Free Now and Forever by Brenda Rothert

the building when the transfers are made. They’re all before 5 a.m.”
    Ben rubbed his chin and considered. “This isn’t like him, though. He’s not the sort to risk it all for something like this.” He read through the words and numbers in the file quickly. “How much money was it?”
    “So far, $78,542.”
    “Fuck,” Ben muttered, blowing out a deep breath.
    Flannigan shifted on his feet. “So . . . we’re ready to bring him in.”
    “I’ll do it,” Ben said.
    “Are you sure—”
    “Wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t. I won’t take part in the questioning, but I’ll bring him in.” Ben looked up at the three detectives. “I’ll call you when I get back with him.”
    “Yes, sir,” Flannigan said, leading the others out of the office.
    Ben flipped back to the beginning of the file and started reading. If he was going to arrest his future-brother-in-law, he wanted to be sure his guys had the goods.
    ***
    Cole cringed as he finished up an email to the Calcotte CFO praising Grayson’s abilities as an attorney. It was painful telling his biggest client they were in good hands with that manipulative prick, but Cole was a team player, so he did what he had to do.
    He pressed send and took another bite of the sub sandwich he’d had delivered for lunch. It wouldn’t be long before he had Calcotte back anyway. He’d been working night and day. At his weekly meeting with McNeil in a few minutes, he could finally reveal that the owner of a hot new startup company he’d been courting for months was ready to sign a contract with the firm.
    There was no reason not to work night and day, since he and Emma hadn’t had a real conversation since she shot down his proposal. The pain of her refusal was still fresh. He’d put it all on the line – all his savings, all his feelings and all his hopes. And she’d basically said ‘no, thanks’.
    He crumpled the plastic bottle he’d just chugged the last of the water from and squeezed it. Work was a mess and so was his relationship. At least he could control setting his job back on the right course. He didn’t know what the hell to do about Emma.
    “Cole?” One of the receptionists, Diane, was summoning him from the lobby. He pressed a button to respond.
    “I’m here Diane, but I’m heading into a meeting. What’s up?”
    “There’s a gentleman in the lobby who’s insisting to see you. He says it’s urgent.”
    “Not as urgent as my meeting with McNeil. Take a message.”
    “But Cole?”
    He glared at his phone. “Yeah?”
    “He’s . . . he’s very insistent. He says he’s a family member.”
    “Is it my dad?” Cole grabbed his cell phone and scrolled through for missed calls.
    “No, it’s . . . he’s asking me to give him the phone.”
    “It’s Ben.” The gruff voice on the other end of the line jumped all over Cole’s nerves. “We need to talk.”
    “I can’t. What the hell are you doing here?”
    “It’s important.”
    Cole sighed and looked at the clock on his office wall. He couldn’t be late for this meeting. But why would Ben come to his office? A sense of dread crept across his skin. “Is it Emma?”
    “Get down here. Bring your coat and . . . briefcase, or whatever you carry your shit around in.”
    Ben’s tone told Cole something was very wrong. Panic settled in his chest as he thought about something bad happening to Emma. Or maybe one of her parents. And things weren’t right between the two of them right now. What if she’d needed him and thought he didn’t want her to call? Christ, he could be an epic asshole sometimes.
    Cole’s secretary said nothing when he flew past her. These days he seemed to be flying all the time. “Uh, Kelsie, if I’m not back in five minutes, call McNeil’s office and tell him I had a family emergency.”
    “Sure,” she said, her voice fading into the background as Cole headed for the stairs. He wasn’t waiting for the elevator in this state of mind. He hustled down the steps,