“Tell him I am in a meeting, Sarah,” I said.

“He said it was an emergency about his legal representation,” Sarah added.

I looked at Mara, then back at Sarah.

“Put him through to my office,” I said.

I walked inside and closed the door behind me.

The office was quiet, the gray light from the window casting long shadows across my desk.

I picked up the desk phone and pressed the blinking red button. “Daniel.”

“Liz, thank God,” Daniel’s voice was cracked and frantic.

“You have to stop this,” he sobbed. “The police just called my attorney.”

“They’re charging me with obstruction, Liz,” he said. “I can’t go to jail.”

“You shouldn’t have helped Michael wash the floor, Daniel,” I said, my voice cold.

“Michael told me it was the only way to save the family name,” he pleaded.

“He said you were hysterical and that we needed to protect you from yourself,” Daniel said.

“And you believed him?” I asked.

“I had to,” Daniel said. “You don’t understand what is happening.”

“Then explain it to me,” I said, sitting down at my desk.