The blindside came on a Tuesday, in a meeting Elena had walked into expecting nothing more dramatic than a routine budget review with Nigel and two members of the finance committee.
"Before we start," Nigel said, sliding a folder across the table with the careful, deliberate motion of a man delivering bad news he'd rather not be the one delivering, "I need to flag something that came up in this quarter's compliance sweep."
Elena had barely settled into her chair, coffee still in hand, mentally rehearsing the quarterly numbers she'd expected to be discussing this morning. The shift in Nigel's tone registered before she'd even opened the folder — the particular careful neutrality of a man bracing for a reaction he didn't want to be responsible for causing.
"What kind of flag?" she asked,
