Chapter 2 - The Ride Away

I took the warm silver drive from David’s trembling hand.

“What is this?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

“The real ledgers,” David said, wiping his face. “I didn’t know what I was signing, Mom. I swear. Dad just told me they were preliminary reports. But a few weeks ago, I found a hidden directory on the secure server. I copied it.”

Emily immediately pulled her laptop from her oversized tote bag. She set it next to Claire’s briefcase on the glass table.

We crowded around the screen as Emily inserted the drive.

Spreadsheets populated the screen, line after line of red ink.

Claire leaned in, her eyes darting over the numbers. She understood corporate finance better than any of us. “Oh my god,” she breathed. “The debt isn’t from operating losses, Susan. Look at the payout columns.”

“What are they?” I asked.

“Shell companies,” Claire said, pointing to a series of recurring wire transfers. “He’s been funneling millions out of the firm into offshore LLCs. He’s not trying to save the company with the Vanguard merger. He’s going to take the buyout money and run.”

“And leave David holding the bag for the forged audits,” Emily realized, her voice turning lethal.

A cold fury settled into my bones. Michael didn’t just want to control me. He was willing to sacrifice his own son to cover his tracks.

“We have to take this to the police,” Emily said.

“If we do, the merger stops,” David panicked. “The SEC investigates, and my signature is on the fraudulent documents. Dad has deniability. I’m the one who goes down.”

“Answer One, Open Two,” I said again, staring at the screen. I felt my father’s calm pragmatism washing over me. “We know he’s stealing. Now we need to know who is buying the firm. If we understand Vanguard, we find our leverage.”

I scrolled down to the merger documents at the bottom of the drive. I clicked the executive summary.

A photograph of the Vanguard CEO loaded onto the screen.

My breath hitched.

The man in the photo had silver hair and sharp, intelligent eyes. I hadn’t seen him in twenty years, but I would know that face anywhere.

Richard Sterling.

Before Michael’s firm had taken off, when I was still working in hospital administration, Richard had been the head of the hospital board. We had worked side by side for years. He was a ruthless businessman, but he had a fierce sense of loyalty. And twenty years ago, I had caught a billing error that saved his hospital from a massive Medicare fraud lawsuit.

“I know him,” I whispered.

Claire looked at me in shock. “You know Richard Sterling? He’s notoriously reclusive.”

“I saved his career,” I said.

Before I could explain, there was a sharp knock at the hotel room door.

We all froze.

“If that’s Dad again,” David started, standing up.

I walked to the door and looked through the peephole.

It wasn’t Michael.

It was a man in a sharp charcoal suit, flanked by two private security guards.

I opened the door.

Richard Sterling looked at me, his eyes softening slightly. “Hello, Susan. It’s been a long time.”

“Richard,” I managed to say. “How did you find me?”

“I own the Marriott,” he said plainly. “And I had my people tracking your husband’s location tonight. When I heard there was an incident at the gala, I figured you might need a friend.”