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The officers waited for him to pay the driver and send him on his way before one pulled out a Breathalyzer. “Blow into this please, Mr. Foster.”
He rolled his eyes but blew.
“Very good, sir. We’re searching the property for contraband. Is there anything we should know?”
He shook his head. “I was just about to have dinner with my partner.”
They nodded and made a show of looking around. But the villa was massive, and he knew they wouldn’t search the entire thing.
When they were gone, he stood with his head pressed against the front door. He wasn’t sure how the hell he was going to explain all of this to Rylee, but he knew if he wanted to keep her here, he had to figure it out.
In the dining room, Rylee sat at the table with her head resting on the pizza boxes.
“I’m sorry about that,” he murmured.
“Did they go through my things?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I don’t think they opened that door. They’re more interested in me.”
“But they could have, right? That’s what the paperwork I signed would have said?”
He gave a hesitant nod.
“Can you see how fucked up this is?”
Another nod.
“Are you going to say anything?”
He pulled out the dining room chair at the head of the table closest to where she sat and motioned for her to slide the pizza his way.
He opened the box and pulled out a slice of supreme.
“Excellent choice,” he murmured as he bit into it.
“If you won’t talk to me, I’m leaving, and you can rot in jail for all I care.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m going to talk. I just need a minute to gather my thoughts, please.”
She snagged her own slice of pizza and ate while she waited.
“Another company wanting to join forces on a community outreach project that could make a lot of money approached me about property investment and neighborhood improvement here and in Phoenix. The deal seemed off to me, but I’m a believer in letting my board vet things. I have them for a reason. Ultimately, most of us decided it was a terrible idea, and we severed the negotiation process with the company. There were a handful of board members who wanted to hear more, but they ultimately fell in line. At least that’s what I thought.”
He stood and walked to the fridge where he pulled out a bottle of juice.
“Want one?” he asked from behind the fridge door.
She shook her head. “I’ll have a beer, though.”
He grimaced. He would kill for a beer right now, but it wasn’t worth going to jail over and they’d already proven they would check.
“A few months ago, news broke about what the company was doing and the way it screwed a lot of people over. They were getting small time investors to invest in a variety of neighborhood improvement projects as if they already had permits and permission. They were also keeping an inaccurate count of their debt and income, so on paper it looked like everyone involved was going to make money. Then one of the most expensive deals they were peddling completely fell through and all their debt came due. It basically screwed all the small-time investors like your mom out of their money.
“The state attorneys in Arizona and in Nevada started an investigation and promised to bring charges. I was supportive of this and even offered to give the investigators my records of our attempted negotiation with the company. Then contracts emerged that showed my company was covering a portion of their debt at around twenty-five percent. I did not approve these contracts, but my name was on them. They filed charges against me in Nevada. The state of Arizona has opted not to charge me at this time, but they still might.”
She blew out a breath. “This is a lot to take in, Memphis. I don’t even understand it all. Are you saying someone set you up?”
“Someone or perhaps multiple people on my board and within my company worked behind my back and signed the deal because they thought it would bring in a lot of revenue and the possibility of expansion into a new field.”
