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“Guys,” I snapped. “Can we knock it the fuck off? It’s time to strategize, not act like idiots.”
Silence stretched across the table. Axel let out a terse sigh.
“So, moving on…” Francis opened up something on his tablet and went down a list, updating Trace on the latest developments. The last item on the list was, of course, Jessa’s dismissal. Trace looked over at me, surprise etched onto his face.
“She’s gone?”
“She’s gone,” I confirmed.
“It’s for the better,” Francis added. “Any weakness in the company should be rooted out. If they aren’t loyal, they need to be gone.”
“That’s a shame. I thought she could have become an asset,” Trace mused.
“Not surprising to hear from someone who regularly hides information from others,” Axel muttered.
“Excuse me? I thought you could only hear hot air,” Trace shot back. “Unless you learned how to talk to the wind?”
“I’ll fucking respond to who I want, when I want,” Axel said, jabbing a finger in Trace’s direction.
“You guys,” I barked out. “Shut the fuck up so we can at least getsomethingdone today.”
Silence descended over the table once more. On days like today, I felt like the father. And in a way, I had been the father figure of the Haynes family, until Axel and I were placed with the Fairchilds. Maybe that’s why I’d naturally become the mediator between Axel and Trace—and sometimes, the discipliner.
“What’s next on the agenda?” I snapped at Francis.
“The lawyer has news,” Francis said, positioning the conference room speakerphone equidistant between the four of us. “He’s calling any minute now.”
My stomach wrenched and I buried my face in my hands. I didn’t like anything that was going on. Not one bit of it.
And this is the normal you were trying to get back to. By ridding yourself of the one bright spot you’d found.
The phone rang—the thing looked like a UFO with a number pad attached to one side—and Axel answered it with a smooth push of a button, not betraying an ounce of our collective tension.
“Hey guys, hope you’re all doing well.” Robert Fields’s brusque, formal voice filled the conference room. We all leaned closer to the phone in the center and muttered pleasantries before he delivered his news. “I spoke to my contact at the SEC yesterday. They’re no closer to a decision yet, but they’re considering embezzlement charges, which brings a hefty fine and serious prison time. He’s confident they’d recommend a ten-year prison sentence to whoever is determined to be the engineer of this fraud, instead of the typical thirty years. After all, you’re not bilking little old ladies here, so that should help you.”
The weight of the world on my shoulders sank heavier. The air in my lungs disappeared, and I could barely understand the rest of the words coming from the phone.
“We’re not bilkinganyone,” I said, but I couldn’t tell whether the words even made it past my lips. It was pointless now. We couldn’t turn this train around. All I could do was hang on and hope I didn’t spend the next ten years of my life in prison.
“They couldn’t give me a timeline on when they might come to a conclusion about filing charges. They’ve got all the documents they need now, and we’ll be in touch as soon as we hear more. Okay, guys? Chins up.”
My gaze slid over to Axel’s. I found the same worry in his eyes.
At least one of us was heading to prison. It might be him, me, or maybe all three of us. We sat suspended in silent disbelief.
“Was that supposed to be good news?” Trace asked eventually.
“Jesus fuck,” I muttered, dragging my hands down my face. “I can’t take this shit anymore. It’s gonna eat me alive. I probably won’t even live to see the sentencing. The stress is gonna kill me before we get there.”
“Don’t say that,” Axel snapped.
“It’s fucking true,” I said, beating back waves of nausea. I wanted to puke. I wanted to rage. I wanted to launch an emotional appeal to whoever the head investigator was to make sure they understood just how much good we were doing in the world.
“You need Jessa back,” Axel said, and from the look on his face I knew he was speaking seriously. “She’s the only one who could get your head out of your ass.”
“Nothing worth seeing up here,” I bit out.
“You should still try to enjoy life,” Axel said. “We’ve got our freedom right now. Why wouldn’t we take advantage of that?”
