Iris almost cried in the middle of the call.

She had been an operations administrator for twelve years.

She knew how to reconcile freight bills, detect mismatched purchase orders, and explain an unexpected expense to people who preferred an easy story.

It was part of why she had caught the odd card transactions.

She wondered, not for the first time, why she had trusted her own judgment in business but surrendered it so readily at home.

That afternoon Garrett called from an unfamiliar number.