I stepped closer, watching his face.

The color drained from his lips.

His hand began to shake so violently the phone almost slipped from his grasp.

“What is it?” I asked.

He didn’t answer.

He just stared at the screen, his breath coming in shallow, ragged gasps.

I reached out and snatched the phone from his hand.

He didn’t even try to stop me.

On the screen was an image of a bank transfer confirmation page.

The balance of the Nassau account was listed at zero.

Below it was a short message from an unknown number.

I read the words twice to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

“The board’s lawyers have been very accommodating,” the message read.

My heart gave a strange, cold thud.

The storm outside finally broke, the first heavy drops of rain slamming against the glass lobby doors.

I looked up from the screen just as a black town car pulled up to the curb outside.

Through the tinted glass, a familiar figure sat in the back seat.

The window of the town car rolled down an inch.