. That’s how men were about such personal details: vaguely disinterested. Especially if those details hinted at any sort of problem. Honestly, sometimes it did make life much easier.
Amanda was still contemplating whether to buy the whiskey when she got a text from Sarah:Can’t wait to see Zach, finally!Amanda’s eyes snapped up from the text to the absurdly expensive whiskey.
“I’ll take it, please,” she said to the store clerk, who’d been ogling her since she’d walked in. “Could you wrap it up?”
KRELL INDUSTRIES
CONFIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION
Attorney-Client Work Product
Privileged & Confidential
June 29
To:Brooklyn Country Day Board of Directors
From:Krell Industries
Subject:Data Breach & Cyber Incident Investigation—Critical Event Report
FPP from Subject Family 0006 contacted the office today. The Junior Assigned Investigator (JAI) who spoke with FPP reported her as “extremely agitated.” She wanted someone to give her additional information about the pornographic material emailed to her with the usual request for cash transfer. FPP requested that all such offensive material be removed from her computer and placed on a zip drive. JAI offered to refer her to companies that do such assessments, but indicated that Krell was not available to assist with her personal situation beyond evaluating the consequences of the hacking.
FPP of Subject Family 0006 was adamant that Brooklyn Country Day and Krell should be responsible for a forensic analysis to determine whether the pornographic material had, in fact, been installed on the family computer by Subject Perpetrator (SP) rather than found there. There is no reason to believe that SP has ever downloaded files onto a Subject Family computer. SP exploits preexisting downloads or other data. The pornographic material belongs to someone in Subject Family 0006. FPP was informed of these facts.
FPP then threatened legal action against Brooklyn Country Day, which, sustainable or not, could cause reputational damage. In order to avoid legal action, it is our recommendation that Krell conduct the requested forensic analysis of Subject Family 0006 computer.
Lizzie
