Mccormi

for a decade. Quiet, strained, but with a steel wire running through it. Charlotte Gallegos. The name rang a

e whiskey in my glass. The ice clinked a lonely rhythm against th

ang up. Most of them did. They wanted

ithout a hint of hesitatio

dings, like the people, looked tired of their own history. I figured t

ning, she pr

nner than I'd imagined, with dark eyes that held a storm of unspoken things. She wore a simple, ele

he bitter coffee. It was a statement

she replied, her

Ms. Gallegos. You have my undivided attention for the next five m

bling, emotional monologue about b

r's check. She slid it across the scarred surface

id for the city's new waterfront development project. The bid was leaked to our top competitor, Crestone Holdings. An internal investigation found that

her report, but I could see the tension in her kn

reer was over before it began. I've been told ever since that I am lucky my family didn't press

" hung in the air

eaning back. It was the fir

N

t a flat, solid "no." It was the most convincing

years is a long time for

ng a flicker of the storm inside. "It's been alive and well, living in my house, eatin

he didn't commit. I believed him. I worked my ass off. But the evidence was clean, the story was tight, and I failed. He got five years. When he got out, the wor

e from her exhausted frame. I saw the inconsistencies she was too close to see.

think did

she admitted. "But I know

e the hero who saved the compan

His fiancée, Carmella Nichols. She was a new hire in the marketing dep

as messy. Rich families protecting their image were more dangerous than cornered an

ear your family apart. There will be no going back. You'll be li

at her. I expected t

nce she'd walked in, I saw a s

dropping to a near whisper.

y pocket. The ghost of my past failure nud

said, grabbing my coat. "Le