Book excerpt: Rita Miller, an experienced banker in the quaint town of Shallotte, North Carolina, is now employed by a "megabank" that acquired the community bank where she has spent her decade-long career. Resentful of corporate assimilation and suspicious of her new co-workers, Rita is thrust into the thankless position of budgeting for the bank office where she unwittingly uncovers an insidious pattern of crime that predates the merger and potentially involves old and new co-workers. As Rita and her best friends slowly piece the crime together, the fear of discovery turns deadly as the criminals desperately try to cover up and destroy evidence of their fraud. At the same time, a chance encounter with Ross Moore, the new bank's president, propels Rita into an intra-bank personal relationship she desires but has convinced herself is forbidden. As her perceptions of right and wrong, good and bad, and transparency and deception are challenged, Rita is forced to decide whether matters of the heart allow for forgiveness when the lines between them are blurred and trust is broken to protect the greater good. The story explores secrecy and confidentiality, honesty and forthrightness, and the resulting shades of gray that shape everyday decisions and interactions with friends, families and fellow employees.