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“Are you?”
“Perhaps we should discuss the problem before solving it in an irreversible way,” Daniel suggested diplomatically.
Stone nodded. “I don’t have a shotgun here anyway.”
Mulaney grumbled something under her breath as Muriella appeared from the kitchen.
“Easton, your father is here,” she said politely. “Why don’t you come have breakfast in the kitchen? We were just finishing.”
“I haven’t had my eggs—” Stone snapped his mouth shut at the withering look he received from his wife. “Yeah, we’re done,” he muttered, rubbing his stomach.
“Thank you,” I said. Mulaney stormed past us. “Daniel, I’d appreciate if you’d join us. Stone, you’re welcome to also.” Hell, we were family. He’d opened his home to me, and we were all up in each other’s business anyway.
“Is my sister in trouble?” He crossed his arms over his chest.
I heaved out a sigh. “I don’t know.”
Stone pointed at Daniel. “Can you fix whatever mess they’re in?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Mulaney can handle anything you throw at her, but if you need me, I’ll be in the living room.” Stone walked down the hall and ducked in the kitchen.
I filled Daniel in about the letter from SPE as we headed in the same direction. By the time we made it, the room had cleared other than Dad and Mulaney. She was by the coffee pot pouring two cups. He sat slumped at the table, head bowed, an envelope in front of him. We’d faced hard times before. The worst I’d ever seen him look was when we got the news of Mama’s illness. With the weight of that plus this, he was defeated.
I pulled out the chair beside him and sat. He pushed the envelope toward me.
“Drew told them about the money you’d moved that I didn’t know about,” his dad said quietly.
I scanned the letter and passed it to Daniel. After he read it, he stood. “I need to make a phone call.”
“We have no choice but to turn him in to the police,” Mulaney said from where she leaned against the counter. “There may be consequences for all of us, but if they enforce whatever’s in that letter, it could be worse.”
“Loretta—” Dad’s voice cracked when he spoke my mother’s name. He cleared his throat. “She doesn’t want us to do that until we have no other choice.”
“I’m afraid we don’t,” Mulaney said softly.
I sank in my chair and let my head drop back until my only view was of the ceiling. “I’ll take the blame for the money. I moved it, after all. Then the two of you can take care of Mama.”
“Where does that leave Drew?” she demanded.
“I spoke with my best connection in the FBI,” Daniel said. I snapped my head in his direction. “The problem is on the surface. It appears the two of you embezzled money from Carter Energy.”
“But you figured out Drew did it,” Mulaney protested, slamming her coffee mug on the counter.
“Not by ways admissible in court.” Daniel shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the island in the center of the kitchen. “Drew has covered his tracks in the last few days. To trace the money back to him by the methods the authorities use would be impossible.”
“Don’t they have the best methods money can buy?” I asked, gripping the edge of the table as my temper slowly began to rise.
“Not this good.”
Dad ran a hand through his hair, but didn’t say a word.
“There is an option,” Daniel said carefully. I bolted from my seat and paced, unable to sit any longer. “We could scare him with the threat of dire punishment.”
I halted. Daniel seemed to have ties to people most wanted to avoid. “Like a horse’s head?” I asked sarcastically.
“Not exactly, though I’m sure it could be arranged.” His tone had a razor-sharp edge. “I meant if he believes the authorities are investigating and he’s a potential suspect, he might change his attitude.”
