Chapter 8 - The Man Who Taught Him
Damon had known Graham for eleven years.
Graham had helped him survive the first bad year of his company.
He had taught Damon how to read a balance sheet, how to question a flattering forecast, how to keep panic out of his voice.
Now Damon sat across from him wondering which lessons had been genuine.
June’s notebook lay closed between them.
Graham glanced at it.
“Handwritten notes are hardly conclusive.”
“The shelter director has your emails.”
“I was trying to keep a difficult partner within compliance.”
“By threatening its funding?”
“By insisting on proper reporting.”
Damon opened his laptop.
“The auditor found a vendor called Harbor Table Services.
What do you know about it?”
“It handles overflow catering.”
“It has no commercial kitchen listed.
Its mailing address is a rented box.”
“Plenty of businesses outsource.”
“Who owns it?”
Graham looked toward the window.
There it was again.
The pause.
Damon shut the laptop.
“You could still tell me something useful.”
Graham’s expression hardened.
“You wanted a foundation that ran smoothly.
You didn’t want calls about refrigeration failures and late deliveries.
You wanted a number for the annual speech.”
Damon took the blow without moving.
“I did.”
“You can’t act shocked that someone had to manage the details.”
“Managing isn’t stealing.”
“Be careful with that word.”
“Then give me a better one.”
Graham stood.
“I’ll respond through counsel.”
That afternoon, Damon removed Graham’s approval authority within his company and placed him on administrative leave while the company reviewed any overlapping transactions.
The foundation required its own board vote.
Damon could not make that decision alone.
He hated how much time responsible action took.
At Saint Agnes, Mara faced a different kind of delay.
A scheduled interview for a full-time kitchen job had been canceled.
The manager wouldn’t say why.
She didn’t need him to.
Nora sat on the lower bunk watching her mother fold the same shirt twice.
“Did I make you lose your job?”
Mara dropped the shirt.
“No.”
“Because of the cake?”
“No, baby.”
She sat and pulled Nora close.
“Grown-ups made bad choices.
You asking for cake didn’t make them.”
Nora nodded against her chest.
Across town, the independent auditor called Damon.
“We found a withdrawal request.”
“How much?”
“Four hundred eighty thousand.”
“For what?”
“Program relocation.
It’s scheduled for tomorrow morning.”
Damon stood.
“Can the board stop it?”
“If we reach them in time.”
“Who submitted it?”
The auditor hesitated.
“Elisa.
Graham countersigned.”
May you like
Then she added the part that made him go cold.
“The receiving account is closing next week.”
