Chapter 2 - DANIEL CARTER
Daniel Carter had died four years earlier.
Official cause:
Single-car accident outside Joliet.
Vehicle left the road during heavy rain.
June had been six months pregnant with Micah.
Lila was four.
Daniel had worked as a payroll systems analyst for Blackwell Domestic Services.
Adrian had never met him.
That bothered him immediately.
Not because he met every employee.
Because Marcus personally controlled payroll technology.
Daniel would have worked directly beneath his division.
“What did Daniel tell you about work?” Adrian asked.
June looked shaken.
“Not much.”
“Anything unusual before he died?”
She stared at the broken plate.
Then:
“He stopped sleeping.”
Adrian waited.
“He would wake up and check the windows.”
“When?”
“Last month or two.”
“Did he say why?”
“He said something at work didn’t add up.”
There it was.
“What?”
“He wouldn’t tell me.”
“Did he mention Harbor Employee Benefits?”
“No.”
“Marcus Hale?”
June looked up sharply.
“Yes.”
Adrian’s stomach tightened.
“What did he say?”
“He said Mr. Hale was either the smartest man in the company or the most dangerous.”
That sounded like Daniel understood too much.
Then June said something else.
“The week before he died, he told me if anything happened, I should never accept help from Blackwell.”
Adrian went still.
“Why?”
“He said help always has paperwork.”
Adrian almost hated the accuracy.
Blackwell assistance programs came with forms.
Authorizations.
Waivers.
Accounts.
Exactly the tools someone had used to steal from June.
Then Adrian searched Daniel’s old employee file.
Terminated:
DECEASED.
Final payroll.
Severance.
Death benefit.
Adrian froze.
The company had issued June a survivor benefit of $75,000.
June had never received it.
He looked at her.
“Did Blackwell pay you anything after Daniel died?”
She laughed weakly.
“Flowers.”
His jaw tightened.
“You were supposed to receive seventy-five thousand dollars.”
June’s face emptied.
“What?”
“Life benefit.”
“No.”
“You never received it?”
“No.”
Her voice sharpened.
“I borrowed money for the funeral.”
Adrian felt something ugly move through him.
The benefit payment record showed:
DISBURSED.
Recipient:
June Carter.
Electronic acknowledgement completed.
Bank account ending:
June shook her head.
“That isn’t my account.”
Adrian traced destination.
Harbor Employee Benefits.
Again.
Daniel’s death benefit had been diverted into the same company now draining June’s wages.
Then Marcus arrived.
4:18 a.m.
He entered the mansion through the side door using his executive access.
Adrian waited in the study.
June remained upstairs in a guest sitting room with food and privacy.
Marcus walked in without removing his coat.
“What did you tell her?”
Adrian stared.
Not hello.
Not what happened.
What did you tell her?
“Sit.”
Marcus did not.
“Adrian, payroll is more complicated than it looks.”
“Seventy-five thousand dollars.”
Marcus stopped.
There.
Recognition.
“Daniel Carter’s death benefit.”
Marcus’s face tightened.
“That was handled before my department restructuring.”
“You approved it.”
“I approved a batch.”
“Into Harbor Employee Benefits.”
Marcus looked away.
Adrian felt something inside him crack.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“Do not insult me.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Harbor was originally legitimate.”
“Originally?”
That word mattered.
Marcus sighed.
“It was designed to consolidate optional benefits for domestic employees.”
“Optional deductions that employees didn’t authorize?”
“No.”
“When did it become theft?”
Marcus looked toward the dark windows.
“After Daniel.”
Adrian’s pulse sharpened.
“Explain.”
Marcus rubbed his face.
“Daniel found discrepancies.”
“What discrepancies?”
“Ghost workers. Duplicate benefits. Vendor padding.”
“Yours?”
Marcus looked at him.
“No.”
“Whose?”
Silence.
Then:
“Your wife’s.”
Adrian stopped breathing.
His wife, Evelyn, had died two years earlier.
Marcus whispered:
“Daniel discovered Evelyn Blackwell had been authorizing transfers.”
Adrian stared at his oldest friend.
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Then Marcus placed a flash drive on the desk.
May you like
“Evelyn started Harbor Employee Benefits.”
And suddenly Adrian’s dead wife had entered the crime.
