Chapter 6 - THE ANNOUNCEMENT
Nobody moved.
For one strange second, the entire ballroom seemed to hold its breath.
Then whispers started.
Preston stood so fast his chair fell backward.
“What the hell is this?”
Raymond remained at the podium.
“Sit down, Preston.”
“You’re announcing this here?”
“You were informed this morning.”
Preston’s face went red.
“No, I received an email telling me there was a meeting Monday.”
Raymond’s expression didn’t change.
“Which you were instructed to attend.”
People were staring.
Preston noticed.
That made everything worse.
He pointed toward Laura.
“This is because of her.”
Laura remained seated.
Raymond’s voice hardened.
“No. This is because of you.”
I had never seen Preston speechless.
Then his eyes landed on me.
And I knew instantly what he was thinking.
“You.”
I blinked.
“What?”
He stepped toward me.
“You did this.”
Raymond came down from the stage.
“Preston.”
“She’s been digging through my things.”
“I haven’t spoken to Raymond,” I said.
“You saw my messages.”
“Enough.”
Raymond’s voice cut through the room.
“This has nothing to do with Abigail.”
Preston looked at his uncle.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to attend Monday’s meeting with counsel.”
Counsel.
That word changed the air.
Mason suddenly looked at the floor.
I noticed.
So did Laura.
Preston stormed out.
I stayed frozen beside the table.
Five minutes later, Raymond approached me.
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t owe me an apology.”
“Maybe not. But Preston seems determined to drag you into his problems.”
“What problems?”
Raymond glanced around.
“This isn’t the place.”
Laura joined us.
There was something in her expression I couldn’t read.
Concern.
Maybe pity.
Then she asked, “Has Preston ever mentioned Northline Strategy?”
“No.”
Mason’s chair scraped across the floor behind us.
I turned.
He was leaving.
Fast.
Laura watched him go.
Then looked back at me.
“If Preston asks you about Northline, don’t answer him alone.”
A chill moved down my arms.
“What is Northline?”
Raymond exhaled slowly.
“A consulting vendor.”
“And?”
Laura lowered her voice.
“A vendor that has received more than six hundred thousand dollars from Hail in eighteen months.”
I stared at her.
“What does that have to do with Preston?”
Raymond’s face tightened.
“Preston approved most of the invoices.”
I looked toward the ballroom doors Mason had just disappeared through.
“Who owns Northline?”
Laura didn’t answer.
She didn’t need to.
I already knew.
“Mason?”
May you like
Raymond nodded once.
And suddenly Preston’s best friend laughing in my dining room didn’t seem funny anymore.
