Chapter 3 - The Accountant in the Lion’s Den
Victor’s office occupied the top floor of Moretti Tower.
It did not resemble the lair Tessa expected. There were no gold statues or visible weapons. The room contained dark wood, clean lines, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a view of Manhattan glowing beneath the night sky.
Gabriel placed the leather case on Victor’s desk.
Victor entered a code.
Inside were three paper ledgers, two encrypted drives, and a black notebook.
Tessa stared at the documents.
“You keep physical records?”
“Digital records can be altered remotely,” Victor said. “Paper must be stolen in person.”
Gabriel folded his arms. “She should not see any of this.”
Victor opened one ledger. “Someone stole the case, Gabriel.”
“And failed.”
“Only because a waitress knew the service corridors better than our security team.”
Gabriel’s eyes settled on Tessa.
She felt the threat in them.
Victor pushed the ledger toward her.
“Look.”
Tessa did not touch it.
“What exactly am I looking for?”
“Proof that you are useful.”
“That is not an accounting instruction.”
Victor sat behind the desk. “Oakmont Holdings has reported lower returns for six consecutive months. Gabriel says the losses come from bad investments. I believe someone is moving money.”
Gabriel’s voice hardened. “You believe me incapable of controlling my own division?”
“I believe numbers.”
Tessa pulled the ledger closer.
The records appeared legitimate at first. Real-estate investments, hospitality loans, consulting fees, and foreign transfers.
Then she noticed recurring payments to three vendors.
“Do you have invoices for Belmont Advisory, Armitage Shipping, and North Coast Security?”
Gabriel answered. “They are subcontractors.”
“All three use the same rounding pattern.”
Victor leaned forward. “Explain.”
“The invoices are different amounts, but the cents repeat in a mathematical sequence. Real expenses don’t usually behave like that.”
She examined another page.
“And the transfers occur every second Thursday, regardless of holidays.”
Gabriel scoffed. “That proves nothing.”
“It proves someone automated them.”
Tessa flipped through more pages.
“North Coast Security receives payment for services at properties that were sold months earlier.”
Victor’s eyes moved to Gabriel.
Gabriel’s face remained controlled. “Clerical errors.”
“Millions of dollars in clerical errors?” Tessa asked.
He stepped toward her.
Victor spoke without raising his voice. “Stop.”
Gabriel halted.
Tessa continued examining the records.
One company appeared repeatedly: Bellweather Imports.
“Who owns Bellweather?”
“No one you need to know,” Gabriel said.
Victor answered, “A man named Sebastian Rourke.”
Tessa looked up. “The casino owner?”
Victor nodded.
Liam had lost the fifty thousand dollars in one of Rourke’s private poker rooms.
She looked back at the ledger.
“Oakmont sends money to Bellweather. Bellweather operates the games where borrowers lose the same money you lent them.”
Gabriel’s expression changed.
Tessa saw it.
Only for a second.
But Victor saw it too.
“Continue,” he said.
“The debt is designed to fail,” Tessa said. “Oakmont lends money to vulnerable gamblers. Rourke’s tables take it back. Then Oakmont collects the debt again through property, businesses, or violence.”
Gabriel slammed his palm onto the desk. “Enough.”
Tessa flinched.
Victor did not.
“Why does the truth offend you?” he asked.
“You are allowing a stranger to accuse me based on an hour with incomplete records.”
“She has identified more in one hour than your auditors found in six months.”
“Your auditors know when to keep their mouths shut.”
Tessa slowly looked at Victor.
Victor’s expression became empty.
“What does that mean?” he asked.
Gabriel realized his mistake.
“Nothing.”
“No,” Victor said. “It meant something.”
Gabriel straightened his jacket. “I am tired. We all are. Questioning loyalty after an attack is not productive.”
“Then go home.”
Gabriel hesitated.
Victor’s voice became colder. “Now.”
After Gabriel left, Tessa released a breath.
“He is stealing from you.”
Victor remained silent.
“You already suspected him,” she said.
“I suspected someone.”
“You brought me here because I had no connection to your organization. You wanted an outsider.”
“I brought you here because you approached me.”
“That isn’t the whole truth.”
“No.”
Victor walked to the window.
Tessa studied him.
“You don’t trust Gabriel.”
“He saved my life twelve years ago.”
“That doesn’t mean he won’t betray you now.”
Victor looked at her reflection in the glass.
“You are very comfortable discussing betrayal for a woman who met me tonight.”
“I’m not comfortable. I’m terrified.”
“You hide it well.”
“I’ve spent years serving wealthy people. Hiding discomfort is part of the job.”
He looked back at her.
“I will pay you ten thousand dollars for seventy-two hours.”
“And Liam’s debt?”
“If you prove Gabriel is stealing from me, the debt disappears.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Your brother gets the original arrangement.”
Tessa’s voice lowered. “Death?”
“Repayment.”
“You know he can’t repay it.”
Victor said nothing.
She stood.
“Then I’ll prove it.”
Victor handed her an access card.
“You will work from the office beside mine. You will not copy files, contact the police, or leave without security.”
“Am I an employee or a prisoner?”
“For the next seventy-two hours, the difference is academic.”
Tessa turned toward the door.
“Miss Montgomery.”
She looked back.
Victor placed the black notebook on his desk.
“You asked me to spare your brother.”
“Yes.”
“If Gabriel is responsible for the attack tonight, your brother’s debt is the smallest part of this.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means Gabriel did not just steal money.”
Victor opened the notebook.
Inside was a list of names.
Judges. Police commanders. Politicians.
May you like
Beside each name was a number.
“He has been selling my entire organization,” Victor said.
