Chapter 11 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCHThe meeting took place in an abandoned office building near the waterfront.
Miles arrived shortly after sunrise, carrying a briefcase containing copies of the original authorization files. He had told no one where he was going.
A woman waited beside the elevator.
She wore a gray coat and carried no handbag.
"You sent the messages?" Miles asked.
"Yes."
"Who are you?"
"Someone who knows why you moved the money."
Miles studied her face.
He recognized her, though it took several seconds to remember where he had seen her.
She had attended a private investor dinner eighteen months earlier. She had been introduced as a consultant specializing in corporate restructuring.
"You're Nadia Mercer."
"Good. Your memory still works."
Nadia had advised several companies in the health-data industry before disappearing from public business records. Miles had assumed she had moved overseas.
"What do you want?"
"To keep your company from collapsing."
"Why?"
"Because if it collapses, the wrong people lose their money."
Miles opened the briefcase.
"You said you could help me with the second ledger."
Nadia smiled.
"I can help you understand it."
She removed a thin folder from her coat.
Inside were copies of internal transfers, board communications, and a spreadsheet listing several accounts linked to Corrigan Health Systems.
Miles's eyes widened.
"Where did you get these?"
"From the people who designed the original arrangement."
"You knew about the charity transfers?"
"I knew about the financial structure."
"That's not an answer."
Nadia folded her hands.
"The money wasn't moved only to fund your lifestyle, Miles. It was also used to conceal a much larger liability. Someone had to keep the company solvent long enough for certain transactions to mature."
Miles felt a chill.
"What liability?"
"An obligation that never appeared on your public balance sheet."
"Whose obligation?"
Nadia looked at him.
"That depends on what you know about your predecessor."
Miles's predecessor, Charles Corrigan, had founded the company and served as chairman before retiring following a medical emergency.
Miles had inherited the CEO position and believed he had inherited a profitable business.
"What does Charles have to do with this?"
"Everything."
Nadia opened the folder to a page containing an old authorization number.
"The first set of books recorded the debt correctly. The second set concealed it. When Charles became ill, the board decided the company couldn't survive a full disclosure."
"So they falsified the accounts?"
"Some of them."
"Who approved it?"
Nadia's expression remained unreadable.
"Your predecessor. Two directors. And someone who later acquired a controlling interest in the debt."
Miles stared at her.
"Julian Vance."
"Perhaps."
"You're saying Julian arranged the fraud?"
"I'm saying you should stop assuming that the person holding the debt is innocent."
Miles felt anger rise.
"Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"Because you were useful while you believed you controlled the situation."
She closed the folder.
"Now you're desperate. Desperate people are easier to persuade."
Miles reached for the documents.
Nadia pulled them away.
"First, I need something from you."
"What?"
"The original authorization files. Every version. Including the ones you told Donovan to delete."
Miles hesitated.
"Why?"
"Because those records establish who controlled the second set of books."
He studied her face.
Then he handed over the briefcase.
Nadia smiled.
"Excellent."
She walked toward the elevator.
Miles followed.
"Wait. What happens now?"
She turned.
"Now you learn that the scandal you thought you created is older than you are."
The elevator doors opened.
Nadia stepped inside.
Before the doors closed, she delivered one final warning.
"Don't trust Julian Vance."
May you like
The elevator descended.
Miles remained alone in the corridor, realizing he had just handed the most important evidence in his possession to a woman whose motives he did not understand.
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