Chapter 3 - WHAT THE FIRE COULD NOT DESTROY
Daniel waited until the guests had left the salon before approaching the fireplace. Wearing protective gloves, he used metal tongs to lift the remains of the envelope from the grate.
Most of the paper had turned to ash. The red ribbon was blackened and brittle. But a small plastic sleeve had survived beneath a fold of heavy card.
Daniel held it up.
“Boss.”
Damon leaned closer.
Inside the sleeve was a narrow strip of paper bearing a bank reference number and the name of a private account. It was not part of the hospital authorization.
Megan stared at it. “That wasn't mine.”
Damon looked at her. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. My documents were in a white folder. That paper wasn't there.”
Vanessa moved toward them. “Give me that.”
Daniel stepped back.
Damon's eyes sharpened. “Why?”
“Because it is confidential.”
“Whose account?”
Vanessa said nothing.
Damon took the strip from Daniel and read the reference number. He recognized the bank code. It belonged to the Sterling charitable trust, a fund his late father had established to pay medical expenses for employees and their families.
The trust had been dormant for almost a year.
Damon had assumed the board was reviewing its structure. He had not known that the account had been used recently.
“Daniel, call Mr. Reeves. I want the trust statements and every withdrawal authorization from the last eighteen months.”
Vanessa's face had gone pale.
Megan shifted Mila to her other hip. “I don't understand.”
“You don't need to,” Damon said. “But I owe you an explanation. That account was supposed to help families like yours.”
Vanessa gave a brittle laugh. “The trust is under review. You have no authority to spend from it without board approval.”
“I am the trustee.”
“Not the only trustee.”
“Then we'll ask the others.”
Damon's phone rang. His lawyer, Thomas Reeves, had received the first message from Daniel. Damon put the call on speaker.
“Damon, the account was supposed to be frozen pending an audit,” Reeves said. “There have been unauthorized transfers.”
“How much?”
“Just over two million dollars.”
Megan stared at the floor. She had never imagined that a missing envelope could lead to something so large.
Reeves continued. “The transfers were approved using your digital signature.”
“I didn't approve them.”
“I suspected as much. The access records point to a device registered to Ms. Cross.”
Vanessa stepped forward. “This is a ridiculous accusation.”
Damon raised one hand. “Don't speak until he's finished.”
Reeves explained that the account had been used to pay a series of consulting companies. Several were registered to people connected to Vanessa's family. The money was moved in small enough amounts to avoid triggering the trust's automatic alerts.
The final transfer had been scheduled for the following morning.
Vanessa's expression changed.
Damon noticed.
“Daniel,” he said, “take her phone. Preserve it. No one deletes anything.”
Vanessa looked at him with disbelief. “You would treat your future wife like a criminal?”
“I would treat anyone who steals from sick children like a suspect.”
He turned to Megan.
“The envelope you brought tonight may have been the reason she panicked. Did anyone tell you the hospital payment had to be made from a particular account?”
“No. I saved it myself.”
Damon nodded slowly.
Then he looked at the burned remains.
“Someone knew that envelope would be here. Someone knew what it contained. And someone wanted it destroyed before I saw it.”
Mila rested her cheek against Megan's shoulder.
“Daddy man,” she whispered, pointing at Damon. “Make Auntie stop.”
May you like
Damon's expression softened.
“I will, sweetheart.”
