Chapter 2 - The Man Waiting at the Club
Tasha stared at Adrian’s message as if it had appeared from another planet.
I held out my hand.
“Give me the phone.”
Her eyes snapped toward mine.
“No.”
That answer almost started another fight.
Then I stopped myself.
She was right.
It was her phone.
I lowered my hand.
“Fine.”
I took a breath.
“Then read it again.”
She did.
BRING THE FOLDER.
WE NEED TO GET OUR STORY STRAIGHT BEFORE MONDAY.
“What folder?” I asked.
Tasha looked toward the stairs.
“Not here.”
“Jayden’s in his room.”
“I know.”
“Then talk.”
She walked into the kitchen.
I followed.
For several seconds, she simply gripped the edge of the counter.
Then she whispered, “Adrian is my regional operations director.”
“I know who he is.”
“You know his name.”
“Apparently not much else.”
She flinched.
I hated that a small part of me felt satisfied.
I hated myself for it immediately.
“Did you have an affair?”
“No.”
“Tasha.”
“I didn’t sleep with him.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
She closed her eyes.
I waited.
Finally, she said, “He kissed me.”
My stomach dropped.
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
“Where?”
“After a company dinner.”
“Did you kiss him back?”
Silence.
I laughed bitterly.
“There it is.”
“I stopped it.”
“After how long?”
“Damon.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
“You always know when you kiss somebody who isn’t your husband.”
Her eyes filled.
“A few seconds.”
I turned away.
The kitchen suddenly felt too small.
I pressed both hands against the counter.
“Were there other times?”
“No.”
“Messages?”
She didn’t answer.
I turned.
“Tasha.”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“Were they sexual?”
“No.”
“Romantic?”
She hesitated.
“Sometimes.”
I felt physically sick.
“How long?”
“Three months.”
Three months.
While I was filling out applications at this same table.
While I was cooking dinner because she said work exhausted her.
While I wondered why my wife barely looked at me anymore.
“You told him about me?”
Her eyes lowered.
“Yes.”
“What exactly?”
“That you lost your job.”
I laughed without humor.
“Anything else?”
“That things were hard.”
“Did you tell him I was lazy?”
“No.”
“Pathetic?”
“No.”
“Did you tell him you were supporting me?”
Her silence answered.
I nodded.
“Okay.”
“Damon, I was angry.”
“So you gave another man the worst version of your husband.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“I don’t care what you meant.”
My voice rose.
Then I remembered Jayden.
I lowered it immediately.
“What does any of this have to do with a folder?”
Tasha wiped her eyes.
“I work in purchasing.”
“I know.”
“Adrian approves large vendor contracts.”
I waited.
“About four months ago, he started asking me to process emergency payments.”
“What kind?”
“Consulting invoices.”
“How much?”
She swallowed.
“Sometimes twenty thousand. Sometimes forty.”
I stared.
“And that’s normal?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then why did you do it?”
“He said the department had a temporary backlog.”
“Did you question it?”
“Eventually.”
Eventually.
The word made my stomach tighten.
Tasha continued.
“Three weeks ago, I noticed all the payments were going to the same vendor.”
“What vendor?”
“Northline Strategic Consulting.”
“Who owns it?”
“I didn’t know.”
“But you know now.”
She nodded.
“Adrian’s brother-in-law.”
I stared at her.
“How much money?”
She whispered, “I found about three hundred thousand dollars.”
My anger shifted.
Not disappeared.
Shifted.
“What did you do?”
“I copied invoices.”
“That’s the folder?”
“Yes.”
“And why were you taking it to a nightclub?”
Her face burned with shame.
“Adrian told me we needed to talk before Monday.”
“At a club?”
“It was supposed to be Monica’s birthday night.”
“So he knew where you would be.”
“Yes.”
“And he asked you to bring evidence of what he might be doing?”
Tasha finally seemed to hear how insane that sounded.
“I thought he wanted to explain.”
