Chapter 13 – Five Million Dollars Gone
No one spoke for several long seconds.
Five million dollars.
Gone.
Howard was the first to break the silence.
"That's impossible."
Amanda slowly closed the report.
"I wish it were."
Landen looked as though he might collapse.
"The escrow account..."
His voice was barely audible.
"I never authorized an escrow account."
Amanda nodded.
"That's exactly why the auditors flagged it."
Cynthia stepped beside her.
"Who opened the account?"
"The paperwork lists Gregory Mason as the attorney of record."
"And the authorized corporate representative?"
Amanda looked down at the report.
"The signature appears to be Mr. Bradley's."
Landen shook his head immediately.
"No."
His answer came without hesitation.
"I never signed that."
Cynthia looked at him carefully.
"Are you certain?"
"Absolutely."
She nodded.
"Good."
Everyone looked at her.
"Why is that good?" Howard asked.
"Because if he's telling the truth, then this becomes a criminal fraud investigation instead of a corporate dispute."
Landen closed his eyes.
"I am telling the truth."
For the first time all morning, I believed him without reservation.
His mistakes had been enormous.
His betrayal of our marriage was real.
But the shock on his face wasn't an act.
He genuinely had no idea that someone had been negotiating the sale of his company.
Amanda continued reading.
"The investment group became suspicious after repeated delays in finalizing the acquisition."
"What delays?" I asked.
"They kept requesting updated shareholder records."
I nodded slowly.
"They couldn't complete the sale because my signature was never accepted."
"Exactly."
The forged documents had failed.
That single rejection by the Secretary of State had unknowingly prevented the entire company from changing hands.
Howard let out a long breath.
"So Elisa..."
He looked at me.
"...you may have saved the company without even realizing it."
I thought back to the official letter that had arrived months earlier.
At the time, I had assumed it was simply an administrative mistake.
Instead...
It had stopped a fraud worth millions.
Landen looked at me with a mixture of guilt and disbelief.
"You never threw that letter away."
"I don't throw away important documents."
A faint, sad smile crossed his face.
"You never do."
"No."
For years, he had teased me about keeping neatly labeled folders for everything.
Insurance.
Taxes.
Property records.
Corporate filings.
Now those habits had become the company's greatest protection.
Cedric wandered back into the kitchen carrying a toy fire truck.
He looked at all the serious faces.
"Did somebody lose something?"
Howard forced a smile.
"A little money."
Cedric nodded thoughtfully.
"When I lose my toys, Mommy helps me find them."
The room fell silent.
I smiled at him.
"We'll do our best."
He seemed satisfied with that answer and returned to the living room, making quiet siren noises with his fire truck.
Amanda's phone buzzed again.
She looked at the screen and frowned.
"The auditors have identified the destination of the escrow funds."
Landen stepped forward.
"They found it?"
"Yes."
"Where did it go?"
Amanda hesitated.
"They traced the transfers through several intermediary accounts."
"Then?"
"The money ended up in three separate offshore accounts."
Howard looked confused.
"Can they recover it?"
"Possibly."
"But it won't be easy."
Landen rubbed his forehead.
"Whose accounts?"
Amanda slowly looked up from the report.
"That's the strange part."
"What?"
"The accounts aren't registered to Gregory Mason."
"They're not?"
"No."
"They're registered to three different shell companies."
Cynthia frowned.
"Can the auditors identify who owns them?"
Amanda nodded slowly.
"They're trying."
Before anyone could speak again, the front doorbell rang.
The sheriff's deputy answered it.
A young man in his early thirties stood outside carrying a slim messenger bag.
He wore a wrinkled blue dress shirt and looked as though he hadn't slept in days.
"I'm looking for Mr. Landen Bradley."
The deputy stepped aside.
"Come in."
The stranger walked into the kitchen.
The moment Landen saw him, his eyes widened.
"Derek?"
The former financial controller looked thinner than I remembered.
His beard had grown in, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes.
He glanced around the room before stopping when he saw me.
"Mrs. Bradley."
I nodded politely.
"Mr. Collins."
Howard looked completely confused.
"This is Derek?"
"Yes," Landen answered quietly.
Derek set his messenger bag on the kitchen table.
"I heard the auditors were here."
Landen stared at him.
"You reported the company."
"I did."
No one reacted.
There was no point denying it now.
Derek looked directly at Landen.
"I tried to warn you."
Landen swallowed.
"I know."
"No."
Derek shook his head.
"You still don't understand."
He slowly unzipped his bag and removed a thick binder.
Then another.
Then a portable hard drive.
"I didn't report the company because of you."
Everyone stared at him.
"I reported it..."
He paused, looking first at me, then back at Landen.
"...because someone inside your executive team was planning to disappear."
The room fell completely silent.
Derek placed the hard drive on the table.
"I have every email."
He laid the binder beside it.
"Every financial record."
May you like
Then he looked Landen directly in the eye.
"And I know exactly who took the five million dollars."
