Chapter 4 - The locked office
Evan reached the office first.
He stood in front of the door with both arms spread.
“It’s nothing.”
Daniel frowned.
“What was that?”
“A shelf probably fell.”
Another sound came from inside.
A drawer slamming.
Gloria suddenly looked terrified.
That interested me even more than Evan’s reaction.
“Open the door,” I said.
“No.”
Emily stared at him.
“You always told me that room was locked because of confidential company files.”
“It is.”
Daniel’s eyebrows lifted.
“Hartwell confidential files?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m company counsel. Open it.”
Evan didn’t move.
Daniel nodded to security.
The officer stepped forward.
Gloria rushed between them.
“This is outrageous!”
She grabbed the officer’s sleeve.
“Get out of my son’s house!”
I walked to Emily.
“Did Gloria use that office?”
Emily hesitated.
“Sometimes.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know.”
Gloria spun toward her.
“Stop talking.”
Emily flinched again.
This time, however, I felt her fingers tighten around mine.
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“Emily, you can speak.”
Gloria glared at her.
Emily took a breath.
“She and Evan would go inside after I went upstairs with Lily. Sometimes someone else came over.”
Evan swore under his breath.
“Who?” I asked.
“I never saw him.”
Another noise came from the office.
Then the doorknob turned.
Once.
Twice.
Someone was definitely inside.
Security moved immediately.
“Step aside.”
Evan tried blocking them.
He was restrained against the wall before he managed two steps.
“Get off me!”
The second officer unlocked the door using the trust’s master key.
It opened three inches.
Then stopped.
Something heavy had been pushed against it from inside.
Daniel looked at me.
“This was not part of what we expected.”
Security forced the door wider.
A filing cabinet scraped across the hardwood.
Then we saw him.
A man in his forties wearing a charcoal suit stood beside the desk holding a laptop.
I recognized him.
Not personally.
But I knew his photograph.
“Thomas Reed,” I said.
His face went white.
Emily whispered, “Who is he?”
Daniel answered.
“Hartwell Dining Group’s regional procurement director.”
Thomas looked toward Evan.
Evan looked toward Gloria.
Nobody looked at me.
That was enough to understand they shared something.
But not what.
Then Rachel, our compliance officer, stepped into the office.
She stared at the open laptop.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“You need to see this.”
On the screen were dozens of invoices.
Same suppliers.
Same amounts.
Same approval signatures.
Except one name appeared again and again.
Emily Hartwell Mercer.
Emily stepped closer.
“I’ve never seen those.”
May you like
Daniel’s face changed.
“Then someone has been approving millions of dollars in your name.”
