Chapter 6 – The Account Was Empty and the Clock Was Ticking
The bank statement sat on my desk like a death certificate.
I had printed it out at the office, and now I stared at the numbers until they blurred.
The main operating account had less than three thousand dollars in it.
Payroll was due in two days.
I had seventeen employees who depended on me.
I sat down slowly, my legs suddenly weak.
Vera was standing in the doorway with Keely behind her.
“How bad is it?”
Vera asked.
“Bad,” I said.
“He took almost everything.
There’s enough to cover the rent, but not payroll.
Not even close.”
Vera stepped into the room and closed the door.
“What are our options?”
I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.
I could sell the house.
Dunstan and I had bought it fifteen years ago, when the business was just starting to grow.
It was the only thing we owned together that was worth anything.
But selling it would take time I didn’t have.
I could take a personal loan, but my credit was tied up in the business.
I could go to the board, but they would want answers I didn’t have yet.
I opened my eyes.
“We fight,” I said.
Vera nodded.
“What do you need?”
“First, call a forensic accountant.
Someone who can trace every dollar he moved.
Second, call our lawyer.
I want a lawsuit filed by the end of the week.
Third—” I paused and looked at Keely.
“I need you to stay somewhere safe.
Do you have a friend you can stay with?”
She nodded.
“My sister lives in Jersey.”
“Go.
Don’t tell Dunstan where you are.
Don’t answer his calls.
If he threatens you, save the message and send it to me.”
She left with Vera, and I picked up the phone.
The forensic accountant was a man named Harold Levine.
He had a reputation for finding money that people tried to hide.
I explained the situation in five minutes.
He asked two questions: how much was missing and how long had it been going on.
“I don’t know yet,” I said.
“Probably over two years.”
He whistled softly.
“I’ll need full access to your accounts and any records you have.
I can start tomorrow morning.”
“Start tonight,” I said.
“I’ll pay the overtime.”
He agreed.
Next, I called my lawyer, a woman named Patricia Cho who had been with me since I started the company.
She listened without interrupting.
When I finished, she was quiet for a moment.
“Azalea, this is serious.
If he’s been using company funds for personal expenses, that’s embezzlement.
But proving it will take time, and we need to freeze his access immediately.”
“I already did that,” I said.
“Good.
Now I need you to document everything.
Every email, every text, every receipt.
And I need you to tell the board before they hear it from someone else.”
I knew she was right.
So I called a board meeting for the next morning.
The board members were not happy.
I stood in front of them and told the truth—all of it.
The affair, the payments, the empty account.
One of them, a man named Gerald who had known me for twenty years, asked the only question that mattered.
“Can you fix this?”
“Yes,” I said.
“But I need your trust.
And I need time.”
They gave me both.
That night, Harold called me at ten o’clock.
“I found something,” he said.
I sat up straight.
“What is it?”
“There’s a transfer that doesn’t match the others.
It went to an offshore account three weeks ago.
The amount is large—almost two hundred thousand dollars.”
“Whose account?”
“It’s registered to a company called M.
Carter Holdings.
I did a quick search.
The registered agent is Miles Carter.”
I felt my heart stop for a second.
Miles.
Dunstan’s brother.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.
And there’s more.
The account has been active for over a year.
Your husband wasn’t just stealing from you, Azalea.
He was hiding it with his brother’s help.”
I hung up and sat in the dark for a long time.
Dunstan had lied to me, stolen from me, and now I knew he hadn’t done it alone.
He had family helping him.
I picked up my phone and called Keely.
“I need you to tell me everything you know about Miles,” I said.
“Everything.”
She hesitated.
“I only met him twice.
But I remember something.
He said he was keeping the money safe until Dunstan could leave the country.”
I closed my eyes.
Leave the country.
My husband wasn’t just stealing from me.
He was planning to disappear.
And I was going to make sure he didn’t get far.
