Page 7 of When the Last One Falls
When I opened the door to my father’s office, I saw both of my parents in the room, my mother sitting on the couch, my father sitting at his desk. My stomach immediately roiled at the sight of my mother’s quiet tears and my father’s grim face.
“What’s going on?” I asked, my heart in my throat. “Is Lindsey okay?”
“Your sister’s fine,” Mom answered tearfully. “How long she’s fine is up to you, Keris.”
That threw me for a loop. “What?”
“Keris, sit down,” my father instructed. “We need to talk.”
I took a seat in one of the chairs that sat in front of his desk. “What do we need to talk about?”
“I’m going to cut to the chase-”
“By all means,” I clipped out, annoyed already, though partly worried.
“The money’s gone,” he announced, and it took a second for his words to register.
“What…what? What do you mean?”
“Our money,” he said. “It’s gone. It’s all gone.”
I glance over at my mother, and she just cried quietly in her handkerchief, not contradicting the news. She looked like a true damsel in distress, and it suited her.
Looking back at my father, I said, “That’s impossible. There’s no way that we’re…there’s no possible way that a person can go through our kind of money.”
“Oh, it’s possible,” my father retorted.
“No, it’s not,” I argued. “Between your company and the mines, there’s no way that we could go through all that we’re worth.”
“Money is relative, Keris,” my father said. “Whether you have ten dollars or a million in your bank account, if you’re living beyond your means, well…”
“But you guys don’t live beyond your means,” I pointed out. “Cinergies always meets its quarterly goals. It’s always making money.” My father glanced over at my mother, and dread began to spread all throughout my body.
When he looked back at me, there was no denying the truth in his eyes. “Your mother and I have…well, we made some…uh, unfortunate investments that didn’t pan out.”
“Millions of dollars’ worth?” I squawked.
“We borrowed against future Cinergies earnings, Keris,” he said. “We don’t have enough to personally cover the losses, and…Cinergies is about to go under.”
I shook my head, still in disbelief. “What about Mom’s money? The mines?”
“We don’t have anything to cover the expense of a new excavation-”
“Bullshit,” I snapped. “We can borrow against potential findings. We’re talking diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires here, for fuck’s sakes.”
“Watch your language,” Mom chastised, and I could only stare at her audacity.
“I don’t think you understand the severity of our situation, Keris,” Dad said. “We’ve already overextended ourselves with three different financial firms.”
I ran my hands through my dark hair, not believing what I was hearing. It was impossible to go through our kind of family money. For my parents to be broke, they’d have to have been making bad investments foryears.
“Okay, so…I’ll get the loan-”
“The mines aren’t in your name yet,” Dad reminded me. “No bank is going to lend you millions of dollars, especially when the ownership of the mines wasn’t enough to get us extra backing.”
“So…so, what’s the plan?” I bit out. “Are loan sharks next on your list?”
“Not quite,” my father answered, and I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
