Chapter 6 - Let Me Answer|
Teresa chose a gray suit for the board meeting.
She fastened the butterfly brooch herself, then asked me to help with one stubborn sleeve button.
“Do I look frightened?”
I considered lying.
“A little.”
She smiled at our reflection.
“Good.”
Then she turned toward me.
“I'd hate to think courage required better knees and a steadier stomach.”
The foundation's seven directors gathered around the same folding tables where volunteers sorted holiday grocery vouchers.
Victor Hale arrived with a polished briefcase and a sympathetic expression.
He stood when Teresa entered.
“This has been terribly upsetting for you.”
She looked at the chair waiting beside him.
“Yes.”
She took a different seat.
Luca remained against the wall because he wasn't a board member.
Leah sat beside me as my adviser.
Nora placed copies of the disputed documents before each director.
Victor began with the photograph.
He described my access to Teresa, my family's financial problems, and the dangers of relying on untrained staff.
I kept my hands under the table so he wouldn't see them shaking.
When he mentioned Teresa's age, Luca moved forward.
His mother raised her palm.
“Let me answer.”
He stopped.
Victor folded his hands.
“Of course.”
Teresa looked around the room.
“Did any of you ask me whether I wished to retire?”
Nobody said yes.
“Did any of you attend the meeting described in these minutes?”
Ellen Brooks, a retired school principal, pushed the paper away.
“I was visiting my granddaughter in Oregon.”
Another director said she had never received a meeting notice.
The others shook their heads.
Victor shifted in his chair.
“Administrative errors happen.”
Nora asked him to identify who had prepared the records.
He said Vanessa coordinated drafts.
She asked who had approved the invoices to Bellini Outreach.
He said emergency work couldn't wait for endless discussion.
Ruth entered with the repair files and distributed them quietly.
June Ellis's unpaid request was clipped to the invoice claiming her furnace had been replaced.
There were other discrepancies, still under review.
Nora made that distinction carefully.
She also showed the bank's confirmation that the proposed reserve transfer had been blocked pending valid authorization.
Two million four hundred thousand dollars remained where it belonged.
Victor glanced at Luca.
“You should think carefully before inviting strangers into the family's finances.”
Luca didn't answer.
Teresa did.
“These are the foundation's finances.”
Her voice was clear enough to carry through the doorway.
“People gave this money because we promised to help someone with it.”
Ellen called for a vote to suspend Victor's financial access and duties while an independent examination proceeded.
Six directors voted in favor.
Victor voted against.
They confirmed Teresa's continuing position, required additional approval for unusual payments, and authorized Nora to report the apparent fraud to investigators.
It took less than a minute to count the votes.
I had never seen power leave a man so quietly.
Victor closed his briefcase.
At the door, he stopped beside Luca.
“Your collection records won't look better than my invoices.”
Daniel stepped closer, but Luca shook his head.
Victor walked out freely.
Nobody followed him except the receptionist, who asked for his office key.
Afterward, Teresa stood too quickly and winced.
Her son offered his arm.
She accepted it without embarrassment.
“Helping me stand doesn't mean you have to speak for me,” she told him.
“I'm learning.”
She squeezed his wrist.
While Leah drove Teresa home, I stayed to retrieve my coat.
Luca was alone beside the folding tables.
“You know what they'll find,” I said.
He nodded.
“More than threats.”
The room suddenly felt very small.
“Will you tell the truth if it costs you everything?”
He looked at the chair his mother had just left.
“I'll call my lawyer tonight.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
May you like
He met my eyes.
“Yes.”
