‘Ms Parker, when did you last speak with Eric Linden?’
‘Eric? Umm, well, I’ve been on holiday for two weeks.’With those two guys.My eyes drifted back to Oliver and Nick, who still were not acknowledging our connection. My heart was pounding in my chest and I had no idea what was going on here or why I was being interviewed about Eric. ‘I saw him on the Thursday before I left. We had a retirement party for him, in here … Umm, in this room.’
‘You’ve not spoken with him since?’
‘No.’
‘You worked for him for a long time.’
‘Yes, twenty years.’
‘Were you his lover?’
What?If I’d had liquid in my mouth, I would have spat it across the perfect surface of the table.
The attack from this viper had come so quickly that my first thought was that I had misheard her. ‘I beg your pardon?’ And by that I meant:no fucking way. Eric was old enough to be my father.
‘Were you having sex with Mr Linden?’ the lawyer rephrased, saying the words slowly, as if I was a child or an imbecile.
I looked directly at Nick, who had been making notes on a piece of paper and whose hand had stilled at the question. I waited for him to stop this interview. It was offensive and personal and attacking, but he did nothing.
‘No,’ I said firmly.
Alana looked at me as if she didn’t believe that. My thumping chest was so loud in my head I worried they could see or hear it.What the fuck was going on here?
‘We have reason to believe Mr Linden embezzled funds from this company, Ms Parker. Almost twenty million dollars have been misappropriated over the last thirty years.’
What?
‘What?’ I shook my head. ‘There is no way Eric would do that. He’s got a family. He’s a good person. He’s kind. He has always looked after me. He was a great boss. There’s no way that is right.’
‘Ms Parker, let me assure you he has done this. As of this morning he is in police custody, and his assets have been frozen. What we are trying to ascertain is how he did this, and to what level you were aware of it or aided him.’
‘What?’ That came out loudly and my head spun directly to Nick. ‘You think I took money?’
‘You did take money, Ms Parker. Your bonuses were paid from his slush account.’
If I thought my heart had been pounding earlier, I now had chest pain and thought I might vomit. This was utter madness. ‘Oh, my God. I cannot believe this.’
‘We have forensic accountants looking into this, Ms Parker. We will find what we are looking for. We wanted to allow you to confess to wrongdoing before the police are involved. The new owners are being generous and are prepared to be lenient if you disclose what you know. We know you have a daughter.’
I could feel my breath rising and falling now. I looked at the two men I knew sitting opposite me. Yes, I’d only known them for two weeks, but I had spent nearly every second of that time with one of them. He knew who I was.
But he did not move, nor did his expression change. I was angry about the situation, but his indifference made me want to, mostly, just cry.
I reached for a glass of water and was not surprised to find my hand trembling. I sipped the cold liquid, feeling it slide down my dry throat, using the time to try to formulate cohesive thoughts. I desperately wanted to put the cold glass against my hot red cheeks. Instead, I put it down firmly on the table.
‘I … I can’t help you,’ I said, as strongly as I could. ‘I don’t know anything about this.’
Alana shook her head. ‘It’s funny. I looked at you and thought you would be smarter than this, Abbey.’
Fucking viper. I tried to channel my inner ‘new-non-holiday Nick’, mirroring his body language with its arrogance, wealth and privilege. I tipped my chin up an inch and said icily, ‘I’d appreciate it if you would keep it formal and address me as Ms Parker.’
‘You are suspended, pending this investigation.’ Alana tilted her head before adding a drawling, ‘Ms Parker.’ She was enjoying this now.
My attention was caught by Oliver writing down something and passing his notepad to his brother. Nick looked at it and then pushed the pad to Alana.
She looked annoyed by whatever was on that piece of paper. ‘You will continue to be paid during this suspension, Ms Parker. We’ll be in touch.’
