“Supposedly they have proof that I was filtering money from someone’s account into one I had set up. As I’d only been doing it a month, they are dismissing me instantly, but there will be no charges as the money was recovered.”

“Jesus, Charlie!”

“I didn’t do it, Dylan. I would never do something like that. That job is my life. Without that I have nothing.”

“What about friends?” Dylan needed to ask the question. Surely she had some of them?

“I had no time for friends, my work took up all my time.”

His work had consumed him too.

“But you find time for your art, right?”

“No, and that’s not important. This is.”

“But—”

“I’ve been set up, Dylan,” she interrupted him. “But they won’t even give me a chance to discuss it, or clear my name. My desk has been cleared and I am not welcome back. Mr. Williams said if I challenge this, they will throw the full force of the bank behind their prosecution.”

“You have every right to fight this, especially if you are innocent.”

She cupped her face in her hands, and Dylan felt helpless. Going on instinct, he ran a hand up her back.

“I can’t believe this is happening to me. Why would someone do this?”

“It could be a bank mistake, but unlikely, as they’d have checked all variances before firing you, surely. But if that’s not the case, then someone is setting you up.”

“You believe me?” She sat upright, looking at him.

“Of course. I knew you for the first fourteen years of your life, and you were the most honest person I ever knew, and possibly still are... besides me.”

“B-but you don’t know me.”

“I believe you, Charlie.”

“Th-thank you.” She pressed her fingers to her mouth. “I don’t know what to do, Dylan. I have no job, and won’t be able to work in banking again, as word will spread that I’ve been dismissed. I don’t know who would do this to me.”

“Is there anyone you work with that you trust to call about this? Someone who may have heard something.”

She nodded, then dug around in her handbag for her phone. He then listened as she made a call to someone called Delia. She asked questions, listened, and after a few minutes hung up.

“Delia is my boss’s PA. She said that all the staff received was an email that I had left, not reasons why. But she knew, as she’d overheard.”

“Did she believe it?”

“No.”

“There you go then.”

“But who would do this to me?”

“That I don’t know, but I have a few contacts. Maybe I’ll get them on to doing some digging for you?”

The eyes she turned on him were no longer cool and emotionless.

“They can do that?”

“They can.”

“B-but is it legal?”