James had laughed.
"That's what we're supposed to do."
"No," Brandon had replied. "You're supposed to earn it."
The sentence had stayed with James.
They had exchanged cards.
James had followed Brandon's company afterward.
He knew Coleman Software.
He knew it had grown rapidly.
He knew Premier Logistics had acquired it.
He knew the deal had been worth considerably more than most people realized.
What he had not expected was to walk into one of his branches and find Brandon standing beside torn pieces of a ten-million-dollar check.
"Mr. Coleman," James said again, approaching him.
Brandon's expression was unreadable.
"James."
Sarah stepped forward.
"Sir, this customer was attempting to deposit a suspicious check."
James raised one hand.
"Wait."
Sarah stopped.
"He refused to cooperate," she continued.
"Sarah."
"I was protecting the bank."
"Sarah."
James's voice was quiet.
She finally stopped speaking.
James bent down.
One of the torn pieces lay near the counter.
He picked it up.
He recognized the name.
Premier Logistics.
His stomach dropped.
He looked at Brandon.
"Is this the acquisition payment?"
"Yes."
James closed his eyes briefly.
Sarah stared.
"You know him?"
James looked at her.
"Yes."
"How?"
James hesitated.
"Because I met him before."
Sarah seemed confused.
Then James said the words that changed everything.
"Brandon Coleman is the founder of Coleman Software."
Sarah looked at Brandon.
Then at the torn check.
Then back at James.
"That's..."
James finished the sentence.
"That's a ten-million-dollar acquisition payment."
Sarah's face lost its color.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Sarah tried to recover.
"That doesn't mean the check isn't fraudulent."
"No," James said. "It doesn't."
"Exactly."
"But you destroyed it before verifying it."
Sarah opened her mouth.
Closed it.
James turned toward Brandon.
"I'm deeply sorry."
Brandon smiled without humor.
"You weren't sorry five minutes ago."
"I didn't know."
"Exactly."
James looked down.
"What happened?"
Brandon stared at him.
"You were standing there."
"I just arrived."
"You saw the end."
James knew immediately what Brandon meant.
"You want me to hear the beginning."
"I want you to understand that your employee decided what I was before she decided what my check was."
James looked at Sarah.
"Did you contact Premier Logistics?"
Sarah hesitated.
"I contacted the fraud department."
"Did you contact the issuer?"
"We were still verifying."
"Before you tore up the check?"
Sarah said nothing.
James's face tightened.
"Sarah, did you verify anything?"
"I had reasonable suspicion."
"That wasn't my question."
She looked away.
Brandon quietly took out his phone.
"I recorded everything."
James looked at the phone.
Sarah immediately protested.
"You can't record employees without permission."
Brandon shook his head.
"I'm not interested in arguing about recording laws."
He opened the screen.
"I have fifty-two minutes of this."
Sarah's face changed.
James looked at Brandon.
"Fifty-two?"
"From the moment I entered."
James felt something cold settle in his stomach.
"Mr. Coleman..."
"Don't."
James stopped.
Brandon placed the phone back into his pocket.
"You called me sir after you saw my name."
James lowered his eyes.
"I did."
"She called me sir when she wanted me to leave."
Brandon's voice remained quiet.