Chapter 2 - The Audit Trail
By 4:30 p.m., the executive floor of Moretti Holdings had quieted down. The senior managers had filtered out for late-afternoon meetings or early drinks at private clubs across Boston, leaving only the security detail and the administrative staff.
Sophia finished organizing the transport logs, her glasses slipping down her nose for the fourth time that hour. She pushed them up with her middle finger, staring at the glowing screen of her dual-monitor setup.
She wasn't just an assistant. She had a bachelor's degree in forensic accounting from Bentley University, a credential she had buried under a pile of fast-food job applications when her father’s medical debts piled high. She knew how money moved. She knew how people hid things in columns of figures.
And she knew that Mark Bell’s expense reports for the past three months had a $42,000 discrepancy under 'external consulting.'
She pulled up the internal server directory—access granted thanks to Dante’s brief, sharp decree that morning—and cross-referenced the vendor names.
Apex Security Solutions.
Except Apex Security Solutions wasn't a consulting firm. A quick search through the Massachusetts corporate registry showed it was a shell company registered in Dorchester.
And the primary beneficiary listed on its filing documents?
Victor Hale. The senior manager who had laughed at her when she spilled coffee on the forged contract.
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Sophia’s breath caught in her throat. The forged signature from the morning wasn't a random clerical error. It was part of a systemic leak. Someone inside Moretti Holdings was routing operational funds through fake channels, signing Dante’s name to authorize the transfers, and covering their tracks by burying the paper trail.
And Mark Bell, Dante’s personal assistant of four years, was helping them bury it.
