Chapter 3: The Name on the Transfer
“Ethan Calloway authorized every transfer,” Martin Hale said through the speaker.
Ethan lunged toward the phone.
Declan caught his wrist before his fingers reached it.
“That’s a lie,” Ethan snapped.
“Martin, tell her who paid you.”
“No one paid me.”
“Then come here and say it to my face.”
“I would,” Martin replied, “if Vanessa hadn’t sent two men to my office asking where I kept the backup files.”
Vanessa stepped away from Ethan.
“He’s confused.
He’s been under pressure for months.”
Grace looked at her.
“You told Ethan he disappeared.”
“He did disappear.”
“No,” Martin said.
“I went into hiding because you deleted my access and emptied my company apartment.”
The elevator sounded again.
Declan guided Grace inside while Ethan pushed past him.
“I’m attending that meeting,” Ethan said.
Grace pressed the button for the top floor.
“You were invited three times.”
“I never received an invitation.”
Vanessa remained in the lobby as the doors began to close.
“Vanessa?” Ethan called.
She did not move.
The doors shut between them.
In the penthouse conference room, six board members waited around a long table.
Company attorney Miriam Cole stood beside a screen displaying a list of transfers.
Grace placed the black folder in front of the empty chair at the head of the table.
Ethan stopped.
“That’s my seat.”
“It belonged to my father before it belonged to you,” Grace said.
Board member Harold Finch removed his glasses.
“Ethan, fourteen million dollars left Calloway Industries in eleven months.”
“I approved consulting payments,” Ethan replied.
“Vanessa managed the vendors.”
Miriam touched the screen.
Five company names appeared.
“Those vendors have no employees, no offices, and the same mailing address.”
Ethan looked at Declan.
“This is your takeover strategy?
Frighten my pregnant wife and manufacture a scandal?”
Declan pulled out a chair for Grace.
“Your wife contacted me after three banks refused to extend your credit.”
“You had no right.”
“I own thirty-one percent of Calloway Industries,” Grace said.
“I had every right.”
“You gave me voting authority.”
“As my husband.
Not as a man transferring company money while lying about where he sleeps.”
Ethan’s hand struck the back of the chair.
“Do not mix our marriage with business.”
Grace looked directly at him.
“You used our marriage to control both.”
Miriam slid a page across the table.
“Your electronic signature appears on forty-seven transfers,” she said.
“Each was confirmed using your executive security token.”
“My token stays in my office safe.”
Martin’s voice came from the phone.
“It was used yesterday from this resort.”
Ethan reached into his jacket.
His fingers searched one pocket, then another.
“My token is gone.”
Grace turned toward the glass wall overlooking the ocean.
“Vanessa had her hand on your jacket in the lobby.”
Ethan pulled out his phone and called her.
It rang once before going to voicemail.
“She set me up,” he said.
“You signed the first eleven transfers yourself,” Martin replied.
Silence settled over the table.
Grace faced Ethan.
“Did you?”
“They were temporary.”
“Did you sign them?”
“I was protecting the company.”
“From what?”
“From your father’s outdated restrictions.
We needed capital that the board would never approve.”
Harold rose from his chair.
“You moved company money without board approval?”
“I intended to replace it.”
“With whose money?” Grace asked.
Ethan looked at Declan.
“Ask your new friend why he offered to buy our debt for half its value.”
Declan’s expression did not change.
“Because the lender knew you could not repay it.”
Ethan leaned across the table.
“Grace, if you sign anything with him, you will lose everything your father built.”
Her phone lit up before she could answer.
A message from an unknown number showed a photograph of Grace entering the resort beside Declan.
May you like
Beneath it were seven words:
SIGN WITH PIERCE, AND EVERYONE SEES THE REST.
