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“Exactly. One evening I was in the office after hours, and because of my position in the company, I was able to access the accounts payable and receivables.”
“What did you find?”
“Lots. But a few days later my access was denied.”
“That sounds rather suspicious.”
“You got that right. But I was able to print out some of the invoices before I got shut out. Always better to have a hard copy. I figured I could study them at home without worrying about someone looking over my shoulder.”
“True.”
“Now I’m paranoid.” Zoe sighed.
“You? Never,” Izzie said quite confidently.
“Up until now.” Zoe gulped. “I think I’m being followed.”
“Seriously? Why?” Izzie was stunned.
“Because those invoices don’t add up. What we are telling the clients and what we are charging the clients for is vastly different from what we are supplying.”
“What do you mean?”
“The invoice states we provide U. S.-grade materials, as per part five hundred and twelve of the National Engineering Manual. You know what I’m talking about.”
“Yes, of course. The Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.”
“Correct.” Zoe nodded. “The paper trail leads to the Dominican Republic, but the company listed on the invoice doesn’t exist. El Cemento.”
“Wait. What you’re saying is REBAR is getting materials from an unsupervised offshore company?”
“Seems that way,” Zoe said. “And they are falsifying the records.”
“Is there anything you can do about it?”
“You mean, like whistleblowing?”
“Well, yeah.”
“That’s why I think I’m being followed. Someone wants to be sure I don’t blow the whistle. I think they’re using intimidation tactics. And they’re working.” Zoe took a sip of her coffee. “The other day I was on a very crowded subway platform and someone gave me a serious nudge. I lost my footing. Thankfully, there were two people standing next to me, and they grabbed me and kept me from falling. I was perilously close to hitting the tracks.”
“Oh my God! Zoe! That is horrible. No wonder you’re all wound up.” Izzie placed her arm around her friend. Her first thought was to go to Myra with this information and get her advice. “Listen, I have friends who are familiar with problems such as yours.”
“Subpar building supplies?” Zoe looked perplexed.
“No. Ruthless people.” Izzie grabbed her cell phone and punched in Myra’s phone number.
Myra answered right away. “Izzie, honey. How are you?”
“Hey, Myra. I’m fine. And you?”
“All good at the farm. I’m trying to talk Charles into going to France to take a cooking class with me.”
“That could be exciting! Not that he needs any tutorials.”
“It would just be for fun, really,” Myra added. “Tell me, what’s going on in your life? How is the project coming along?”
“We have a little bit of a holdup on the foundation materials.”
