Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN HARPER THOUGHT SHE WAS SAVING
Harper felt stupid.
Roman told her not to.
That irritated her.
“I’m an accountant. My job is literally noticing patterns.”
“You noticed plenty.”
“Not her.”
“Trusting someone isn’t stupidity.”
She looked at him.
“Did you learn that from your healthy family?”
Roman almost smiled.
Almost.
They traced Natalie’s movements.
She and Derek had used the rehabilitation center as cover.
Natalie’s injuries were real.
So was Salvatore’s involvement.
But after years of dependence, Derek and Natalie formed a strange alliance.
Not romantic.
Transactional.
They both wanted enough money to disappear.
Harper realized Derek had probably dated her for information, then became possessive when control over her began feeling personal.
That did not make him complicated.
It made him dangerous.
At noon, Harper received a video.
Natalie sat beside Derek inside an unknown apartment.
“I’m sorry,” Natalie said.
“I really am.”
Derek leaned into frame.
“Archive password.”
Harper deleted the message.
Then she opened her audit records.
If Derek wanted the archive key badly enough to expose himself, there had to be something in those files beyond transaction proof.
She searched old image backups.
Invoices.
Contracts.
Scanned signatures.
One file stood out.
A photograph accidentally attached to a vendor document.
Harper enlarged it.
Salvatore stood in the background of a warehouse office.
Beside him was someone Harper recognized.
Martin Cole.
Her boss.
The man who had promoted her.
Assigned the Westbridge audit.
Introduced her to the charity event where Derek first approached her.
Harper stared.
Roman swore quietly.
Martin had placed her directly in Derek’s path.
They checked accounting-firm access logs.
Martin had downloaded Harper’s Westbridge work repeatedly.
He had also deleted several flags she created.
Harper’s anger changed shape.
Derek had manipulated her personally.
Martin had manipulated her professionally.
The two places where she trusted herself most had both been invaded.
That afternoon she went to her firm wearing a wire.
Roman hated the idea.
Federal agents approved it.
Martin greeted her warmly.
“I heard you’ve had a rough week.”
Harper sat across from him.
“I know about Westbridge.”
His face barely changed.
That impressed her.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Derek. Salvatore Falco. The shell companies.”
Martin sighed.
Then locked his office door.
Harper’s heart pounded.
“You were never supposed to dig this far.”
“Why assign me the audit?”
“Because you were good.”
He almost sounded proud.
“Good enough to make the records look legitimate once you signed off.”
Harper stared.
“I never signed off.”
“No.”
Martin smiled sadly.
“That became the problem.”
Then he moved toward his desk drawer.
Agents burst in before his hand reached it.
Martin was arrested.
His computer contained years of evidence.
But investigators found something else too.
A scheduled transfer.
$20 million.
Destination unknown.
Authorization required two codes.
One belonged to Salvatore.
The second belonged to Roman.
Roman stared at the screen.
“I never created a code.”
Harper looked at the registration date.
Twenty-one years earlier.
Roman would have been fourteen.
May you like
Someone had created the financial identity in his name when he was a child.
Salvatore had been preparing to blame Roman for everything since before Roman was old enough to drive.
