Chapter 8 - The First Missing MoneyThe forensic accountant’s name was Jonah Reed.
He was forty-two, wore rimless glasses, and had the unnerving habit of remaining silent several seconds after someone finished answering.
He met Nia the following morning in a conference room at her attorney’s office.
Lena delivered three years of financial records from Nia Carter Design Studio.
Bank statements.
Credit-card statements.
Vendor ledgers.
Tax returns.
Payroll.
Marcus’s expense reports.
Jonah connected an encrypted drive.
“Let’s start with access,” he said.
Nia described Marcus’s role.
“Could he initiate ACH transfers?”
“Yes.”
“Wires?”
“Up to fifty thousand without my second approval.”
“Why?”
Nia hated answering.
“Because when his health worsened, I wanted him to be able to work from home without waiting on me.”
Jonah nodded without judgment.
“Could he create vendors?”
“Yes.”
“Could Kiara?”
“As a contract bookkeeper, yes, but Marcus had to approve payments.”
Jonah looked at Kiara, who had agreed to attend.
“Did you create Morrow Ridge Millwork in the accounting system?”
“Yes.”
“Was there ever a real business called Morrow Ridge Millwork?”
“No.”
“Who chose the name?”
“Marcus.”
“Who created invoices?”
“I did.”
Nia stared at her sister.
She already knew.
Hearing it in professional language made it worse.
“How many?”
“Seven.”
Jonah asked for copies.
Kiara provided them.
He reviewed dates.
“The first invoice predates the affair?”
“Yes,” Kiara said.
Jonah continued.
“Were all invoices associated with money transferred into Morrow Ridge Holdings?”
“Yes.”
“Who controlled that bank account?”
“I did legally. Marcus had login access.”
“Did he have a debit card?”
“Yes.”
Nia turned.
That was new.
“How much did he spend with it?”
Kiara closed her eyes.
“I don’t know.”
Jonah held up one hand.
“We’ll find out.”
They did.
Four hours later, Jonah had a preliminary map.
The $214,000 Nia knew about was only the obvious layer.
There had been earlier transfers.
Smaller.
Buried in legitimate vendor payments.
Payments to Cedar Park Development LLC.
Consulting fees.
Project retainers.
Material reservation fees.
One payment was $18,500.
Another $22,000.
Another $14,750.
Nia stared.
“How much?”
Jonah did not answer until he reconciled each entry.
Then he rotated the laptop.
“Based on what I can identify today, Cedar Park received at least eighty-nine thousand two hundred fifty dollars directly from your company before Morrow Ridge existed.”
Nia’s mouth went dry.
“And the sixty-eight thousand later?”
“Appears separate.”
“So one hundred fifty-seven thousand?”
“At least.”
“And Morrow Ridge got two hundred fourteen?”
“Yes, but sixty-eight of that later went to Cedar Park, so don’t double-count.”
Nia forced herself to follow.
Jonah drew it on paper.
Direct Cedar Park transfers: $89,250.
Morrow Ridge transfers: $214,000.
Of the Morrow Ridge money, $68,000 moved onward to Cedar Park.
Total company funds diverted from ordinary business use: $303,250.
Current money still traceable in Morrow Ridge: approximately $146,000.
Potentially lost or otherwise spent: approximately $157,250.
Nia stared at the total.
Three hundred three thousand two hundred fifty dollars.
The number looked impossible.
“We were profitable.”
Jonah nodded.
“That can hide theft for longer.”
Nia flinched at the word.
Marcus had insisted nothing had been stolen.
Jonah continued.
“I still need to determine whether any Cedar Park payments represented legitimate services to your company.”
“They didn’t.”
“You’re sure?”
“We never had a Cedar Park project.”
“Then we document that.”
Nia looked at Kiara.
“Did you know about the earlier eighty-nine thousand?”
“No.”
Nia studied her face.
For once, she believed her.
Jonah opened tax files.
“There may be another issue.”
Nia felt almost numb.
“What?”
“If false vendor expenses reduced company taxable income, amended returns may be needed once we establish the facts.”
“Am I in trouble?”
“Intent matters. We don’t jump ahead. Your CPA and attorney will address tax corrections appropriately.”
Nia nodded.
Marcus’s betrayal was now reaching into institutions he had never bothered to imagine.
Banks.
Tax records.
Corporate books.
Employee livelihoods.
Every lie generated paperwork.
At five that evening, Marcus’s attorney finally contacted Andrea.
His name was Thomas Greene.
He requested access to Marcus’s personal belongings and proposed a meeting.
Andrea agreed on conditions.
No unsupervised business access.
No document destruction.
No transfer of disputed funds.
The attorneys also arranged for Marcus to retrieve clothing and medication while Nia was away.
Nia did not object.
She wanted his things gone.
That night, she returned home alone.
Simone offered to stay.
Nia declined for the first time.
“I need to hear the house without him.”
Simone hugged her gently, careful of the healing incision.
After she left, Nia walked room to room.
Marcus’s shoes were gone from the bedroom.
His charger was gone.
His razor.
His side of the closet looked hollow.
On his bedside table remained a book he had been reading during dialysis.
Nia picked it up.
A receipt slipped out.
A restaurant.
Eleven months earlier.
Two dinners.
She knew she should give it to Jonah.
Instead she stared at the time.
8:42 p.m.
She remembered that evening too.
Marcus had texted her from “Cedar Park meetings.”
He had not yet been sleeping with Kiara, according to Kiara’s timeline.
So who had been at dinner?
Nia photographed the receipt.
Then she noticed handwriting on the back.
D—need another 100 before Q4. N can’t know until stabilized.
Nia’s pulse rose.
Another one hundred thousand.
Before Q4.
N can’t know.
She called Jonah.
“I found something.”
“What?”
“A note Marcus wrote before Morrow Ridge.”
She read it.
Jonah stayed quiet.
Then he said, “Preserve the original.”
“What does ‘another 100’ mean?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“I think it means money.”
“I think that’s a reasonable hypothesis. But we verify.”
Nia stared at Marcus’s empty side of the bed.
“Jonah.”
“Yes?”
“If he needed another hundred thousand, how much did he lose before that?”
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Jonah paused.
“That is exactly the question I’m asking now.”
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