Chapter 4 - The Numbers That Didn’t Lie
Grant read the report twice.
Then a third time.
“This makes no sense.”
CFO Martin Hayes closed the office door.
“I wish it didn’t.”
Todd had been with Westbridge for seven years.
He had attended Grant’s mother’s anniversary party.
He had slept on Grant’s couch during the company’s first major acquisition.
He was not merely an executive.
He was Grant’s friend.
“How much?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Estimate.”
“Twenty to thirty million in improperly recognized revenue.”
Grant’s stomach tightened.
“Who knows?”
“You. Me. Internal audit.”
“Keep it that way.”
Claire appeared at the door.
“Your two-thirty is waiting.”
Grant looked at her.
For years, his instinct had been simple.
Claire could solve things.
But she was leaving.
More importantly, this was not her burden.
“Cancel everything.”
She immediately knew something was wrong.
“All afternoon?”
“Yes.”
Claire nodded.
Then noticed Martin’s face.
She left without asking.
At 5:00, she was still at her desk.
Grant came out.
“I thought your workday ended at six.”
“It does.”
“You’ve been watching my office for three hours.”
“I have not.”
“You reorganized the same folder four times.”
Claire looked down at it.
Caught.
“Is the company in trouble?”
Grant hesitated.
“You don’t have to answer.”
He looked toward the empty hallway.
Then said, “Come in.”
He showed her the reports.
Claire read silently.
Her expression changed.
“These numbers were in the Falcon Ridge projections.”
Grant nodded.
She turned pages faster.
“And Red Creek.”
“Yes.”
“Who prepared these?”
“Sales.”
“Who approved them?”
Grant said nothing.
Claire saw the authorization code.
Todd.
“Oh.”
Grant sat back.
“I don’t believe he did this.”
Claire looked at him.
“Then find evidence.”
“You think he did?”
“I think numbers don’t care who your friends are.”
Grant rubbed his jaw.
“Internal audit needs months.”
“No.”
Claire took the report.
“This pattern is too consistent.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Someone is moving revenue forward from future quarters.”
“Yes.”
“So follow the customer renewals.”
Grant watched her.
Claire grabbed a marker and went to his whiteboard.
Within twenty minutes, she had identified a pattern.
Specific enterprise accounts.
Specific sales teams.
Specific quarter-end adjustments.
Grant stared at the board.
“How did you see that?”
“Because I prepared your board books.”
Of course.
For two years.
She had seen everything.
By midnight, they had uncovered enough to understand the scheme.
Todd had not acted alone.
Three regional sales directors had manipulated renewal dates to inflate performance bonuses.
But one detail did not fit.
Todd’s credentials appeared on approvals completed while he had been overseas.
Claire pointed at the timestamps.
“Someone used his access.”
Grant leaned closer.
“So Todd might be innocent.”
“Might.”
The next morning, Grant confronted him privately.
Todd’s face drained of color.
“I didn’t do this.”
“Your credentials did.”
“I swear to God.”
Claire watched through the conference-room glass.
Todd looked terrified.
Not guilty.
Terrified.
Grant suspended his system access pending investigation.
Todd left without arguing.
That frightened Grant more.
By Friday, outside auditors had been retained.
The board demanded answers.
Meridian Arc called Claire twice about her start date.
She postponed relocation by one week.
Not for Grant.
For Westbridge.
She had helped build the systems now under investigation.
She wanted the truth.
Saturday morning, Claire was working from her apartment when someone knocked.
She opened the door.
Todd stood outside.
She immediately tried to close it.
“Wait.”
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“I know.”
“Then leave.”
“Someone framed me.”
“Talk to the auditors.”
“I did.”
“Then why are you here?”
Todd held out a flash drive.
Claire stared.
“What is that?”
“A backup.”
“Of?”
“Emails.”
Claire did not take it.
“Give it to legal.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
Todd looked down the hallway.
“Because Westbridge legal is involved.”
Claire went still.
Todd continued.
“Six months ago, I noticed discrepancies. I asked questions. General counsel told me finance had approved the accounting treatment.”
“Martin?”
“No. Someone above Martin.”
“There is nobody above the CFO except—”
She stopped.
Grant.
Todd shook his head.
“Not Grant.”
“Then who?”
“The board.”
Claire felt cold.
Westbridge was preparing for a major public offering.
Inflated revenue could increase valuation by hundreds of millions.
This was no longer a rogue sales scheme.
It could be corporate fraud.
“Leave.”
“Claire—”
“Give that drive to federal investigators or your attorney. Not me.”
Todd nodded.
Then he said something that changed everything.
“Grant doesn’t know.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because the entire scheme depends on him signing the IPO certification next month.”
Claire’s stomach dropped.
If Grant certified false financial statements, ignorance might not save him.
Someone was preparing to make him responsible.
Claire called him immediately.
He answered on the first ring.
“What happened?”
“We need to talk.”
“Where?”
“Not by phone.”
Thirty minutes later, Grant arrived.
Claire told him everything.
He listened without interruption.
When she finished, he stood at the window.
“Who on the board?”
“I don’t know.”
Grant’s expression hardened.
“My uncle.”
Claire frowned.
“What?”
“Charles Mercer chairs the compensation committee.”
Grant’s uncle had invested the first two million dollars in Westbridge.
He controlled enough voting shares to influence the board.
“He wants the IPO,” Grant said.
“Badly enough to commit fraud?”
“I don’t know.”
Grant turned.
“But I’m going to find out.”
Claire stepped forward.
“Don’t confront him.”
“Why?”
“Because if Todd is right, they need your signature.”
Grant understood.
“So we let them think I know nothing.”
“Yes.”
He stared at her.
“You’re supposed to be leaving.”
“I am.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
Claire looked at him.
“Because caring about the company and leaving it are not mutually exclusive.”
Grant nodded.
Then quietly:
“And me?”
Claire’s breath caught.
Before she could answer, Grant’s phone rang.
Charles Mercer.
Grant looked at the screen.
Then answered.
“Uncle Charles.”
Charles sounded cheerful.
“Grant, I need you in Houston tonight. We’re moving the IPO certification forward.”
Grant’s eyes met Claire’s.
“How far?”
“Monday.”
Claire went pale.
Monday.
Seventy-two hours.
May you like
If Todd was right, someone had just accelerated the plan.
And Grant was about to put his name on financial statements that could destroy everything he had built.
