Chapter 6: Four Million Eight Hundred Thousand Dollars
“Freeze the transfer.””
My voice came out quieter than I expected.
On the other end of the phone, our finance director, Thomas Bell, sounded as if he were trying to hold a door shut against a hurricane.
“Ethan, I've already contacted the bank's fraud department. They're reviewing the request, but the transfer was submitted using your credentials and the authentication token assigned to your office.””
“I never authorized it.””
“I know. But the bank needs more than your verbal denial. They want a formal fraud declaration and confirmation from our legal team.””
Rebecca was already opening her laptop.
“Tell them our counsel will send the documentation within fifteen minutes,” she said.
Thomas hesitated.
“There's another problem. The destination account belongs to a company called Mercer Strategic Holdings.””
I looked at Vanessa.
Her face had gone white.
“That's the name on the report Daniel showed me,” she whispered.
I covered the phone.
“Vanessa, don't leave this room.””
She nodded frantically.
Then I returned to the call.
“Thomas, stop every pending payment associated with Reed Capital, Mercer Strategic Holdings, and any account we can't independently verify. Preserve every transaction record. Nobody touches the financial systems without my approval.””
“Understood.””
“And Thomas?””
“Yes?””
“Find out how they obtained my authentication token.””
I ended the call.
For a moment, the only sound in the room was the soft ticking of the clock above the sideboard.
Vanessa stared at her hands.
“I didn't know he was going to steal from you.””
“You signed an authorization without reading it,” I replied.
“You watched him use false financial information to convince you that my company was failing. You didn't ask me a single question.””
“I know.””
“No, Vanessa. I don't think you do.””
Her eyes lifted toward mine.
“I came here last night because I wanted to humiliate you. I wanted you to feel small because I thought you had failed at the one thing you used to talk about.””
She swallowed.
“I was wrong.””
“You were wrong about my job. You were wrong about my success. But that's not what we're discussing now.””
I pointed toward the authorization on the table.
“This is a criminal matter. Whether you intended to help Daniel or not, you need to tell the truth about everything you know.””
She nodded.
Rebecca turned her laptop toward Vanessa.
“We need the original documents you mentioned. We also need a complete account of your involvement in the meeting with Daniel and Michael.””
“I'll give you everything.””
“Then start with the report Daniel showed you.””
Vanessa drew a shaky breath.
“He told me Carter House was struggling because you had borrowed too much money to expand. He said you were hiding the situation from your investors and that the company would collapse if someone didn't intervene.””
“Did he tell you where the money would go?””
“He said Reed Capital would use part of the investment to stabilize the company. He also said Mercer Strategic Holdings would handle the financial restructuring.””
Rebecca typed quickly.
“Did you know Mercer was receiving money from Carter House?””
“No.””
“Did you know the authorization could permit access to confidential accounts?””
“No. I swear.””
I watched Vanessa's face.
She looked frightened, but fear didn't prove innocence.
“Why did you believe Daniel needed your signature?””
She hesitated.
“Because he said you had already agreed to the arrangement. He told me your company was going to be sold eventually, and that if I helped him secure the deal, we could invest the proceeds in other businesses.””
“So you thought you might profit from the transaction.””
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.””
It was the first answer she'd given that sounded completely honest.
Rebecca closed her laptop halfway.
“Ethan, I need to speak with our outside counsel.””
“Go.””
She stepped into the adjoining office, leaving Vanessa and me alone.
Vanessa stared at the window.
“I never thought I'd be sitting here begging you for help.””
“You aren't begging me for help. You're telling me what happened.””
“Does that mean you won't forgive me?””
I looked at her.
“Vanessa, someone is trying to steal nearly five million dollars from my company. My employees depend on this business to pay their mortgages, support their children, and build their futures. Forgiveness isn't the first thing on my mind.””
She flinched.
“I deserve that.””
“You don't need me to tell you what you deserve. You need to decide whether you're going to tell the truth even when it hurts you.””
She wiped her cheeks.
“I will.””
My phone vibrated.
Thomas had sent a message confirming that the bank had temporarily suspended the transfer pending verification.
The money hadn't moved.
Not yet.
I forwarded the confirmation to Rebecca.
Then another message arrived.
*Transfer request authenticated from a registered device at 11:47 p.m. last night.*
I stared at the timestamp.
That was during the period when I'd been downstairs helping the restaurant staff.
My office had been locked.
Only a handful of senior employees had access.
I called Thomas again.
“Can you identify the device?””
“Not yet. Our security team is checking the access logs.””
“Check the physical access records, too. Door entries, office cameras, everything.””
“Already underway.””
I ended the call.
Vanessa was watching me.
“Daniel told me he had friends inside your company,” she said suddenly.
I turned.
“What friends?””
“He never gave me their names. He said you trusted the wrong people and that it would be easy to get what he needed.””
My stomach tightened.
“Did he mention Michael?””
She nodded.
“He said Michael was useful, but nervous. He said there was someone else who could open doors Michael couldn't.””
“Who?””
“I don't know.””
She reached into her handbag and removed her phone.
“I saved some of Daniel's messages. I thought they were about the investment.””
She unlocked the screen and placed it in front of me.
The first messages were ordinary enough.
Daniel had sent her photographs of financial reports, draft agreements, and notes from meetings.
Then I found a message dated two nights earlier.
*Once the transfer clears, Ethan won't have a choice. We'll control the accounts, the brand assets, and the expansion schedule.*
Another message followed.
*Don't worry about the signature. The authorization is only the first step.*
I felt a cold weight settle in my chest.
“What does he mean by the first step?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don't know.””
I scrolled farther.
A message from an unsaved number appeared beneath Daniel's.
*The board meeting is Friday. Everything must be in place before then.*
I read it twice.
Carter House had an advisory board meeting scheduled for Friday, but the board had no authority to approve a forced sale. It could, however, review a major financing proposal and recommend changes to our expansion strategy.
If someone intended to create a financial crisis before that meeting, the timing made sense.
A company suddenly missing millions of dollars would become vulnerable to emergency financing.
An investor waiting nearby could then offer a rescue package under terrible terms.
I handed Vanessa's phone back.
“Do you know who sent that message?””
“No. Daniel told me not to ask.””
“And you obeyed?””
She lowered her head.
“Yes.””
I stood and walked toward the door.
“Where are you going?”” she asked.
“To find out who has access to my office.””
Before I could leave, Olivia appeared in the doorway.
Her expression told me the problem had become worse.
“Ethan, we found something on the security footage.””
“What?””
She glanced at Vanessa, then back at me.
“Someone entered your office last night at 11:42 p.m. The camera shows the person leaving five minutes later.””
“Who was it?””
Olivia swallowed.
“Michael Grant.””
I looked at the clock.
The transfer request had been authenticated five minutes after Michael left my office.
But Michael had already admitted to helping Daniel.
That meant he might have been the person who used my credentials.
Or someone had used him to get inside.
“Did he take anything?”” I asked.
“We can't tell from the hallway footage.””
“Check the office cameras.””
Olivia hesitated.
“That's the problem. The internal camera was disabled at 11:39 p.m.””
I stared at her.
“By whom?””
She looked down at her tablet.
“The system says the camera was manually disabled using an administrator account.””
“Whose account?””
Olivia turned the screen toward me.
May you like
The name displayed beneath the access record belonged to the one person I'd never imagined would betray me.
*Olivia Bennett.*
