Amanda crouched slightly beside my chair, her folders forgotten against her chest. "Daphne, talk to me."
"I need to be careful."
"Yes, you do."
"I can't take this out of the office."
"No."
"I can't email anything to myself."
"Absolutely not."
"I can't pretend I didn't see it."
Amanda's face softened. "No, honey. You can't do that either."
My fingers went to the top page, then stopped. I wasn't going to steal company documents. I wasn't going to turn one bad choice into a thrilling sequel with office supplies.
But I'd been assigned to check the revised materials. I could note what was in them. I could flag the conflict. I could tell Zane what Fletcher had done. I could tell Monica too, once I had my spine in the right place and my voice working.
I took a yellow note from the pad beside my keyboard and wrote the page titles in careful block letters.
External Broker Summary.
Revised Access Appendix.
Land-Use Map.
Fletcher McCrae / McCrae Land Brokerage.
Beargrass Lake access.
Adjacent McCrae parcel.
Viable acquisition or easement path.
No owner agreement noted.
My handwriting stayed neat. Office muscle memory was ridiculous and helpful.
Amanda watched me fold the note. "You're going to tell him."
"I have to."
"Before Monica?"
I looked toward Monica's office. She was still on the phone, pacing behind the frosted glass.
"I'm going to finish what Monica asked me to finish," I said. "I'm going to put this where it belongs. I'm going to tell Monica I have a conflict connected to the external broker and need todiscuss it. But Zane needs to know what's being said about his land before Fletcher gets to him again."
Amanda's mouth pressed into a line. "That's messy."
"Yes."
"Are you sure he'll believe you?"
No.
