to hear the students speak before anyone spoke about her. When she died, Isaiah promised that her name would remain attached to the program not as a symbol of charity, but as an ordinary working woman's reminder that a small amount of help, given at the right moment, could change the direction of a life.
On the day Sloan tore the check, Isaiah had been thinking of his mother because the fund's next class of recipients was about to be announced. He had dressed for a construction site because that was where he had been working, and he had gone to Harbor Trust because the restricted account had always been maintained there. The check was his company's scheduled contribution, confirmed by its finance department and accompanied by routine supporting documents. He had not expected recognition, and he had not wanted it.
Now he sat in his truck outside the library and looked at the number Hannah had written on her folded note. He called Bell Construction's controller, verified that the funds were still available, and asked her not to rush out a replacement instrument until he had spoken with the bank's corporate office. Then he called Simone Grant, the attorney and chief operating adviser who had worked beside him for nearly a decade. Her voice came through the speaker clear and alert. “Isaiah,” she said, “you're supposed to be inspecting the community center. Why are you calling from Main Street?”
He described the incident without embellishment, telling her exactly what Sloan had said, when the check had been torn, how Brock had touched him, and what Hannah had written down. Simone did not interrupt except to clarify the time and the names of the people present. When he finished, she asked one question. “She tore up the scholarship check in front of the whole lobby?”
“In front of at least forty people,” Isaiah answered. “And Trent laughed.”
Simone was silent for a moment. Then Isaiah heard the faint tapping of keys as she opened a document on her computer. “You own fourteen percent of Harbor Trust,” she said. “The board has a review meeting on Thursday, and Main Street is presenting its annual branch performance. Do you want me to call Catherine and tell her what happened?”
Isaiah looked down at the dust on his shirt. “Yes,” he said. “But don't tell her to protect me. Tell her to bring every customer complaint this branch has closed since January.”
“That could be a considerable amount of material.”
“Then bring all of it,” Isaiah replied. He looked at the folded note from Hannah again and thought of the fear in her face when she offered it. “Add a conduct review to Thursday's agenda,” he said. “No speeches about my shareholding until the evidence has been collected. I want to know what kind of bank we're actually running.”