“What?”
“A revised financial disclosure. It will clear up the problem with the original guarantee.”
“Does it acknowledge that my signature was used without my consent?”
He looked away.
“No.”
“Does it explain where the money went?”
“No.”
“Then why would I sign it?”
He stood and walked toward me.
“Because if you don’t, everything falls apart.”
“What does that mean?”
He lowered his voice.
“The company is under investigation. Some of the money was moved through different accounts. Dad says it was temporary. He says the auditors will misunderstand everything unless we present a united front.”
I stared at him.
“An investigation by whom?”
He hesitated.
“Financial regulators. Maybe federal investigators. I don’t know all the details.”
“You don’t know, or you don’t want to tell me?”
He rubbed his face.
“Alex, please. I am trying to fix this.”
I had spent years watching people make terrible decisions and then describe the consequences as though they had fallen from the sky.
