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“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure” Mostly

Lindsay gave a wry grin “Poor Zach Part of me can’t wait to see what he tries next”

And part of Kaitlin couldn’t help hoping it involved seduction

In his office Mondayabout Kaitlin He was angry with her over the lavish designs, and he needed to stay that way in order to keep his priorities straight Thinking about her ss, her lithe body and those sensuous, kissable lips was only asking for trouble Well, more trouble More trouble than he’d ever had in his life

“—to the tune of tenfrouest chairs across from Zach’s office desk

At the mention of the number, Zach’s brain rocked back to attention “What?” he asked bluntly

Esray-hairedsixty-five He’d been a trusted lawyer and advisor of Zach’s grandmother Sadie for over thirty years “Rent, food, teacher salaries, transportation All of the costs are overstated in the financial reports The foundation has a huge stack of bills in arrears The bank account has maxed out its overdraft That’s how the mess came to my attention”

Zach couldn’t believe what he was hearing How had things gotten so out of hand? “Who did this?”

“Near as we can tell, it was a er for the city And he disappeared the day after Sadie passed away My guess is that he knew the eht as soon as you took over”

“He stole ten million dollars?”

“That’s what it looks like”

“You’ve called the police?”

Esmond closed the file folder, his demeanor calm, expression impassive “We could report it”

“Da it” Zach’s hand went to his desk phone Sorandrand inner-city kids

“We’re having hi the receiver and raising it to his ear

“That ht not be your best option”

Zach paused, hand over the telephone buttons He lifted his brows in a silent question

“It would generate a lot of publicity,” said Esmond

“And?” Who cared? It wasn’t as if they had any obligation to protect the reputation of a criminal

“It’ll be a randh the ht be canceled No one and no company wants their name linked with criminal behavior, no matter how noble the charity”

“You think it would go that way?” asked Zach, weighing the possibilities in hisEsmond had a valid point

“I know a good private investigative firuy, of course And if there’s any benefit in pressing charges, we’ll press theuess is on’t find hiton was a very shrewd operator He’ll be long gone Sadie’s one”

Zach hissed out a sord, dropping the receiver and sliding back in his tall chair

The twos, h the door, the familiar hum of traffic on Liberty Street below

“What would Sadie want?” Esmond mused quietly

That one was easy “Sadie would want us to help the kids” Zach’s grandmother would want them to swiftly and quietly help the kids

Esreed “Are you in a position to write a check? I can pull this out of the fire if you can cover the losses”

What a question

Like every other transportation company in the world, Harper’s cash flow had been brutalized these past few years He had ships sitting idle in port, others in dry dock racking up huge repair bills, custo pay ter the Taj Mahal instead of a functional office building

“Sure,” he told Esmond “I’ll write you a check”

He put Esmond in touch with his finance director, asked Amy to have Kaitlin come to his office, then swiveled his chair to stare out at the cityscape, hoping against hope his grand over him at this particular moment In the three short months since her death, it felt as if the entire co off the rails

Not entirely his fault, of course But the er wasn’t how he perfor well, it was how he perforest stress of his present world was on her way up to see hiht now

A few minutes later, he heard the door open and knew it had to be Kaitlin Amy would have announced anyone else

“You can close it behind you,” he told her without turning

“That’s okay,” she said, her footsteps crossing the carpet toward his desk

He turned his chair, conored He strode around the end of the big desk “You can close the door behind you,” he repeated with emphasis

“Zach, we—”