JACK
The phone buzzes just as I take a sip of coffee I’ve already reheated twice.
Vivian.
I don’t groan. I don’t sigh. I’ve learned how to take her calls without giving her the satisfaction of knowing she’s interrupted anything. She raised Gavin like a chess piece. I was the one she used to practice strategy on first.
I tap the screen and slide into my chair. “Vivian.”
“Jack. I assume you’ve heard about the leaked audio?”
“No pleasantries today?”
“Do you think this is the time for charm?”
I sip the coffee. It’s terrible. “I’ve heard about it.”
“Then you understand the problem.”
“I do.”
“I’m hearing whispers of a potential board request for audit. That doesn’t happen unless someone—someone very close to the top—has created a reputational vulnerability.”
“Gavin has it under contr
