Chapter 2 - Thirty-Eight Thousand Dollars
At 6:10 the next morning, Claire was sitting inside Morgan Industrial headquarters.
She hadn't slept.
Neither had Ethan Wallace, the company's internal audit director.
Ethan was fifty-one, meticulous, humorless, and one of the few executives Julian openly disliked.
That suddenly seemed like an excellent recommendation.
Ethan placed several expense reports across the conference table.
"These are the transactions we could identify quickly."
Claire looked at the total.
$38,417.
Hotels.
Restaurants.
Vehicle expenses.
Consulting fees.
All routed through accounts supervised by Julian or vendors managed by Chloe.
"Could these be legitimate?"
"Some."
"How many?"
Ethan hesitated.
"Maybe ten percent."
Claire leaned back.
"What about the rest?"
"We need time."
"Take it."
"There is another problem."
He opened a folder.
"Northstar Strategic Holdings."
Claire read the name.
"Who are they?"
"According to our system, a logistics consultant."
"I've never heard of them."
"Neither have I."
"Who approved them?"
Ethan looked uncomfortable.
"Vendor relations."
Chloe.
Claire understood immediately.
"And payments?"
"COO approval."
Julian.
"How much?"
"Two point four million."
Claire stopped breathing for half a second.
"Show me my authorization."
Ethan turned his laptop.
There it was.
Claire Morgan.
Her electronic signature.
Her authorization credentials.
Everything appeared legitimate.
Except it wasn't.
"I never approved this."
"I suspected that."
"Why?"
"The authentication occurred at 2:13 a.m. on March eighteenth."
Claire remembered March eighteenth.
She had been in Boston.
Giving a speech.
Her phone had been turned off during the flight.
"Can you prove I wasn't the person who authenticated?"
"We're working on it."
Claire stood.
"Lock down everything."
Ethan's eyebrows rose.
"Everything?"
"Julian's financial permissions. Chloe's vendor permissions. Quietly."
"If they notice?"
"They will."
"Then they'll know we're investigating."
Claire picked up the forged authorization.
"They already know I caught them."
Ethan looked at her.
"You think the affair and the money are connected?"
"I don't know."
That was the truth.
But Claire intended to find out.
At 8:04, she met her parents for breakfast.
At 8:19, Julian and Chloe entered.
By 8:26, Julian was staring at the Northstar document.
By 8:31, Claire's phone vibrated.
Ethan.
FOUND ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
After leaving the diner, Claire drove directly back to headquarters.
Ethan met her in the underground executive garage.
"We have a problem."
"How bad?"
"I don't know yet."
They entered the elevator.
"Northstar isn't the only shell vendor."
Claire looked at him.
"How many?"
"At least four."
The elevator doors closed.
"Names?"
"Northstar Strategic. Red Peak Consulting. Greenline Procurement. Atlas Vendor Solutions."
"Total?"
"We're still calculating."
"Ethan."
He looked at her.
"Current estimate?"
He swallowed.
"Eleven million."
Claire stared at the changing floor numbers.
Eleven million dollars.
The doors opened.
She walked into the executive floor without speaking.
Employees greeted her.
She smiled.
Nobody knew.
Not yet.
Inside her office, Ethan connected his laptop to the wall display.
Transactions filled the screen.
"Payments started eighteen months ago."
"Who authorized them?"
"Different people."
"Names."
"Some are yours."
"Forged."
"Probably."
"Others?"
Ethan hesitated.
"Your father."
Claire turned.
"Robert?"
"His credentials."
"My father hasn't authorized operational payments in three years."
"I know."
Claire felt cold.
"Someone has been stealing executive credentials."
"That's my assumption."
"How?"
"We're investigating."
Her phone rang.
Julian.
She declined it.
He called again.
Declined.
Again.
Ethan looked toward the door.
"He's here."
"How do you know?"
"His badge just hit the executive elevator."
Claire stood.
Seconds later, Julian stormed into her office.
"What the hell did you do?"
Claire didn't look away from the screen.
"Good morning."
"My authorization has been suspended."
"Correct."
"You can't suspend the COO without board approval."
"I can suspend financial privileges pending an internal security investigation."
"This is because of Chloe?"
Claire turned.
"Do you really want to discuss Chloe here?"
Julian glanced at Ethan.
"Get out."
Ethan didn't move.
Claire said, "Stay."
Julian's face reddened.
"This is between my wife and me."
"No," Claire said. "Your affair is between your wife and you. Eleven million missing dollars belongs to the company."
Julian froze.
Only for an instant.
But Claire saw it.
So did Ethan.
"Eleven million?"
Julian recovered quickly.
"What are you talking about?"
Claire watched him carefully.
"You tell me."
"I don't know anything about eleven million dollars."
"Northstar."
Nothing.
"Red Peak."
Still nothing.
"Greenline."
His left hand moved.
Barely.
His thumb rubbed his wedding ring.
Claire had seen that habit before.
Julian did it when lying.
"Atlas Vendor Solutions."
He stopped rubbing the ring.
Claire smiled.
"There you are."
"What?"
"Nothing."
Julian stepped closer.
"You're letting jealousy destroy a company."
Claire's voice remained calm.
"You slept with my sister."
"Yes."
Ethan looked away.
Julian continued.
"And it was wrong. But it has nothing to do with corporate accounting."
Claire studied him.
"Then you'll cooperate."
"Of course."
"Give Ethan your phone."
Julian's expression changed.
"My phone?"
"Company-issued."
"I have personal information on it."
"Then remove the personal information while Ethan watches."
"No."
Claire nodded.
"Fine."
She reached for the desk phone.
"Who are you calling?"
"Security."
Julian stared at her.
"You're throwing me out?"
"I'm suspending you."
"You don't have cause."
Claire looked toward Ethan.
"Do we?"
Ethan turned his laptop.
A newly discovered transfer appeared.
$760,000.
Recipient: Atlas Vendor Solutions.
Authorization: Julian Morgan.
Julian stared.
Claire watched his face.
He wasn't surprised by the transfer.
He was surprised they had found it.
That distinction told her everything.
Julian slowly looked at Claire.
"You have no idea what you're doing."
"Then explain it."
"I can't."
"Can't?"
He stepped closer.
"No."
"Or won't?"
Julian lowered his voice.
"If you keep digging, you're going to destroy more than our marriage."
Claire held his gaze.
"Is that a threat?"
For several seconds, neither moved.
May you like
Then Julian said something she would remember for the rest of her life.
"It's a warning."
