Her gaze flicked to me, then back to him. “We have a problem. The donation box with the checks and the money from the silent pledges. It’s empty. All of the money is gone.”
The air seemed to change.
Gone.
I felt the word like a drop in my stomach. This was a repeat of our dance where money was stolen. My mind passed over the evening’s events. I had kept Gavin in view the entire time after our dance so if he stole the funds, he must have done it before then.
He had lured me, knowing I would follow him, the thought came suddenly. I pressed a hand to my temple. Gavin was going to blame me if he could.
Ephram crisply nodded once. “The funds were kept in the front office. Only three people had the key.”
“Only my event manager, the head of security, and I have keys. We were about to move everything to the safe but now it’s not there,” Carly replied. “We had it secured. I don’t understand how this happened.”
“Has anyone else been in that room?” he asked.
“No. They don’t have access,” Carly replied.
“I want to see the keyholders at the front office right now." Ephram pulled out his phone, dialing a number. “I want areview of the footage in the front office and of the charity box from the start of the event to now.”
“People are everywhere. I don’t want this to become. I don’t want it to become a scene,” Carly urgently said in a whispered voice.
“It won’t,” Ephram assured her as he tucked his phone away.
Carly and Ephram started down the corridor. I followed without thinking, because of course I did. My body was already moving before my brain caught up.
Ephram looked back once, his expression sharpening. “Lydia.”
“I’m coming,” I insisted.
His jaw flexed. He lowered his voice as Carly walked a few steps ahead. “Don’t make this worse.”
“I’m not making anything worse,” I whispered fiercely. “This involves my family too. We were stolen from as well in circumstances just like this.”
He held my gaze for one hard second, then turned forward again without arguing, which almost felt worse than being told no.
We emerged back into the brighter hallway that led toward the front offices. Music swelled again, the contrast jarring. People were laughing. The band slid into another polished song like nothing in the world had shifted.
Carly hurried toward the office door, where her manager stood like a guard. Ephram leaned in, speaking low, practical questions to them both. I hovered at the edge, hands clenched, trying to spot Gavin in the crowd.
Then I saw him.
He stood near the bar, drink in hand, posture relaxed, watching the small cluster around Carly with mild interest, like an audience member enjoying a performance. His gaze slid toward me and stayed there.
A knowing smile touched his mouth.
He approached me as if this was a coincidence, as if he had simply wandered over to check on an old acquaintance.
“Lydia,” he said warmly, voice pitched for politeness. “You look as though you have seen a ghost.”
I held myself still. “What do you want?”
He tilted his head slightly, eyes bright with amusement. “I heard something is missing. How dreadful.”
My stomach dropped further.
He leaned in just enough that his voice could be heard by anyone close, but not by the whole room. He wanted Ephram and Carly to overhear what he had to say.
“Oh Lydia,” he said, and his tone was almost affectionate. “Every time money disappears lately, you seem to be nearby. Such terrible luck. I do hope people don’t… misunderstand.”
