Chapter 10: The Cousin
His name was Daniel Vance.
Twenty-nine years old.
He had joined the logistics firm's vendor relations team fourteen months ago — three months after I had flagged the Meridian invoice the first time.
I had not made that connection until Gerald Foss said his name out loud.
I walked back to my desk on the accounting floor and sat down.
I did not open my computer.
I just sat there for a moment, thinking.
Daniel had been hired into vendor relations.
He had access to the vendor approval system.
He had authorized the resubmission of an invoice from a company whose notary had later certified a fraudulent document against my home.
And he had been sitting at that table on Saturday, silent, not meeting anyone's eyes.
I called Alex from the stairwell.
"Daniel works here," I said.
"At my company.
Vendor relations."
A pause.
"I know Daniel works there.
He got that job through a contact my father knew.
I didn't think—" He stopped.
"How long?"
"Fourteen months.
He authorized the resubmission of the Meridian invoice."
Silence.
"Alex."
"I'm here." His voice had gone flat in the way it did when he was processing something he didn't want to be true.
"Daniel is twenty-nine.
He does whatever Teresa tells him.
His mother — Aunt Carol — she's been in Teresa's circle for years."
"Did Teresa place him there deliberately?"
"I don't know.
Maybe.
Or maybe she found out he was there and used it." He paused.
"Either way, she had someone inside your company who could smooth over a flagged invoice."
"Which means the Meridian connection wasn't accidental," I said.
"They needed that notary.
They needed that invoice to go through.
And they needed someone on the inside to make sure it did."
"And then they needed you discredited before you could connect the dots."
I leaned against the stairwell wall.
The fluorescent light above me hummed.
"Alex, this isn't just a family dispute anymore."
"No," he said.
"It isn't."
"David Marsh said criminal territory."
"I know what David said." A pause.
"I'm calling him right now.
Don't talk to Daniel.
Don't go near vendor relations.
Go back to your desk and act normal."
"Okay."
"Mariana." His voice softened for just a moment.
"You did everything right this morning.
Everything."
I went back to my desk.
I opened my computer.
I processed three invoices and answered two emails and ate half a sandwich at my desk at noon without tasting any of it.
At 2:15 PM, Sandra appeared at my workstation.
"Can you come upstairs?" she said.
"Our legal team would like to speak with you."
The company's legal counsel was a woman named Grace Holloway.
She was in her fifties, precise, and she had clearly already read everything I had brought in that morning because she didn't ask me to repeat any of it.
"Ms.
Sterling," she said, "we've been in contact with your attorney, David Marsh, this afternoon.
He's provided us with the outline of the property matter and the fraudulent lien.
We've also pulled the Meridian invoice file and the authorization chain."
"And?" I said.
"The resubmission was authorized by Daniel Vance in vendor relations.
We've also identified two other invoices from Meridian Document Services that were processed in the past fourteen months, both authorized through the same channel." She paused.
"None of them were flagged.
Yours was the only one that triggered a review."
"Because I didn't recognize the vendor," I said.
"Correct." She looked at me steadily.
"Ms.
Sterling, I want to be direct with you.
What we are looking at internally may constitute vendor fraud — the use of a company employee to route payments to a connected party for services that may not have been legitimately rendered." She paused.
"We will be conducting our own investigation.
That investigation will run parallel to whatever legal action you and your attorney pursue."
"What happens to Daniel?" I said.
"That depends on what the investigation finds.
But he has been placed on administrative leave as of one hour ago."
I thought about Daniel at that table.
Silent.
Looking at the tablecloth.
He hadn't known what he was sitting in the middle of.
Or maybe he had known exactly, and had told himself it was a small thing, a family favor, nothing serious.
"One more thing," Grace said.
"The HR complaint filed against you has been formally closed.
There was no basis for it, and the source has been documented." She slid a single sheet across the table.
"This is a written confirmation for your records."
I picked it up.
My name.
The complaint number.
Closed — no finding.
Complaint source identified as non-employee with no professional standing.
I folded it and put it in my folder.
"Thank you," I said.
Grace nodded.
"Thank your documentation," she said.
"You came in prepared.
That made everything faster."
I took the elevator back down to the accounting floor.
I sat at my desk.
I looked at my screen.
Then I picked up my phone and texted Alex two words: *HR closed.*
His reply came in less than a minute: *David just filed to vacate the lien.
And Dad called him this morning.
He's giving a full statement.*
May you like
I read that last sentence twice.
Arthur was talking.
