Chapter 11 - THE WOMAN WITH THE RED BINDER
“Sit down, Adrian,” Nora said.
He ignored her.
“Beth, we discussed this.”
Beth Kessler clutched the binder against her ribs.
“You told me Owen changed the vendor accounts.”
“He did.”
“No. I checked the archived authorizations.”
The board members stopped shuffling papers.
Vincent pulled out a chair for her.
Beth stayed standing.
“I should have checked five years ago.”
Adrian laughed.
“You’re going to ruin your career because you’re frightened by a headline?”
Beth’s eyes filled.
“No. Because I’ve been frightened of you for five years.”
Nora asked whether Beth had legal counsel.
“She’s on her way.”
“Then preserve what you have. Don’t let anybody take it.”
Adrian moved toward the binder.
Vincent stepped into his path.
For a second, they were boys again.
The older brother at the door.
The younger one demanding to be let through.
“You’re making a mistake,” Adrian whispered.
“Then stop helping me make it.”
Beth placed a copy of one document on the table.
A vendor ownership declaration.
The maintenance company receiving the housing fund’s money belonged to an entity controlled by Adrian.
Another page showed a transfer to Frank.
A third listed payments benefiting Celia’s father.
There it was.
Not a child’s memory.
Not a frightened widow’s account.
A trail outside Vincent’s house, stored by banks, filed by accountants, and old enough that nobody could call it a reaction to yesterday’s events.
Adrian looked at the board chairman.
“This is incomplete.”
“Then the audit can complete it,” Vincent said.
The vote to remove Vincent was postponed.
Both brothers lost authority to move company funds pending review.
Vincent accepted.
Adrian called it an ambush.
As people filed out, Beth caught Vincent’s sleeve.
“Owen left a paper set, too.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know. He said the originals were safer with someone who didn’t understand them.”
“His wife?”
Beth shook her head.
“He said she’d be the first place they looked.”
Vincent thought of the empty storage unit.
The hidden card.
The crooked bird.
His phone rang.
Maria.
“The storage company called me.”
Vincent stepped away from the others.
“What did they say?”
“Someone tried to access Owen’s old account this morning.”
“Adrian?”
“I don’t know. But the manager said there wasn’t just one unit.”
Vincent stopped walking.
Maria’s voice shook.
“There was another one under my maiden name.”
May you like
Behind him, an elevator chimed.
Adrian’s chair was empty.
