Trust (28 page)

A half hour later, I strode back into the conference room. Everyone looked up at my arrival. Some of the board members were still sitting at the table, but many had gotten up and were scattered throughout the room. Everyone quickly resumed their seats once I’d retaken mine.

I met the gaze of each one of them before I spoke. “I’ve made my decision.”

They all nodded, some of them looking more confident than others.

There was something I needed to know first, before I gave them my verdict. I directed my question to Doug, the head of the foundation’s legal department. “What are the ramifications to the foundation if we press charges?”

“It’s difficult to say since every case is different. I think we have a good chance at winning the case, but whenever the public is involved you never know what their reaction might be.”

Michael interrupted Doug. “If I might interject—I’ve been doing this for a lot of years, and I’ve never seen a case like this end well for either side involved. Often, even though the organization itself may have done nothing wrong, the perception of irresponsibility lingers.” He paused. “What I’m saying is that if we go public with this, press charges, there is always a possibility that the amount of donations the foundation receives each year would drop drastically. You may lose more than you would gain.”

There were a few more comments made by various members of the board, but nothing that changed my initial feelings on the matter. In the end, I’d chosen to fire Greta, stripping her of her position. The foundation, however, wouldn’t press charges against her if she agreed to work in the mailroom as a volunteer for a minimum of five hours per week until she’d paid back the money she owed us. The only other condition was that at no time was she to use a computer while she was doing volunteer work for us. If she did so, our agreement would be null and void, and we would pursue legal action against her.

As for Megan and Greta’s grandson, Frankie, I was less concerned with their fate. They deserved whatever happened to them. A decision, however, did have to be made. I placed that task in the hands of Doug, Michael, and Lily. I felt Lily had a vested interest in whatever punishment the foundation chose to dole out. It had happened in her department, after all. The three were to meet, make a recommendation, and report back to the board on Friday.

When we brought Greta back into the conference room to let her know of our decision, she was more than grateful and readily agreed. She thanked me and the board profusely for not sending her to jail. There were a few on the board who didn’t like my decision, and I saw some glares as they left the room. I wasn’t all that concerned. They would get over it.

Megan would be pulled aside by HR and one of the firm’s lawyers and be told she was being suspended on suspicion of theft. Since we weren’t having her arrested—at least, not as long as she complied with whatever the board came up with as a suitable punishment for her crimes—she’d be on leave, without pay, until the final decision was made. For now, I wanted to see her relegated to the lowest job we could find for her and make her stay there for the foreseeable future. I wasn’t sure that was the sane part of me talking, or if everything in my life was finally getting the best of me.

Erik mentioned he could place a type of tracker in Megan’s computer that would show if anyone outside the company tried to access it and then track that person’s movements. It would essentially give us full access to the hacker’s computer. Right now, all we had on Greta’s grandson, Frankie, was his single phone conversation with Greta and her confession. I wanted more. He and Megan were responsible for this, and I wanted everything I could get on both of them. It would give us leverage if they tried to weasel out of what they’d done and place the blame solely on Greta’s shoulders.

One by one, everyone left the room, with the exception of my uncle. He lingered by the coffee until we were alone.

“Something on your mind, Uncle?”

He absentmindedly stirred his coffee, before throwing the little straw in the trash can. “I know you’ve been busy with this situation, so I was wondering if you’d read a newspaper lately or watched the news?”

I frowned. “No. Why?”

“Because you and Sarah are all over it.”

“Me and Sarah? Why?”

“Because apparently you’re expecting a baby together.”

“What?”

“I told you this would happen, Stephan. The media loves to jump to conclusions, and they didn’t have to leap very far for this one. Have you told Brianna, yet?”

At the mention of Brianna’s name, my heart sank. “When did you hear about it? Where did you see it?”

Richard stood there with an exaggerated calm. “Last night on the news. I was at the hospital most of the weekend, though, and from the sound of the anchor’s comments, this wasn’t their first broadcast reporting it—they were giving an update, which included pictures of you and Sarah in college.”

My heart started beating rapidly. “I have to go.”

“Maybe you need to calm down first.”

I ignored him, my only thought of Brianna. That had to be why she hadn’t e-mailed, why she hadn’t called. I had to get to her and explain.

Making a beeline for my office, I grabbed my keys, and then raced to the elevator.

Jamie yelled after me. “Sir?”

I stepped onto the elevator before I answered her. “I’m leaving for the day.”

Her mouth opened to respond, but the elevator doors closed, cutting her off.

Sliding behind the wheel of my car, I started the engine, and then maneuvered out of the parking garage and out onto the street. It was then I noticed the extra news affiliates hanging around. Had there been that many this morning? I had no idea.

As I drove, it rapidly became clear that I had several of them following me. That wouldn’t do. Even in my desperation to get to Brianna, I knew I couldn’t lead them to her.

Making an unplanned right at the traffic light, I headed in the opposite direction of where I wanted to go. I dug my cell phone out of my pocket and hit Lily’s number.

“Stephan? Where are you? Your uncle said you flew out of here as—”

“I’ll explain later, I promise, but I need to borrow Logan’s car.”

“What? Why?”

“I’m being followed, and I need to lose them. That will never happen as long as I’m driving my car.” She was silent on the other end of the line for too long. “Lily?”

“Um. Yeah. Sure. His keys are on the kitchen counter next to the toaster.”

“Thanks.”

Without waiting for her response, I hung up and sped toward Lily and Logan’s apartment as quickly as Minneapolis traffic would allow. My only hope was that switching cars would throw the vultures following me off my trail.

