The first week without Clara was a lesson in chaos.
I hired the best private investigators in the country. Every report ended with the same answer: no confirmed location.
I kept paying them, then hired more. Money got me thicker files. It didn't get me Clara.
The first serious problem came from the finance department of my foundation.
"There's an issue with the quarterly report for the Children's Health Initiative," my CFO said. "A major discrepancy. It looks like fraudulent invoicing, and the press will find it."
I remembered the folder I'd left for Clara to "give a quick pass." She used to catch padded budgets and misplaced decimals before they reached my desk.
I had treated that work as a small favor attached to my grand plans. With her gone, fraudulent invoices had passed through
