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“When Dad first mentioned merging, I looked everywhere on the books to see what had him concerned. I couldn’t find anything in EXODUS, but I decided to move some money around to a different account. A bigger rainy-day fund than what we had.”
“Is it possible your father thought he had to sell because he couldn’t find the forty million?”
“It’s possible,” I said carefully. I’d run through the scenario a thousand times. Two days after I’d moved the last five million, he announced the sale was done. “Still, there should’ve been more than enough.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
Ragnor nudged her, and she petted his head in reassurance.
“If we were failing financially, that was on me. Now I wish I would’ve run it by you, but I wanted to do what I could in case we needed the funds because we were facing bankruptcy.” I covered my face with my hand and squeezed my temples.
Mulaney thumped me in the head. “Failure is on all of us, not just you.”
“The CFO is the steward of the funds,” I said stubbornly.
“And that’s what you did. If we’re playing that game, the CEO is the captain of the whole ship.” She thumped me again. “Is the money still wherever you put it?”
“It was this morning.”
“Did you tell anybody what you did?”
“No, and it’s not on the balance sheet either. I hadn’t been sure how I wanted to account for it, so I left it alone for the time being. Forty million over time wasn’t that much in the grand scheme of things.”
She gave me the side-eye. “So SPE doesn’t know about it?”
“I haven’t seen what they based their offer for Carter Energy on, but my guess is no. From what I can tell, the transfers were completed prior to Dad’s negotiations.”
“Then whose money is it now?”
I pressed my fingers into my forehead. “I think it’s ours, but I honestly don’t know.”
Mulaney walked up and down the fence line, hair swaying as she moved. “This is bad. Really fucking bad. We’ve got this pipeline in our names and if anybody finds out about the money you hid?” She stopped. “Right now it looks like embezzlement.”
“Thanks for the newsflash.”
She pointed at me. “Being a smart-ass isn’t going to fix this.”
I opened my arms, and she came to me. As soon as she was within reach, I folded her into my embrace and rested my head on top of hers. “If I go down, I won’t let you fall with me.”
She snatched her head out from under mine, brown eyes flashing. “I won’t let you fall.”
I held her, needed her strength and determination. The world was cold and still around us, the only sound Ragnor’s occasional nicker.
“What was it like? Living here all the time?” Growing up, I’d loved the weeks spent at Grandma Carter’s, but life always went back to the city, the slow days in Burdett a memory.
“Peaceful. Hard work. Nothing to do but get in trouble sometimes.”
I cupped her cheek. “Do you miss it?”
She stared at me with confusion. It was as if no one had ever taken the time to ask her how she felt. “I miss my family, the animals, the land. Hell, sometimes I miss Mrs. Perkins, the nosy lady in the drug store.” Her head dropped back. “The funny thing is, as much as I hate the city, I never thought about leaving Carter. It’s where I was meant to be, and I figure I’ll land back here when I’m supposed to.”
“I’ve wondered if Dad will come back here, especially now that there’s no company. What’s he going to do without Mama?”
Mulaney squeezed my arms. “Let’s hope he doesn’t have to find out for a very long time.”
That was one of my greatest wishes, but miracles didn’t always happen. “I’d like to stay close to them, and then maybe—”
“What? You want to come back here?” she asked.
