Chapter 18 - The Night Jennifer Lost Control
|
The emergency Harbor Haven board meeting was supposed to be private.
Jennifer made sure it wasn't.
By the time I arrived with Elena, reporters were already gathered outside the downtown conference center.
Someone had leaked the meeting location.
Someone had also told them I would be there.
Cameras flashed as I stepped out of the car.
“Mrs. Martinez! Are you having an affair with Jack Thompson?”
“Did your husband know about the financial investigation?”
“Are you being accused of stealing charity funds?”
I kept walking.
Elena stayed beside me.
“Don't answer anything yet.”
Inside, Jennifer stood near the conference room entrance wearing a pale blue designer suit.
She looked flawless.
Her blond hair fell over one shoulder.
Her diamond earrings caught the light.
When she saw me, she smiled.
“Clare. How brave of you to come.”
I stopped.
“Jennifer.”
She glanced toward Elena.
“Still bringing lawyers everywhere?”
“Still hiding behind other people's marriages?”
Her smile tightened.
“You really should be more careful.”
I held her gaze.
“So should you.”
The board meeting began twenty minutes later.
Jack sat at the head of the table.
Jennifer occupied a chair across from him.
Several trustees and attorneys reviewed the foundation's financial discrepancies.
An independent forensic accountant summarized the preliminary findings.
Suspicious vendor approvals.
Unexplained transfers.
Altered payment descriptions.
Discrepancies affecting housing grants.
Then the accountant displayed a transaction connected to Blue Lantern Holdings.
Jennifer leaned forward.
“There,” she announced. “That's the problem.”
Everyone looked at her.
She pointed toward my name on the document.
“Clare Martinez was controlling that account.”
I felt every eye turn toward me.
Jennifer continued.
“She has the accounting background. She had access to the records. And now she's pretending to be an innocent victim.”
My stomach tightened.
But I remained silent.
Elena responded.
“Mrs. Martinez formally disputes the authorization of that account. The documentation is under investigation.”
Jennifer laughed.
“Of course she disputes it.”
Jack leaned forward.
“Jennifer, let the auditor finish.”
She ignored him.
“Jack, you're being manipulated by a jealous woman who wants revenge against her husband.”
I stood.
The room went quiet.
“Jennifer, may I ask you something?”
She smiled coldly.
“Go ahead.”
“If I created these accounts, why were they receiving payments before David obtained access?”
Her expression flickered.
I continued.
“And why did the earlier approval records contain credentials belonging to an external financial consultant?”
Jennifer folded her arms.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Then maybe you can explain why the vendor descriptions were changed after the original invoices were processed.”
She looked toward Jack.
“This is ridiculous.”
I reached for a copy of the independent audit summary.
“Forty thousand dollars reached a community organization that had been approved for a four-hundred-twenty-thousand-dollar grant.”
A board member frowned.
“What happened to the remaining money?”
“That is what the investigators are determining.”
Jennifer stood abruptly.
“You have no right to accuse me!”
I looked directly at her.
“Then stop accusing me without evidence.”
The room fell silent.
Jack turned toward the trustees.
“As chairman, I'm recommending that Jennifer be suspended from all foundation duties pending the independent investigation.”
Jennifer stared at him.
“You wouldn't dare.”
Jack's expression remained calm.
“I just did.”
Two trustees supported the motion.
Another requested a formal vote.
For the first time, Jennifer appeared genuinely shaken.
Then her phone vibrated.
She looked down.
Whatever she read made the color drain from her face.
She stood.
“I need to leave.”
Jack watched her.
“Jennifer.”
She stopped.
“Your attorney can coordinate the production of the records.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You think you know what's happening?”
Jack said nothing.
Jennifer looked toward me.
Then she smiled.
A terrible, confident smile.
“Clare, you haven't figured out who started this.”
I felt my heartbeat quicken.
“What does that mean?”
She picked up her handbag.
“You think your husband betrayed you?”
“He did.”
Jennifer stepped closer.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
Her voice dropped.
“He wasn't the first.”
Then she walked out.
I immediately called Maya.
No answer.
I tried again.
Straight to voicemail.
And when I checked the financial records on my laptop, I discovered something terrifying.
May you like
The folder named Garden Ideas had registered a recent access from a device I didn't recognize.
Someone had opened my evidence files while I was attending the meeting.
