Rachel slid her silver pen across the table toward Martha.

“This one writes clean.”

Brandon stood again, slower this time, and looked at the binders spread across the mahogany.

“You’re all making a mistake,” he said.

Nobody answered.

He sank back into his chair and stared at the audit binders.

He didn’t touch the check.

Carl cleared his throat before he spoke, the way he did when the words cost him something.