Calis nodded. He handed it back to Miranda, but she put up her hand. “I don’t need it.” She reached out and pushed his hand back toward him. “You do.”
Calis hesitated, then nodded and put the amulet around his neck. Turning to where Bobby de Loungville stood, he said, “We leave at first light.”
Erik stood and started his rounds. De Loungville didn’t need to tell him what to do or that now was the time to do it.
Jason came running into Barret’s, gripping a sheaf of paper and parchment, and looked around the room. Spying Roo on the stairs, he called his name and raced past a pair of startled waiters.
“What is it?” asked Roo. His eyes had dark circles under them, as he had missed sleeping for the better part of two days. He had promised himself he would stay away from Sylvia for a few days. He intended to spend time with his wife and children, getting some needed sleep in the master suite while Karli slept with the baby in the nursery, but each of the last two nights, as if he had no volition, he had told his driver to take him to the Estherbrook estate.
Jason lowered his voice. “Someone’s convinced Jurgens to call our note.”
Roo instantly lost his fatigue. He took Jason by the arm and led him to the table that was now thought of as the Bitter Sea Company table, where Masterson, Hume, and Crowley sat. Roo came, sat, and said, “Jurgens has called our note.”
“What?” said Masterson. “He agreed to the extension.” Looking at Jason, he asked, “What happened?”
Jason sat down and spread out the paper work before him. “This is far worse than an untimely debt call, gentlemen.” He pointed at a ledger sheet. “Someone at our countinghouse has been . . . for lack of a better term, embezzling funds.”
At that both Hume and Crowley sat upright. “What?” demanded Crowley.
Jason politely and patiently began to explain, despite several interruptions. The short explanation was that not only had someone cleverly buried tens of thousands of golden sovereigns through clever transfers from account to account, they had also managed to avoid detection for months. Now there was almost a quarter-million sovereigns unaccounted for. The only reason Jason had been able to uncover the deceit was because of the note being called. “The worst of it, gentlemen,” said Jason, “is that one way or another, the call comes at the most critical moment for the Bitter Sea Company since it was founded. If we can’t meet this demand note from Jurgens, we lose the options on Blue Star Shipping, and without those ships, we can’t make a half-dozen critical contracts.”
“What’s the worst?” asked Roo.
“The worst? If this note is not met, you can lose it all.”
Suddenly Crowley was saying, “This is your doing, Avery! I told you we were moving too fast. We needed time to consolidate, to build capital reserves, but you insisted we keep taking positions. Luck turns, Rupert! And it has just turned on us!”
Masterson said, “What’s the note?”
Jason said, “Six hundred thousand golden sovereigns.”
“How light are we?”
Jason laughed bitterly. “Exactly what was embezzled. We can liquidate a few holdings quickly and maybe come to four hundred thousand. But there’s easily two hundred thousand less than we need.”
“Who did this?” demanded Hume.
Jason said, “More than one scribe had to be involved.” He sat back and scratched his chin. “I hate to say this, but it’s as if the entire firm was being employed to ruin the Bitter Sea Company.”
Roo was silent a moment, then said, “That’s exactly what happened. That countinghouse was just too ripe a plum for any of us to pass up.” He pointed a finger at Crowley. “That includes you, too, Brandon.”
Crowley reluctantly said, “That is true.”
“Someone set us up, gentlemen. Who?”
“Estherbrook,” said Masterson. “At least, he’s one of the few with the resources.”
“But he hurts himself,” said Roo. “He’s involved in a half-dozen deals with the Bitter Sea Company.”
“But we’re big enough to be causing him some concern,” said Hume.
Masterson said, “There are others. Wendel Brothers, Jalanki Traders, hell, the big trading houses in the Free Cities, Kilraine and the others, all of them have reasons to be wary of us.”
Roo said, “Jason, go to the office and get Luis, Duncan, and any of the other men who can be trusted and know how to hold a sword. Then go to the countinghouse and put everyone there under guard. We’re going to get to the bottom of this before whoever is working against us there catches wind that we know.”
Jason stood up. “I’ll leave at once.”