Talk about a punch to the gut. Before he could respond, he heard commotion coming from the front door, and after a moment, Mason walked into the kitchen.

“What is it?” Zane asked.

“I need to talk to Cass alone.”

She shook her head. “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of Zane.”

Mason raised an eyebrow. “Are you certain about that?”

“Yes,” she answered quickly.

A wave of unease washed over Zane. Mason took a seat at the table with them, and Zane prepared for bad news, which seemed to be the only kind of news they heard lately.

“What’s this all about?” Zane asked.

Mason focused his attention completely on Cass. “There’s something we have to talk about.”

“Spit it out, Mason.” There was no lightness in Cass’s words. She was all business.

“As part of the ongoing investigation, some strange financial information about you has come to light.”

Ah, Zane thought. Cass was going to have to give up her brother to explain those financial issues, but Zane was relieved that he already knew the truth.

“What exactly did you find?” she asked.

Zane didn’t blame her for trying to feel this out a bit before she opened up.

Mason rubbed his chin. “Cass, it’s not good. We know all about the three loans and the amount of debt you’ve accumulated. You know you should’ve disclosed that financial distress to me immediately.”

She nodded.

“But it gets much worse than that. We have hard evidence of you depositing five hundred thousand dollars into an offshore account that you probably assumed was not traceable.”

“What?” Zane asked. “That can’t be right. Cass, tell him the truth. Tell him what’s going on.” He looked at her, but her eyes darkened, and she didn’t immediately speak. “Cass? C’mon, tell him.”

“Zane, what’s your role in all of this?” Mason demanded.

“Zane doesn’t have anything to do with this,” Cass said. “Nothing.”

“You both better start talking ASAP,” Mason said.

Cass averted her eyes. “It’s complicated.”

“Can I have a moment alone with Cass?” Zane felt like he needed to intervene before this went completely off the rails.

Mason slammed his fist on the table. “Absolutely not. I don’t think the two of you realize how much trouble you’re in. I need some explanations right now before I have to call in reinforcements and haul you both off to a holding cell for a full interrogation.”

Zane had never seen Mason lose his cool like this. “Let’s just calm down. There’s nothing criminal going on here.”

“I beg to differ,” Mason said.

“Enough!” Cass shouted.

Her words shut up both of the men.

“As I said before, Zane isn’t involved in this.” She turned from Mason and looked directly at him. “Zane, I’m sorry about everything.”

“What are you talking about, Cass?” Zane asked.