Chapter 9 - THE MAN I TRUSTED WITH MY BOOKS
His name was Derek Sloan.
He had worked for me for five years.
In the restaurant video, Bonnie slid an envelope across the table.
Derek opened it.
Marcus leaned forward.
The audio was weak, but clear enough.
Marcus said, “Once the separation is filed, valuation becomes leverage.”
Derek replied, “Only if I can move the receivable schedules without triggering audit flags.”
Bonnie said, “Then don’t trigger them.”
My hands went cold.
This was bigger than divorce.
They planned to weaken my company, make it appear less stable, and use that chaos to force a settlement.
I called our outside forensic accountant.
“Assume insider compromise. Freeze Derek’s privileges immediately.”
We did not announce why.
At 4:30, Derek walked into a conference room expecting a routine finance review.
Instead, he found me, Priya, HR, and two security officers.
His face drained.
“Taylor, what is this?”
I played ten seconds of the video.
He stopped breathing normally.
“Where did you get that?”
“Wrong question.”
He stood. “I want a lawyer.”
“Good idea.”
Before security escorted him out, he looked at me with something close to panic.
“You think Bonnie is running this?”
I said nothing.
He laughed once, bitterly.
“She isn’t.”
I stepped closer.
“Who is?”
Derek glanced at Priya.
Then at the security camera.
Finally he whispered, “Ask Caden what happened to the money from Mesa Verde.”
He left.
I knew the name.
Mesa Verde was one of my company’s oldest warehouse acquisitions.
We sold it eighteen months ago for $2.6 million.
The proceeds had been reinvested through a holding account.
At least, that was what our statements showed.
I called the forensic team.
“Trace every dollar from the Mesa Verde sale.”
At 7:12 p.m., they called back.
One million dollars had disappeared for forty-eight hours before being returned.
May you like
During those forty-eight hours, someone had used it as proof of funds for a private loan.
The borrower’s name was Caden Reed.
