Chapter 3 - The Missing Account
The next morning, Declan summoned Julian to the penthouse.
Julian arrived wearing a charcoal suit and the confident smile that had made him popular with investors.
"Brother."
Declan didn't offer him a seat.
"Where were you last night?"
Julian raised an eyebrow.
"Working."
"Where?"
"At home."
"Anyone verify that?"
Julian laughed.
"Are we doing an interrogation now?"
Declan remained silent.
The smile faded.
"What happened?"
Declan placed a photograph on the table.
Rebecca.
Then the bank transfers.
Julian's expression barely changed.
"You're accusing me of something?"
"I'm asking."
"You've never asked me anything."
"Answer."
Julian leaned back.
"Yes, I authorized payments to Rebecca."
"Why?"
"Because she's helping me with an internal audit."
"Without telling me?"
"You don't tell me everything."
Declan stared at him.
"Did you know Sarah was pregnant?"
Julian's face changed.
Only slightly.
But Declan saw it.
"Pregnant?"
"You didn't know?"
"No."
"You accessed her medical file."
Julian became defensive.
"She'd been missing work."
"That's not what the file says."
Julian stood.
"I didn't poison anyone."
"I didn't say you did."
"You implied it."
Declan stepped closer.
"Then why are you nervous?"
Julian laughed.
"I'm nervous because my brother is staring at me like I'm already dead."
The room fell silent.
Then Julian said something unexpected.
"Ask yourself who benefits."
Declan frowned.
"What?"
"If Sarah dies, who gets hurt?"
"Me."
Julian shook his head.
"Not only you."
He walked toward the door.
"Your company has been bleeding money for months."
Declan turned.
"What did you say?"
Julian stopped.
"You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Never mind."
He left.
Declan immediately called Victor.
"Audit every company account."
Three hours later, Victor returned.
The results were disturbing.
Almost $80 million had disappeared over two years through complicated offshore transactions.
Declan had assumed the losses came from market volatility.
They hadn't.
Someone had been siphoning money from Hayes Global Logistics.
And the transfers led to a holding company registered in Delaware.
The beneficial owner was hidden.
But there was one name appearing repeatedly in the paperwork.
Daniel Hayes.
Declan's dead father.
He stared at the screen.
"That's impossible."
Daniel Hayes had been dead for four years.
Victor looked uncomfortable.
"Sir, there's more."
"What?"
"Your father's signature appears on documents dated after his death."
Declan felt something cold move through him.
Forgery.
Someone had built a financial network using his father's identity.
Then they had hidden it inside the company.
Sarah appeared at the doorway.
She had overheard enough.
"Declan?"
He looked at her.
"What is it?"
"Someone isn't just trying to kill me."
He slowly nodded.
"They're trying to destroy you."
Sarah stepped closer.
"Why?"
Declan looked at the financial records.
"I don't know."
Then he noticed something.
One transaction.
A payment made six months before.
Recipient:
Hawthorne Foundation.
Sarah frowned.
"What's that?"
Declan zoomed in.
The foundation had been established anonymously.
Its sole purpose was funding medical research.
But one of its grants had gone to Massachusetts General Hospital.
Specifically, to Dr. Jonathan Weaver's research department.
Sarah's doctor.
Declan felt the room shift.
"Find out who founded Hawthorne Foundation."
Victor stared at the screen.
"We already know."
"Who?"
Victor looked at Declan.
"Your father."
Declan's breath caught.
May you like
"My father died four years ago."
"Exactly."
