Chapter 6 - Paula Returns With A Hidden Backup
Paula Jensen returned to the hotel the next morning with an external
drive.
She had not quit.
She had left because someone followed her into the parking garage.
A black SUV remained behind her for six blocks.
She panicked and drove to her sister’s house.
Before leaving, she copied vendor records.
Paula had been investigating irregular payments for three weeks.
Blanc & Rowe was only one of four suspicious vendors.
Combined payments totaled $1.3 million.
The vendors shared two things.
Similar invoice formatting.
And bank accounts connected through a financial intermediary called
Hartwell Management.
Ryan knew Hartwell.
Very well.
His college roommate, Owen Hart, controlled it.
Ryan admitted that.
He said Hartwell handled payment processing for dozens of companies.
Paula’s backup showed something else.
Every suspicious vendor had been added shortly after Crestwell Events
began managing large private events for the hotel.
Nathan asked why the finance team never flagged the pattern.
Paula looked embarrassed.
Because the invoices were kept below automatic review thresholds.
And because each one appeared to have executive approval.
Nathan’s.
The forged authorization mattered more than the total amount.
Someone was not merely overbilling.
Someone had built a system around Nathan’s identity.
Then Paula opened an email archive.
One message came from Ryan.
Subject:
KEEP EMILY OFF ADMIN FLOOR TONIGHT.
Nathan read it twice.
Ryan claimed it referred to guest privacy.
The attached message said otherwise.
SHE SAW TOO MUCH IN THE EVENT OFFICE.
Nathan leaned back.
There it was.
May you like
Not proof of theft.
But proof that Emily’s humiliation had a purpose.
