Then Susan became serious.
“We have enough irregularities here that Ray is freezing access to the business accounts and commissioning a forensic audit.”
“Can Frank stop him?”
“No.”
“Can Vale?”
“No.”
“Dustin?”
She almost smiled.
“Definitely no.”
“What happens next?”
“We follow the money.”
No threats.
No fights.
No dramatic retaliation.
Just records.
Signatures.
Dates.
The kind of things men like Frank often underestimated because paper looked harmless.
Before we left, Ray stopped me in the parking lot.
“There’s something you should know about Dustin.”
I waited.
“He wasn’t always like this.”
I felt my patience thin.
“That doesn’t matter to Marcy.”
“No. It doesn’t.”
Ray looked toward the diner windows.
“But I think you should know why he’s terrified of Frank.”
“Terrified?”
Ray nodded.
“Dustin’s father died when he was fifteen. Frank raised him after that. Paid for everything. Training. Apartment. Car. Career.”