“Or destroy it.”
Her head snapped up.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I have copies.”
“Where?”
Her eyes shifted.
My stomach turned.
“Tasha.”
“Some are at work.”
“And?”
She looked upstairs.
“Some are here.”
I stared at her.
“You brought company records into our house?”
“Copies.”
“That isn’t the part I’m worried about.”
Her phone rang.
Adrian.
Neither of us moved.
It stopped.
Then rang again.
I pointed at it.
“Answer.”
She shook her head.
“Put it on speaker.”
“I don’t want to.”
“You were about to go meet him.”
“I’m not going now.”
“That doesn’t answer anything.”
Her phone stopped.
A voicemail notification appeared.
Tasha pressed play.
Adrian’s voice filled our kitchen.
“Tasha, you need to call me. Compliance moved the audit up. Monday is too late. We need to make sure you remember what you approved and why.”
Tasha’s face drained of color.
The message continued.
“And do not show Damon anything. He doesn’t understand this business.”
I went completely still.
Adrian knew my name.
He knew enough about our marriage to tell my wife what to hide from me.
The voicemail ended.
I looked at Tasha.
“How much have you told this man?”
She covered her face.
“Too much.”
I stepped away.
For a moment, I couldn’t even look at her.
Then her phone buzzed again.
Not Adrian.
An email.
HARRINGTON MEDICAL SUPPLY – INTERNAL COMPLIANCE.
Tasha opened it.
Her knees nearly buckled.
I caught her arm automatically.
“What?”
She handed me the phone.
MANDATORY INTERVIEW.
MONDAY, 8:00 A.M.
SUBJECT: UNAUTHORIZED VENDOR PAYMENTS.
My eyes moved down.
The email listed six transactions.
All approved under Tasha’s employee credentials.
Total:
$312,480.
She whispered, “I didn’t approve all of those.”
I looked at her.
“How many did you approve?”
“Three.”
“And the others?”
“I’ve never seen them.”
Her breathing became shallow.
“What if he used my login?”
“Could he?”
“He’s an administrator.”
Her phone rang again.
Adrian.
This time Tasha answered.
“Stop calling me.”
His voice was loud enough that I heard it without speaker.
“You need to listen to me.”
“No.”
“Tasha, if compliance asks questions, you approved those invoices because you personally verified them.”
Her face changed.
“I never verified them.”
“Tasha.”
“No.”
His voice hardened.
“Be very careful.”
I took the phone from her hand and put it on speaker.
“Careful about what?”
Silence.
Then Adrian said, “Damon.”
I felt cold.
“You know who I am.”
“Tasha talks about you.”
“I’m sure.”
Adrian exhaled.
“This is a company issue.”
“No. You called my wife at ten-thirty at night and told her to lie.”
“That isn’t what I said.”
“I heard you.”
Adrian’s tone changed.
“Stay out of it.”
I almost laughed.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“That sounds familiar.”
Tasha looked at me.
I realized the irony immediately.
An hour earlier, I had been demanding my place in my marriage.
Now another man was telling me to stay outside it.
But this wasn’t about ownership anymore.
It was about evidence.
I looked at Tasha.
She looked terrified.
Not of me.
Of what she had gotten herself into.
I spoke calmly.
“Adrian, do not call this number again tonight.”
He laughed.
“You have no idea what your wife signed.”
The line disconnected.
Tasha stared at me.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Then another message arrived.
A photograph.
It showed a document with Tasha’s electronic signature.
Below it were the words:
VENDOR RELATIONSHIP VERIFIED BY TASHA BROOKS.
Tasha shook her head.
“I never signed that.”
I zoomed in.
At the bottom was something worse.
A disclosure statement.
It claimed Tasha had personally confirmed she had no undisclosed relationship with anyone connected to Northline Consulting.
I looked at her.
“Why would that matter?”
May you like
She went pale.
“Because Adrian’s wife owns Northline.”
