Chapter 2 - The Man Who Ruined Her
Claire sat without being asked.
For the first time that night, Adrian looked almost surprised.
“You know him.”
“He used to be my boss.”
“Used to?”
“He buried an internal fraud investigation, blamed me for mishandling client records, and made sure nobody in Chicago finance would hire me.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Why?”
“Because I found money he didn’t want found.”
“How much?”
“Twenty-two million.”
Adrian leaned against the desk.
“Where?”
“Shell vendors. Fake consulting contracts. Inflated audits. Mostly construction and logistics clients.”
His eyes sharpened.
“Logistics.”
“Yes.”
He opened another file.
Halden Mercer had audited three companies tied to Adrian’s freight network.
Two had reported unexplained losses.
One had gone bankrupt.
Claire stared at the dates.
“They’re using the same pattern.”
“Explain.”
“Create a fake base number. Spread costs across legitimate categories. Make every individual expense look ordinary. The total looks bad, but not impossible.”
“And the missing money?”
“Moves somewhere else.”
“Where?”
Claire scanned the page.
“Not one place. That would be stupid.”
A corner of Adrian’s mouth moved.
“Raymond thinks people steal like they do in movies. Big transfer. Secret island.”
“He’s wrong.”
“I know.”
Claire pointed at five vendors.
“These companies repeat too often.”
Adrian looked.
“Snow removal. Security. Refrigerated storage. Temporary labor. Fleet maintenance.”
“Different industries. Same billing rhythm.”
“You can see that already?”
“I can see they invoice every seventeen days.”
He became still.
“That’s not normal.”
“No.”
Adrian opened his laptop.
“Can you trace it?”
Claire looked at him.
“I can try.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
She hated that the sentence worked on her.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“With access to the ledgers? A few hours to see the pattern. Longer to prove it.”
Adrian unlocked the door.
Claire stood.
“So I’m free to go?”
“For tonight.”
“For tonight?”
He handed her a business card with a handwritten number.
“Come back at nine tomorrow morning.”
“I work at four.”
“You’re not waiting tables tomorrow.”
Claire laughed softly. “You firing me?”
“No.”
“Then what exactly am I doing?”
Adrian looked toward the ledger.
“Saving your job.”
She frowned.
He met her eyes.
“And maybe mine.”
Claire reached the hallway before he called after her.
“Claire.”
She turned.
“Victor Sloan called Raymond forty-three times in the last two months.”
May you like
Her stomach dropped.
“And Raymond called him again twelve minutes after you corrected that number.”
