Gone

Chapter Twenty-Two

Gone. All his business documents were gone. Leo examined his office with a mixture of disbelief and dread. His entire life work had vanished overnight.

―Where is your briefcase? his uncle asked him. He looked at Jonathan as if he didn't understand what he was asking him.

―The proposal for tonight, the older man clarified. ―I need that proposal if I'm going to present it. ―It was in my briefcase, Leo dumbly stated. ―Where is the briefcase? Did you leave it in your parlor at home? He cringed. ―No. I left it here. ―Why?

―Because I was done with it. I figured that you would pick it up today and review it before tonight. His uncle was quiet for a long moment while Leo mentally kicked himself for being stupid enough to leave his briefcase at work.

He never imagined that the Grants would be able to break into the Monroe Investing Firm since they had a security guard watching the place.

―It's alright, his uncle finally said, breaking him of his thoughts. ―Maybe I can wing it tonight. Thankfully, we have backup documents at home.

―Backup what? ―You do have copies of everything at home, don't you? A new wave of nausea washed over the young man. ―Alright, Jonathan slowly replied as he understood that Leo hadn't thought to make a copy of his work.

―If we act fast, we may be able to find everything. If I'm right, those documents and the proposal are at the elder Grant's residence. Come on. Let's get them back. He walked over to a police officer and asked for permission to check the man's place for their stolen materials. ―We'll need to get a search warrant to do that, the cop told him.

―How long will that take? ―It depends on which judge we go to and how busy that judge is. ―Which judge do you recommend? ―Judge Wayne would be my first choice if I were you. ―Great. We'll go with him.

***

Two hours later, Leo and his uncle sat in a courtroom, waiting for their case to be heard before Judge Wayne. Mr. Walker, Mr. Conrad Leroy, and Mr. Dean joined them.

Police officer Osmund was sure that they had an airtight case with the witnesses and the suspicious activities that Mr. Mitchell had collected over the past week. Now it was a matter of waiting. And the waiting was driving Leo insane.