AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I was going to have to come clean. In the end, it would all come out anyway, so there was no point in putting it off.
“The truth is, I saw Brian earlier today,” I told him.
“You did? Did he seem off at all? Do you know what his problem is?”
“Yeah, I do,” I said. “Dad… I’m about to file my report.”
“Oh. Do you want me to call you back later? Is this a bad time?”
He didn’t understand me. “I need you to be ready for what my report’s going to say, Dad.”
There was silence on the other end of the line for a long moment.
“What is your report going to say?” he asked, his voice suddenly tight.
“Dad, you knew this was a possibility, didn’t you? You knew there was a chance I was going to find something.”
“Just let me have it, Al.”
“I don’t want you to be angry at me.” I’d been pissed when Brian had reacted poorly, but Dad was making me feel like crying. “You wanted me to do well in this job, remember?”
“How bad is it?”
“It’s not even that bad. I mean, I don’t think it is. It’s just that someone stole some money. And you know I have to report that.”
“How much money are we talking about?”
“Dad, I can’t give you details before I tell my boss,” I told him. “I’ve said too much already. We’re talking about the details of a federal investigation into the finances of the Navy SEALs.”
“But I’m not just some civilian,” Dad reminded me. “I have a personal stake in this.”
“I know you do. But I still can’t tell you until I’ve told my boss. I’m sorry. I would if I thought I could.”
“You said you wanted me to be ready,"he reminded me.
“As ready as possible, yes. But there is a limit to what I can say. I know you understand confidentiality. You understand that better than most people.”
Dad sighed.
I waited. At least he didn’t seem angry with me, which gave me hope.
“Listen, Allie,” he said, “is there any way you can just let whatever it is go?”
“You want me to just ignore it? Pretend I didn’t see it? Dad. You know I can’t do that. Come on. You wouldn’t even want me to do that. Could you respect me if I did?”
“I know you need to make a good impression,” he said. “I know this is your first assignment. But if we’re talking about some amount of money that isn’t that significant, mistakes happen.”
“I don’t think it was a mistake.”
“And you don’t thinkyoucould be making a mistake?”
“You don’t believe me.”
“It isn’t a matter of not believing you, Al. I think you need to make sure you’re right about this before making accusations. What if you write this report, and it turns out you had your facts wrong? How do you think that will make you look?”
“Are you more worried about how all this will makeyoulook?” I asked my father quietly.
“Allie, c’mon.”
