Carl paused at the heavy wooden door. He read the brass plaque centered on it, "Arthur Caswell, President and CEO". Now, just outside of his boss' door, his heart quickened. He'd been trying to think of why he was being summoned to Mr. Caswell's office. Could it be another promotion? But he'd just been promoted six months ago, his third promotion in four years. A special account maybe? A bonus? Carl took a steadying breath, opened the door and stepped inside.
Carl smiled brightly as he entered and in an enthusiastic tone he began his greeting, "Mr. Caswell! Always a pleasure...," Carl's words trailed off when he discovered his wife, Kelly already seated in the office, "...sir..." She too worked for Mr. Caswell in the accounting department.
Mr. Caswell was standing before her refilling the tumbler that Kelly's hand held out. She glanced at her husband and then at the floor.
Why was Kelly here and why was she drinking so early in the afternoon? And why did she look so uneasy? Carl swallowed hard and fought to maintain his composure.
"Uh hum...Sorry, I didn't expect to see my lovely bride. Her beauty always catches me off guard." Carl attempted to smile.
Arthur Caswell simply stared at him. "Close the door Carl," he directed flatly.
Carl did as he was told and his heart began to race. Still Kelly wouldn't look at him and gulped at her glass.
"Sit down Carl, we need to talk." Caswell retrieved another glass from his desk and as Carl settled into the large chair opposite his wife, he filled it and offered it to him. "Whiskey. I hate Scotch." Carl stared at the honey-colored liquid in the glass for a moment. "Take it," Caswell encouraged, "you're going to need it."
Carl's hand began to shake as he took the glass and tried to hide his nerves. Caswell circled back around behind his large wooden desk and settled into his high-back leather chair. He let silence hang in the air and he could almost taste their fear. Carl's eyes desperately darted back and forth from his wife to his boss.
"You've been stealing from me Carl," Mr. Caswell said matter-of-factly.
"What?!" Carl's voice was high as he over-dramatized his response. "Sir, now that's just ridiculous. I mean...How...er...Who is making these accusations?"
"He knows Carl," Kelly said sheepishly as she sipped from her glass.
Mr. Caswell held up a flash drive and twirled it in his fingers, "It's all right here Carl. Evidence."
Carl leaned forward and he pulled at his tie that suddenly felt like a noose around his windpipe. "Sir, there must some mistake. I mean come on now let's..."
"He knows Carl," Kelly barked! "I've looked at what's on that fucking drive!" Her eyes were afire as she glared at him. Then she again eased back, "He knows and he's got us."
"She's right Carl. You see, while most folks don't know it, I have an independent accounting firm that audits the books. I must say, you two were quite clever and avoided detection for a good while," Mr. Caswell looked hard at Carl, "But nothing lasts forever Carl and secrets are so very hard to keep." His bright blue eyes seemed to sparkle as he watched his words sink into the young man before him. "Soooo...eventually subtle abnormalities were discovered and after a good bit of investigating, they were able to make all the connections. But, I've always liked you two and I suppose I didn't want to believe it." Arthur watched the flash drive rolling in his fingers, his voice turned soft, "I didn't want to believe you'd misuse my trust." He cleared his throat and returned his gaze to the now sweating and visibly shaken Carl, "So I had them set you up. Much to my disappointment Carl, you took the bait."
"Sir, I can explain..." Carl started.
"No you can't Carl," Mr. Caswell interrupted.
"You stole from me. That's all there is to it. You were both in on it. A nice arrangement I must say, with you in accounts management and moving up the ladder and your lovely wife cooking the books in finance. But, here we are. Tens of thousands of dollars too. That's grand larceny Carl. We're talking a decade behind bars. And there's a good case to be made for wire and mail fraud. Those are federal offenses Carl. The Fed's are an eager bunch and quite harsh in their approach to criminals." Arthur watched as the blood drained from Carl's face and, like his wife before, he now gulped at his glass.
"And of course, once it is reported to the IRS they will seize everything you own and then prosecute you for tax evasion. You're in very serious trouble Carl. The both of you are." Caswell tossed the flash drive onto his desk and eased back in his chair.
"Sir," Carl said in a shamed voice, "We'll pay it back."
"Really," Caswell replied? "Alright, I'll accept that offer." He watched Carl's eyes light up.
"You have until the end of the day to transfer every penny of what you took into the company's account."
Carl deflated. "Sir, I...We can't do that. We...We need some time." He was nearly begging.