“But I could work. I could get a job somewhere else at that point,right?”
“You could try. You’d be safe from prosecution, and we’d do our best to keep your name out of the papers, there are no guarantees. Before you make a decision, be absolutely certain you’re right about this. Because if you’re wrong, it’s not going to go well for you.” Clancy shook his head. “If a judge rules in their favor, theycouldsue you fordamages.”
Elizabeth bit the inside of her cheek so hard that she tasted blood. Clancy wasn’t making her feel any better. “And what if I want this to goaway?”
“If you want to settle, I can likely handle this from here. You’d have to pay a fine, probably well north of a hundred thousand dollars, but it would be done. You could declare bankruptcy, and most of the fine would be forgiven. You’d have to liquidate all of your stock, but your 401K would remainintact.”
“Shit. I don’t have much choice, doI?”
“No. And Elizabeth, if you decide to go through with the tax fraud case, don’t breathe a word of it to anyone until you go to the federal prosecutor. If anyone gets wind of this before your deposition, you could lose all of yourprotection.”
“Alexander already knows something’s wrong. I can’t keep this from him for much longer. If I settle and he finds out, that’ll be the end of any relationship. He might forgive me if I tell him everything now, but if I have towait…”
“You don’t have proof of their crimes other than your memories. That’s going to be pretty darn hard to substantiate. But if you settle and admit guilt, you probably won’t be able to find work as an accountant again. At least not for any firm worth its salt. I suppose you have to ask yourself how you feel about this relationship. Is it something worth fightingfor?”
Yes. Itis.
Clancy withdrew his appointment book. “I have a three-hour block of time open tomorrow afternoon. I suggest you think about this tonight. We can meet tomorrow and go over a mock deposition. Perhaps that will help you decide. How is 2:00p.m.?”
Alexander checked his watch for the tenth time. He’d been unable to concentrate on the book in his hand all evening, anticipating Elizabeth’scall.
Two minutes after ten, her name flashed across thescreen.
“Um, hi. How was your day?” Static crackled over the line, but it didn’t dim Alexander’ssmile.
“You have the power to turn the most abysmal day around with just a few words,” he said. “Today was full of accountants and financial discussions that threatened to put me to sleep. I’m knackered, but I’ve had so much coffee, I may still bevibrating.”
Elizabeth started to laugh, but the sound quickly strangled into a hoarse, chokingrasp.
He straightened. “Elizabeth, what’s wrong? You’reupset.”
Muffled sounds reached him, punctuated by long moments of silence. Unable to sit still, Alexander swung his legs over the side of the bed. “If you don’t answer me, Elizabeth, I’m flying out to Seattletonight.”
Damn his meetings. If she needed him, nothing would keep himaway.
Elizabeth cleared her throat. “Fairhaven Charities doesn’t use CPH,right?”
Where was thisgoing?
“No. We use independent accountants. Nicholas has used them for the past few years, but I’ve suggested he find a new firm. I don’t like the idea of associating with a company that would fire my…girlfriend. But that doesn’t answer my question. What iswrong?”
Her words tumbled out, almost too fast for him to discern over the scratchy connection. “Can we...I hate to ask. I know you’re busy with meetings. But can we talk on Thursday when I get back? I have to go through San Diego and Vegas and I don’t land until six in the morning, and I’ll need a nap, but maybeeleven?”
“Breathe, Elizabeth,” he said, adopting the tone he used in the bedroom. “I’m going to switch to video. I want to see yourface.”
Her splotchy cheeks swam in and out of focus as she moved from a pitiful looking hotel bed to the desk. The phone rattled, and then she sat back in a ricketychair.
“Shite. You’ve been crying,” he said. “Why?” Alexander tightened his grip on his phone. How quickly could he get to Seattle? If the company jet wasfree…
“Please don’t.” She swiped at her cheeks. “I’m fine. There’s just something we have to discuss before—well, before things are irrevocably fucked up for both ofus.”
Fuckedup?
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying? There’s something wrong with our accounting? Something that got you fired?Explain.”
“I…can’t. Please don’t ask me to. Not yet.” Her eyes shone with unshed tears, and she sniffedloudly.
Fuck.Alexander couldn’t stand being this far away from Elizabeth. His frustration and helplessness turned to anger as he ran through all of their encounters over the past few weeks. “Why won’t you trustme?”
