Chapter 6 - Emma’s Buried Complaint
Emma took Leo to her office.
Mateo arrived nine minutes later.
He did not yell immediately.
That was worse.
He closed the door.
Looked at his son.
Then looked at Emma.
“Tell me he didn’t come here alone.”
“He came here alone.”
Mateo closed his eyes.
“Leo.”
“I found something.”
“You were told—”
“Mateo,” Emma interrupted. “He did something reckless. He also found evidence someone destroyed material from Charles’s audit folder.”
Mateo stared at Leo.
“Both things can be true.”
Leo looked down.
“I’m sorry.”
His father rubbed his face.
“We are going to discuss this later.”
Emma placed the photograph on her monitor.
Then she opened an old personnel folder.
Eight years earlier, she had worked in procurement compliance for Kent Meridian Shipping.
“I was thirty-one,” she said. “I thought rules mattered because they were written down.”
Charles, who had joined them by secure video, said nothing.
Emma continued.
“A vendor called Seaborne Logistics was charging Kent Meridian for emergency port services that never occurred. I traced payments to three intermediary companies.”
Susan asked, “Who approved them?”
“The finance department.”
Charles’s face tightened.
“My CFO at the time was Victor Lang.”
“Yes.”
“He retired six years ago.”
Emma gave a bitter smile.
“He retired with a twelve-million-dollar severance package.”
Charles did not defend it.
Emma continued.
“I submitted a sixty-page report. Two weeks later, I was offered a settlement and told my position was being eliminated.”
Charles looked genuinely confused.
“I never saw a sixty-page report.”
“You signed my separation agreement.”
“Yes.”
“Then you knew something.”
Charles was quiet.
“I knew there was a vendor dispute.”
“There were kickbacks.”
“I was told the allegation was unsubstantiated.”
“By Victor Lang.”
“Yes.”
Emma leaned forward.
“And one of the outside consultants working with him was Bradley Sterling.”
Olivia, sitting beside Charles, whispered, “Bradley?”
Emma nodded.
“He wasn’t married to you yet.”
Charles stared at the screen.
“When did you meet him?”
Olivia answered.
“Seven years ago.”
Emma’s complaint had come one year earlier.
Leo saw the realization spread across Olivia’s face.
Bradley had been part of her father’s world before he had entered hers.
“How much?” Charles asked.
“How much what?”
“How much did they steal?”
“I could prove at least four-point-two million.”
Charles looked away.
For the first time, he seemed older than sixty-seven.
Susan said, “Charles?”
He ignored her.
Emma noticed.
“What aren’t you saying?”
Charles’s voice was low.
“The black folder in the briefcase is an internal forensic audit.”
“How far back?”
“Nine years.”
Emma sat perfectly still.
Charles continued.
“The auditors found thirty-one-point-two million dollars in unexplained payments, related-party transfers, false vendor charges, and trust-backed financing.”
Olivia whispered, “My God.”
“Harbor Crown appears in the newest transactions.”
Mateo said, “And Pier Nine?”
“Also included.”
Emma looked at the shredded folder pieces.
“So someone was trying to destroy a second copy.”
Susan frowned.
“The folder Charles carried was numbered Original One.”
“What number were those fragments?” Emma asked.
Leo enlarged the photograph.
On the lower corner of one scrap was a tiny printed mark.
C-2.
Susan went pale.
“Copy Two.”
“Who had it?”
Susan answered reluctantly.
“I did.”
Charles looked at her.
“What?”
“My office was broken into yesterday.”
Silence.
“I discovered it after leaving the marina. The secure cabinet had been opened. Nothing obvious was missing.”
Emma pointed toward Leo’s photo.
“Your copy was missing.”
Susan nodded.
Charles’s anger was immediate.
“You didn’t tell me?”
“I was verifying before accusing anyone.”
“The evidence is in a dumpster.”
“And now we can document it.”
Olivia stood.
“This means someone knew both copies existed.”
Susan looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Charles. Me. The forensic accounting team.”
Olivia swallowed.
“And me.”
Everyone turned.
“I saw my father carrying the folder last week. I asked what it was.”
Charles stared at her.
“What did you tell Bradley?”
“Nothing.”
Leo remembered her phone message.
Do not mention Boston.
He spoke.
“What are the Boston accounts?”
Olivia froze.
Charles turned toward her.
“Boston?”
Bradley’s warning message was suddenly in the room with them even though Leo had not shown anyone the phone.
Olivia’s eyes hardened.
“Leo, you misunderstood.”
“No, I didn’t.”
Charles stood.
“What Boston accounts?”
Olivia picked up her coat.
“I have to go.”
Her father blocked the door.
“No.”
“Dad.”
“You have spent four years hiding money problems in your marriage. You do not get to walk out now.”
Olivia looked at him.
Then at Emma.
Then Leo.
Finally, she whispered:
“Bradley has accounts in Boston that he told me never belonged to him.”
Charles waited.
May you like
Olivia’s next words changed the entire investigation.
“But three years ago, I saw my name on one.”
