Chapter 8 - SOMEBODY INSIDE
The company's cybersecurity team confirmed the deletion came from an active Mercer employee account.
Not Vanessa's.
Not Martin's.
Adrian's CFO, Daniel Price, stared at the access logs in disbelief.
“This login belongs to Leah Benton.”
Clara knew the name. “Accounts payable?”
Daniel nodded. “She's been here six years.”
They called Leah into a conference room the next morning.
She arrived pale and shaking.
“I didn't delete anything.”
Adrian slid the access report across the table.
“Your credentials did.”
Leah started crying.
Clara watched her carefully. Unlike Vanessa's performance, this fear looked messy and real.
“Who has your password?” Clara asked.
“No one.”
“Think.”
Leah covered her face.
Then she whispered, “Vanessa.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
Leah explained that two months earlier Vanessa claimed IT needed everyone's backup login for a system migration. She collected credentials from three employees.
“There was no migration,” Daniel said.
Leah shook her head.
Detective Reyes was called. By lunch, two other employees admitted the same thing.
Vanessa had built herself a collection of identities.
But the deleted files were still a problem.
Then Clara remembered something.
“My laptop.”
Adrian looked at her.
“I copied the invoice folder locally before I asked Vanessa about Northlight.”
They drove home.
Clara opened the laptop at the kitchen table.
The folder was there.
So was a spreadsheet she didn't remember creating.
Filename: FINAL_ALLOCATIONS.xlsx.
Adrian leaned closer.
Clara opened it.
Rows of transfers filled the screen.
Northlight was only one destination.
There were five shell companies.
Total diverted funds: $2.4 million.
Olivia walked in carrying Emma and stopped when she saw their faces.
“What happened?”
Adrian pointed to the screen. “Your aunt stole from the company.”
Clara scrolled lower.
Then she saw the final column.
BENEFICIARY.
Most entries listed V. MERCER or M. HALE.
One listed something else.
A trust account.
The name attached to it made Adrian sit down.
OLIVIA MERCER EDUCATION TRUST.
Olivia stared at him.
“Why is my name there?”
May you like
Adrian couldn't answer.
Because according to the spreadsheet, $600,000 had been stolen in his daughter's name.
