Page 113 of Feel It in the Air

“Gus shouldn’t be here. He’s on leave,” she states, not bothering to hide the disdain in her voice.

“He’s not, actually. As I mentioned, the confidential HR matter regarding him and Miss Finnegan has been resolved, and they have both been cleared to return to work as of this morning.”

Teresa balks, swallowing hard. Yup, take that.

Is that the wrong attitude to have? Sure is. Especially as executive vice president. But after everything she’s put us through this past week—shit, everything she’s put Margeaux through since she started—there’s no love lost here. And I’m not obliged to think kindly toward her.

“And since this matter still falls under his purview, it makes sense to include him in this meeting. Truthfully, it was only escalated to me while he was out because it involves a lot of money. Because you see, Miss Parrish, that’s why we have these questions about Sapphire Sands—because money has gone missing. A lot of money.”

Teresa swallows hard again, the muscles of her throat visibly contracting as her gaze shifts between Carl, Auggie, and me. She’s nervous. Whatever this tactic is, I need to learn it. It’s something I think must come naturally to my father, but not so secretly I’m hoping there’s a technique he can pass on.

Because, damn.

“Teresa, here’s what we know,” Percy says, opening a folder and sliding it in front of her. “This is the Sapphire Sands vendor establishment contract you wrote up last year. We are unable to find any requisition for it. Nor are we able to establish any record of this company. I don’t know what’s more notable—that the name used was after Bea Kennett’s brand or that there isn’t a tax ID number, something I would have thought you, my tax law specialist, would have double-checked.”

Flipping the pages, he lands on the last one, carefully pointing to his signature at the very bottom. “Now, this looks like my signature. So much that at first glance I figured it must be and the fact that I didn’t recognize the name of the company was simply proof it was time to retire. But then, after Gus’s urging, I looked at the date. I was out of the office that week, since Carly was giving birth. The signature was forged and dated on the day of my youngest grandchild’s birth.”

And there it is. The nail in the coffin.

“Miss Parrish, from where I sit, you have a couple of choices,” Auggie picks up. “You could deny everything. Although, I should disclose that we have done our due diligence here and have traced that some of the early payments made to Sapphire Sands Restoration went to an account that was opened at the Pitman Dean branch over in Tifton in both your name and that of Ryan Hannaway, who maybe not so coincidentally works in our accounting department.”

Eyes going wide, the color drains from Teresa’s face fully, and that’s when I know. Really, truly know.

Even with all the evidence, all the paperwork and numbers before me, there was still a doubt. A small worry that she’d deny it. That she’d find a way to get away with it. Say it wasn’t her and come up with a plausible story as to why. But no. There’s no faking that visceral of a reaction.

We have her. Dead to rights.

“Or,” Auggie pushes on, “you can be fully transparent with us. Both options will result in termination, and we will pursue legal action. However, you have our promise that if you are cooperative, we will not be as harsh as we could be.”

“It was Ryan’s idea,” she says.

“I do have to interject to remind you at this point that you do have the right to consult a lawyer if you wish,” Carl says.

“I am a lawyer,” she spits.

Not a very good one…

I hold back my glee. Now is not the time to celebrate. An employee is sitting in front of me admitting to embezzling from us. The more Teresa explains, the more of a mess I see laid out before me, the mountain of work to fix the holes in the process growing before my eyes. It’s going to be a bear of a project.

But I have the best partner in the entire world. An e-commerce experienced, MBA wielding, law-degree toting Cajun princess. And I know she’ll be by my side through all of it.

Still, this feels like a win. One I can’t wait to tell Margeaux about.

One hurdle down. Forever to go.