Chapter 1 - The Call From Human Resources
Wesley’s face drained of color so fast it looked as though someone had pulled a drain plug beneath his skin.
His hand, which had been resting confidently on the cream folder, began to twitch against the polished mahogany wood.
Miriam’s wineglass remained suspended halfway to her lips, the pale liquid catching the flickering candlelight like a warning flare.
"What is she talking about, Wesley?" Miriam asked, her voice losing its aristocratic smoothness.
"What call from human resources?"
Wesley didn't answer his mother.
His eyes were locked onto mine, wide with the terror of a man who realized the ground beneath him had turned to glass.
"Renata," he whispered, his throat working dryly. "You shouldn't be bringing up private company matters at the Thanksgiving dinner table."
I reached into my handbag resting beside my chair and pulled out a single sheet of paper folded in thirds.
"The benefits coordinator called because your health insurance coverage was terminated for gross misconduct on October twenty-eighth," I said evenly.
"She was checking if I wanted to elect COBRA coverage under my own name before the open enrollment window closed."
Miriam slammed her wineglass down on the linen runner, sloshing red pinot noir across the bread basket.
"Misconduct? My son is a senior director of logistics! He has been at that firm for nine years!"
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"He was a director," I corrected gently, looking straight into Miriam's horrified eyes.
"Until the compliance division audited the vendor accounts and discovered he had routed eighty-five thousand dollars through an unlisted shell company."
