When he saw his mother, he stopped.
“Mom.”
Eleanor nodded.
He approached her but did not attempt to hug her.
“I called you last night.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t answer.”
“I wasn’t ready to speak.”
He glanced toward the trustees.
“Can we talk privately?”
“We will,” she said. “But first, we need to finish what we came here to do.”
Daniel looked at the folders.
“What is happening?”
Samuel opened the first one.
“The independent audit has identified payments totaling approximately six hundred and eighty thousand dollars that cannot be reconciled with legitimate foundation activities. The trustees have suspended further transfers pending a full investigation.”
Daniel’s face lost its color.
“What?”
Eleanor watched him read the first page.
He turned another page, then another.
“These payments were approved through the administrative office,” he said. “I never saw these invoices.”
“Your signature appears on two authorization forms,” Samuel replied. “They permitted the office to process payments under a spending limit. They did not authorize the transactions in question individually.”
Daniel looked sick.
“Celeste told me the foundation was expanding its outreach program. She said the new consultants were helping us reach families in other states.”
“Did you verify that?”
He did not answer.
Eleanor felt the truth settle between them.
Daniel had not necessarily intended to steal anything. He had simply trusted someone else to manage the details because the details were tedious and the promises were attractive.
But the money had not been abstract.
Every dollar had represented a family waiting for assistance, a student hoping to finish a qualification, or a woman trying to find somewhere safe to sleep.
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
