Remember Me? (Book 1) COMPLETED

Committee Part 2

KATHERINE

Traffic held us up half an hour more than usual, but we still arrived fifteen minutes before noon. Betsy dropped me off in front of Wayward, then made her way around the building to park. Matthew stood by the front door in a business suit, his computer bag slung across his shoulder, his expression unreadable.

He took a few steps forward to meet me. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Would you believe me if I said fine?"

He shot me a rueful smile. "Probably not."

Truth be told, I was fine. Sure, my life was spinning around me, but somehow, through it all, my feet felt on solid ground for the first time in my life. Matthew handed me the folder, then offered to come upstairs with me.

I shook my head. "No, thank you. This is something I have to do on my own." I grasped his hand. "I just need you to get to work on the cameras at the hospital."

His phone pinged. "That's Erland," he said, glancing at the screen. "And to answer your question, I'm almost there."

I reached up and kissed his cheek, surprising him. His cheeks flushed red, and he ran a hand through his dark hair. "Best get yourself upstairs, huh?" He checked his watch.

I laughed, waved, and stepped inside.

My heels clicked on the marble tile of the lobby. When I got to the elevator, I glanced at my reflection in the mirrored walls—and if I didn't know that it was me, I wouldn't have recognized myself. Tall and slender, brown hair arranged in waves, though my eyes glinted more of a forest green than hazel. I appeared, for a moment, like my mother.

The doors opened on the thirty-first floor. Laughter spilled out of the conference room down the hall. Stephanie's desk was empty, since she was given the day off—like all the other Wayward employees. Is that why they moved the signing over of the shares to today? To hide their guilt so I wouldn't be able to protest?

The thought only made me more determined.

I made it down the hall, to the conference room doors that had been left wide open, and rapped on the doorframe.

Four faces shot to me. Richard Chase. Octavia Beardsley. The lawyer I recognized from the day Nick had signed over his shares to me. And the nice, older lady, who sat in a chair and frowned at the rest, as if she really didn't want to be there.

"Good afternoon," I said, beaming. "I apologize for being—" I checked my watch "—one minute late to the meeting."

Octavia, face white, glared at me. "This is not a full-board member meeting," she said stiffly.

I shrugged. "Any meeting that involves business entanglements of Wayward is one that I should attend, isn't that so? I am, after all, an owner of the company."

The nice older lady eyed me from her chair. I knew I was putting on a grand air, but it was all for the purpose of riling Octavia up—and it appeared I was succeeding.

"You need to leave."

I pulled out a chair beside the older woman, plopped my folder on the table, and sat. "I don't think so. At least, not before I can ask our lawyer about the lawsuit coming our way."

"Lawsuit?" Richard barked. His gaze snapped to the lawyer. "What is she talking about?"

The lawyer shrugged helplessly.

I cleared my throat. "The one presented by Mrs. Chase and Mr. Masiello for unlawful practices between the companies Wayward Publishing and Chase Industries." I opened the folder, glancing down the first few pages. "Not to mention an embezzlement charge against Mr. Chase, fraud that can be contributed to Ms. Beardsley, and a hefty fine for copyright infringement." My eyes caught Rick's in that moment, and I got the glorifying moment of seeing his face turn white.

The lawyer balked at them. "What in the world is she talking about?"

"She's making it up," Octavia snapped, reaching for the folder. "Let me see it."

Her lips moved silently as she read. The color that had come over her cheeks fled as she, too, went white. Rick, reading over her shoulder, seemed to grow bigger with rage, like a grizzly bear on the attack.

"There are a few ways we can resolve this to come to a more amicable agreement," I started. "The first of which being, Rick, is to give me back my shares."

His jaw dropped. "Give you the whole company?"

I glanced at the lawyer. "It won't do to have his name associated with Wayward, not as a shareholder. We will be able to handle this much better if we distance ourselves from Chase and his business, since they haven't legally become a part of Wayward yet."

Richard clenched his jaw so hard, I thought a vein might pop in his forehead. "Fine," he snapped. He snatched a paper off the counter—the one where he would take my shares—and tore it to pieces, throwing it in the air like confetti."I'm out of here."

Octavia blocked him, her features suddenly frantic with desperation. "Don't go, Rick. What am I supposed to do here without you?"

He glared at her. "Figure it out." He stormed past her, a thunderous expression on his face.

Octavia stared at the spot where he disappeared around the corner, her face white, lips pursed in a thin line that almost disappeared completely. The lawyer was trying to say something to her in hushed tones, but she either couldn't or wouldn't hear him.

The nice woman beside me leaned in. "I always thought there was something going on between those two." She grasped my hand. "Thank you, for saving the company."

I shook my head. "We're not done yet. I need you."

Her eyes widened. "Me?"

"Yes." I turned to her now. "You're the only one I trust to handle Public Relations when this comes out."

She nodded solemnly. "Thank you, Ms. Malloy, for your trust."

I smiled. "Call me Katherine."

"Adelaide," she said.

We shook hands.

I left the packet in her hands to peruse with the lawyer, then started downstairs. The commotion that had started outside, barely seen like ants from where we were on the top floor, was all police cars and sirens when I stepped out of Wayward.

I spotted three unmarked police cars, and many uniformed officers. Two officers were constraining a raging Richard, each one clamping down on his arm to shove him into handcuffs.

A few feet away, a female officer was reading Octavia her rights.

Matthew came to my side, a welcome protection from the wave of chaos that crashed over me at the scene. "You did it, Kat."

I grinned. "God did. Without putting you in my path, I never would've gotten here, or made it out this way."

He grasped my hand, lips parting as if to say something more, when my phone rang. Betsy.

"Kat, come to the police station."

I glanced around. "Why? They just arrested Octavia and Rick. They aren't at the station yet."

"They aren't," she said, voice tense, "but Victoria is. She's decided to turn herself in."