Chapter 9: The Second Thread
The second discrepancy was smaller than the first.
Eleven thousand dollars.
Moved in four increments over six months.
Routed through a domestic LLC in Georgia that appeared in the Costa books as a legitimate vendor — a document storage company that billed quarterly and had never once been audited.
Mave pulled the vendor file.
The document storage company had a website.
The website had been created eight months ago.
The listed address was a strip mall in Savannah.
The phone number went to a voicemail that had never been set up.
"It's a shell," she said.
"But it's a different kind of shell than Romano's.
Romano built inside the organization's own structure.
He used codes and accounts he already controlled.
Whoever did this came in from the outside and built something that looked like a real vendor."
Vincent stood behind her, reading over her shoulder.
"That takes knowledge of our vendor approval process," he said.
"Yes.
Someone who knew exactly what a legitimate vendor entry looks like.
What fields to fill in.
What documentation to attach." She scrolled.
"The approval signature on the vendor registration is Donovan's."
A pause.
"Donovan," Vincent said.
"His signature.
His employee ID.
His approval timestamp." She turned to look at him.
"He was sick last night.
That's why I was at the Plaza."
"Donovan has been with this organization for nine years."
"I know."
"He's not someone Romano would use.
Their relationship has always been—"
"I know," Mave said.
"Which is why I said it's a different structure.
This isn't Romano.
This is someone who used Romano's situation as cover.
While everyone was watching the $30,000 and the Belize account, this was moving quietly underneath."
Vincent pulled out his phone.
"Don't call Donovan yet," Mave said.
He stopped.
"If Donovan is involved, calling him gives him time to move anything connected to his access.
If he's not involved — if his credentials were used without his knowledge — calling him panics him and potentially tips off whoever did use them." She turned back to the screen.
"Give me two more hours."
"What do you need?"
"The vendor approval logs for the last fourteen months.
Full access.
Not the summary view — the raw logs."
Vincent typed something on his phone.
Thirty seconds later, Mave's laptop received an access notification.
She opened the logs.
Leo came in at 8 a.m.
with food from the bakery two blocks away.
He set it on the corner of the desk and looked at the screen.
"Another one?" he said.
"Smaller," Vincent said.
"Different."
"How many people have vendor approval access?"
"Fourteen," Mave said without looking up.
"But the approval was logged from a specific terminal.
Terminal seven.
That terminal is in the records room on the fourth floor."
"Who uses the records room?"
"Officially, three people.
Donovan.
A woman named Patricia who handles physical filing.
And the building's IT contractor, who has access for maintenance."
Leo looked at Vincent.
"IT contractor."
"Name?" Vincent said.
Mave was already in the personnel file.
"Hired eleven months ago.
Replaced the previous contractor who retired." She opened the contractor's file.
Read it.
Read it again.
Her hand went still on the trackpad.
"What?" Vincent said.
She turned the laptop so he could see the screen.
The contractor's emergency contact field listed a single name and phone number.
The last name was Reyes.
Vincent looked at the screen for a long moment.
"Mateo Reyes," Leo said quietly.
"The man from the Plaza."
"His brother," Mave said.
"The contractor is Reyes's younger brother.
He's been inside this building for eleven months with full IT access to every terminal on every floor."
The bakery bag sat unopened on the corner of the desk.
"Romano didn't just hire Reyes to watch me," Mave said.
"He placed Reyes's brother inside the organization a year ago.
The vendor shell, the Donovan credentials, the Georgia LLC — that wasn't a separate operation.
That was Romano's backup plan.
If the main fund was ever found, this smaller channel would keep moving."
"A redundancy," Vincent said.
"And a frame," Mave said.
"If this had been discovered without context, the approval signature points to Donovan.
Not to Romano.
Not to Reyes.
To a nine-year employee who had no idea his credentials were being used."
The room was very quiet.
Then Vincent picked up his phone and called Brennan.
"We're not done," he said.
"Come back."
He looked at Mave.
"You should eat something," he said.
May you like
She pulled the bakery bag toward her and opened it without looking away from the screen.
"After I find the rest of it," she said.
