“James,” Dr. Sterling said, his voice quiet but heavy. “Is this your signature on the October invoice for Apex?”

James did not answer immediately.

He looked at Mark, then at the projected screen, his confidence beginning to crumble.

Before James could speak, the heavy wooden door of the boardroom opened.

A young administrative assistant stepped into the room, holding a tablet.

She looked nervous, her eyes darting between the board members and the tension in the air.

“Dr. Sterling,” she said, her voice trembling slightly. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but there is someone on the phone who says it is urgent regarding the charity audit.”

Dr. Sterling frowned.

“Who is it?” he asked.

The assistant looked at her tablet, then back up at the room.

“It is Ms. Vance,” the assistant said, her fingers clutching the edge of the tablet. “She says she is calling from the State Attorney General’s Charitable Trust Division.”

A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the boardroom.

Dr. Sterling did not look at James, nor did he look at Mark.

He slowly reached for the black telephone console in the center of the mahogany table.