“I finally pried the accounting records out of the hands of the CFO on Friday. I wanted to make sure we were on target for budget, and if we weren’t, how much more we’d need to raise to hit it. And you know what I found when I finally dug into them yesterday? Your CFO had already booked a bequest from a Mrs. Iris Mayes for the month of June.”
My brain stumbled over Lucas’s statement. Iris Mayes? I’d read this morning that she’d died in a car accident on the Fourth of July. She’d been the chairwoman of the Junior League, and her death had been big society news. Her funeral wasn’t being held until Saturday because her huge family had to travel from all over to get back to New Orleans.
Either way, I wasn’t following where Lucas was going with this.
“What’s your point?” Archer’s words were clipped, impatient.
“My point is she died on the Fourth of July, Archer. Not in June when the entry was booked.”
I blinked. That didn’t make any sense. It must have been an accounting error.
Archer’s response supported my thought. “An accounting error, that’s all. Probably got dropped into the wrong month. It’s nothing to get excited over.”
Lucas’s words turned sharper. “Nothing to get excited over? Did you know that her bequest put the foundation just over the mark to hit our fundraising goals for this fiscal year? And cemented our place on your Top Fifty Most Influential Foundations list? I did the math—that’s something I’m good at—and without that bequest, we might have still made our budget, but there was a good chance the Bennett Foundation might have gotten knocked off the list.”
“I neglect to see your point, Titan.”
“Well, Archer, let me see if I can make it a little more clear: I went back to the CFO this morning with another request for your historical accounting records. I’ve spent my day digging through the last few years, and I noticed a really strange pattern. So I went back farther, about ten years. And you know what I found? A lot of conveniently timed deaths and accompanying bequests in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year. I compared those years to the threshold to hit your precious list. The evidence is pretty damning.”
“What exactly are you saying, Titan?”
“I’m saying that I think once is a windfall, twice is quite a stroke of luck, but six times is impossible. And probably criminal.”
The words impossible and criminal ricocheted through my brain. There was no way in hell Lucas’s accusations could have any merit. No. Way. It didn’t make any sense. It had to be a coincidence. Didn’t it? My hopes were crushed when Archer spoke again.
“What do you want, Titan? How much to forget everything you saw.” The words were like a fist to the gut. An admission of guilt, if I’d ever heard one. I covered my mouth to stifle a gasp and staggered to lean against the wall.
“What makes you think I have a price?” Lucas asked.
“Everyone does.”
“You’re a piece of work, old man.”
“It’s nothing anyone else in my position wouldn’t do. Sacrifice one for the good of thousands.
“I think they call that a God complex.”
“Call it whatever you want, but I’d do it again. All of those people had already chosen to leave a portion of their estates to the foundation. I did nothing more than ensure that gift was received at a time when it would be the most beneficial,” Archer said.
Tears welled in my eyes, but in my shock, they didn’t fall. I heaved in breath after breath, but still felt like my lungs had been completely robbed of oxygen. My stomach revolted and bile rose in my throat.
Oh. My. God.
I was going to hyperventilate.
I fought to listen over the harsh sounds of my own breathing.
“So,” Archer continued. “Name your price. And if it’s Vanessa you want, I think we can make that happen. After all, that’s the whole damn reason I let you on the board to begin with. Your motives were obvious. Your execution has been… less than impressive. I’d expected a man like you could dissuade her from wanting to run this place and find a happy existence at home as your wife.”
My heart twisted and clenched. That’s why Archer has been so supportive in allowing him on the board? To get me out of the way? Which meant… he’d never wanted me to run the foundation to begin with.
I let the realization sink in. I don’t know him at all.
He’d arranged for people to be murdered to benefit the foundation. My stomach roiled, my late lunch churning and rising. I turned to run for the bathroom, but Lucas’s words froze me mid-step.
“I don’t think Vanessa is going to be taking directions from you when you’re behind bars. And what’s more, she’s in love with someone else. A man whose parents I’m pretty sure you had killed. She’ll never forgive you for that.”
I gagged as vomit rose. I bolted from the hallway and ran around the corner, slamming through the bathroom door and banging open a stall. I dropped to my knees and heaved until I had nothing left.
I didn’t even hear the sound of the bathroom door opening or recognize the presence of another person until my hair was lifted off the back of my neck. I jerked my head out of the toilet to see Lucas Titan holding out a piece of paper towel.