Chapter 25

Brianna

“There’s been no change?”

“No. None. We thought she’d come out of it by now. That’s why we called you. We’ve never seen her like this.”

A hand touched my forehead, and then two fingers pressed firmly against the side of my wrist. “She doesn’t appear to be running any type of a fever, and her pulse is steady.”

“Is there anything you can do for her?”

The voices moved farther away, although they were still close enough that I could hear them. “You could admit her to a psych ward for observation, but given her history, it may do more harm than good.”

“I don’t understand how this could happen. I thought she was getting better. She was acting better.” That time I recognized the voice as Cal’s. He sounded irritated . . . and worried.

“She
is
getting better, Mr. Ross, but Anna experienced trauma that left huge emotional scars. That isn’t going to repair itself overnight.”

They were all quiet for a long time, and then I heard what I thought to be Jade’s voice. “So what do we do now?”

“Keep doing what you’ve been doing. Sit with her. Talk to her. Give her an anchor to reality. Anna has escaped inside herself because what happened . . . what she saw and heard . . . was too painful for her to deal with. This . . .” She paused. “This is how she’s protecting herself. Unfortunately, there is no magic button that will bring her back. You’re going to have to let her work it out on her own.”

After that, the voices left the room, leaving me alone. There were no sounds other than a low hum that seemed to surround me. The sound only added to the feeling of emptiness, and eventually the black void pulled me into its embrace once again.

Raised voices tore at my subconscious, demanding I pay attention to them. I didn’t want to. I wanted to go back to the void. There wasn’t pain in the void.

The voices wouldn’t go away, though. They kept getting louder. One voice in particular.

Cal’s.

“You have a lot of nerve showing your face here.”

I opened my eyes slowly, and the light that hit my eyes nearly blinded me.

Someone spoke, but I couldn’t hear what they said. Their voice sounded muffled.

“You need to leave.”

The muffled voice spoke again.

“Like hell you are. Leave now before I rearrange your face some more for you.”

The muffled voice grew louder, and this time I was able to make out both the words—and the speaker. “I’m not leaving until I see Brianna.”

Stephan.

My chest tightened painfully, and memories flooded my mind. Stephan was going to be a father. He was going to have a baby with his ex-girlfriend. No. If they were having a baby together then she wouldn’t be his ex anymore, would she?

I heard more yelling but no words. Then there were sounds of things breaking.

Willing my legs to work, I stood up beside the bed. I felt weak, but I knew I had to do something. I couldn’t stay in my room and hide no matter how much I wanted to. Stephan felt responsible for me. That had to be why he was here. He deserved to be happy, though, and Sarah could do that for him. She could do the things I couldn’t. I had to set him free . . . let him know that he didn’t need to care for me anymore.

When I shuffled into the living room, Stephan and Cal were both on the floor. Each looked as if they’d thrown a few punches. Stephan had a bloody lip, and Cal’s nose was bleeding. Jade was towering over them, trying to break them apart, but she didn’t look to be having much success.

“Stop,” I squeaked.

They couldn’t hear me over everything else that was going on.

I took a deep breath and tried again, this time putting all the energy I had left behind it. “Stop!”

Stephan halted his movements first, which caused him to double over from a swift punch Cal landed to Stephan’s stomach.

I tried one more time. “Stop! Please, stop.”

This time, Jade and Cal heard me. They froze.

Stephan used Cal’s distraction to push him away. Cal grunted, but other than that, failed to react.

“Brianna.” Stephan stood and took a step toward me.

I took a step backward.

My retreat didn’t escape his notice, and he didn’t continue to approach me. “I was worried when you didn’t contact me. I tried to call you.”

“Leave her alone, you bastard! She doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“Cal, honey, calm down. You’re going to frighten Anna.”

Cal’s only concession to what Jade said was that when he spoke again, he was no longer yelling. “Haven’t you hurt her enough? Leave.”

Stephan didn’t take his eyes off me when he answered Cal. “Not until I say what I’ve come to say.”

Cal didn’t like that answer. He took a step forward like he was going to attack Stephan again, but Jade blocked his path. “Let him talk, and then he can go.”

“Why are you always on his side? You heard what he did. He doesn’t deserve anything.”

Jade sighed but stayed calm. “I’m not on his side. But the two of you fighting again isn’t going to solve anything either. Let him say his piece, and then he will leave.” She turned to address Stephan. “You will leave after you’ve said what you came to say, or I will help Cal throw you out. Understood?”

Stephan looked as if he were going to argue but gave Jade a single hard nod instead.

He looked me up and down, taking in my appearance. “Give us a minute.”

“Not on your life.” Cal’s voice was hard once more.

Stephan sighed. “I’m guessing you heard the rumors going around about me and Sarah.”

Cal snorted, but Stephan ignored him.

“Brianna, they’re not true. Sarah
is
pregnant, yes, but it’s not mine.”

I didn’t respond.

“Sarah came to visit because she needed some time away to think. She was pregnant when she arrived in Minneapolis.”

He paused and took a tentative step toward me again. This time, I didn’t move.

“I’ve never lied to you, Brianna, and I don’t want you to think that I have. I had every intention of explaining Sarah to you, but I wanted to do it in person. I was going to tell you Saturday at the planetarium. We would have had time to talk, to be together . . . and I could have explained everything. I wasn’t expecting the media to blow things out of proportion.”

Moisture gathered in my eyes. I didn’t know what to believe. They’d said the baby was his, but Stephan had never lied to me before. I wanted to believe him.