Read Miranda Vaughn Mystery 01.00 - Chasing the Dollar for Free Online Page A

affection surprising me.
    " It's really good to see you, kid," he said.
    I felt the sting behind my eyes and blinked quickly, not wanting to show exactly how much that meant.
    "Yeah, thanks. You, too," I said.
    I made my way to the large conference room, which doubled as the law library for the firm and set up the computer on the table to prepare for my meeting with Rob to discuss his new fraud case.
    Rob's door flew open, and he rushed to the conference room and greeted me with a warm hug.
    " I'm so glad you're doing this, Miranda. It will be nice to work with you on this. But first, I hear you have something else important to share."
    I paused at his expectant expression. How could he know?
    Then I remembered the box in my bag. I pulled out the pink cardboard container with the almond croissants inside. He grabbed the box and pulled a pastry from inside.
    "Perfect. Tell Marie thanks for me. She knows the way to my heart, that woman," he said. His eyes sparkled as he bit into the flaky treat.
    Sarah walked into the conference room and dropped a stack of paper napkins on the table next to Rob.
    "Perfect timing. I've gotta go serve a bunch of subpoenas," she said, picking up a croissant and a napkin. "Sorry I can't stay to chat."
    " You're taking Burton with you, right?" Rob asked.
    She shook her head. "I can do it without him."
    Rob frowned and glanced toward Burton's office. "If you're going into the south area, I'd prefer you and Burton go together."
    Sarah sighed and then nodded. "Fine, I'll go with Burton."
    " I'll drive," Burton said, appearing at the door as if summoned.
    " Damn right you will," Sarah said, adding another croissant to her napkin. "I can't ride my bike and eat these at the same time."
    " Oh no. Not in my car," Burton said, walking toward the office door with Sarah right behind him.
    " Try and stop me, big guy. I had to skip lunch."
    The front door closed, muffling the bickering duo 's conversation and leaving Rob and me alone in the conference room. He gave me a smile and a wink. I wasn't the only one who saw the chemistry between them.
    " Well, now that the important stuff is out of the way, I have a couple other items of news. First, Ralph and Tim were sentenced this morning. I attended the hearing."
    My heart lurched. I knew the sentencing hearing was set for this week, but it had been delayed so often, I didn 't really expect it to go forward this time.
    " What happened?"
    Rob leaned back in his chair and frowned.
    "They each got seventy months, a little less than six years," he said.
    " What?" I was shocked. I had been looking at ten years if I'd been convicted. Federal fraud sentences are based, in good part, on the dollar amount, and thirty-seven million dollars stolen from more than 250 investors put the sentence at well past a decade. By their own testimony, Ralph and Tim were the masterminds of this scheme and profited by it, which added more years to the estimated sentence.
    " Well, keep in mind that they pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate and testify against you," Rob said.
    " Yeah, but I was acquitted. Why do they get credit for lying on the stand?"
    He shrugged. "The government felt they gave truthful testimony and recommended forty percent off their sentences," he said. "Remember, had they gone to trial and been convicted, they'd be looking at eighteen to twenty years. And they would have been convicted."
    The numbers flew through my head. "But that would have been—"
    Rob held up a hand. "The judge considered their age, lack of criminal history, and ability to pay restitution to the victims. They agreed to forfeit most of their assets, including art, real estate, and cars, as well as bank accounts," he said. "But there's no way around it, they got a break. With good-time credit, they'll be out in just over five years. They also were each fined two hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
    My face warmed as I thought about Ralph 's mansion that overlooked a private lake on his estate. He