Page 52 of Miss Treated

I watched her flip to another Excel tab, trying not to stare at the way she quickly processed all the information in the file. “As far as your travel and expense budget, we flew first class to New York. Again, not sure what your company policy is, but if I was looking to save money, I might limit first class to only your father or only for flights over five hours. And although I loved the Four Seasons, you could also introduce a cap on hotel rates. Better yet, if you know ten people per month fly to New York and use hotels, you could negotiate a business rate at those locations. You could do the same thing here in San Diego for people traveling in.”

She had great ideas. “I appreciate all these tips. The fact I need them is yet more evidence I’m not a natural at this.”

“I’d take someone who made an effort to learn over someone to whom it came naturally but didn’t care. But if numbers and operations aren’t your thing, working the room definitely is, judging by the gala we attended. Maybe you belong in sales or marketing.”

Hadn’t my brother said the same thing? Perhaps I’d talk to Shauna about taking on a bigger role in the sales department. “Thank you. Hey, have you decided if you’ll be changing hotels?” I preferred her to move in order to be safe, but ultimately it was her call.

“I didn’t specifically tell my mom which hotel I was staying in. Although I’m directly across from the Chambers Tech office building, there are three other hotels in the near vicinity. I don’t see Joel coming all the way out here, to be honest.”

I wasn’t as convinced, given how pissed he’d been in New York, but I hoped she was right.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Kelsey

Since I hadn’t been able to meet with Mr. Chambers on Friday, I met with him first thing Monday morning.

“Good morning,” I greeted, walking into his office.

“Good morning, Kelsey. Dominic and Barb tell me your New York trip went well.”

“Yes, it did. I have all of the processes documented and sent out the emails yesterday asking for samples.” The samples were about evaluating the company’s current processes, but they would also act as a cover for my true objective when I began digging into the back-end transactions. Now armed with an understanding of the flow of money and who did what, it would be easier for me to follow the transactions.

Over the weekend, I’d started matching the vendor names with the names recorded on the checks. This would ensure someone didn’t change the vendor names and addresses of who received the money after the checks had been issued. Of course, that assumed...

“Does anyone in accounting have access to change things in the back-end database?” I inquired. If so, they had a way to cover their tracks.

“IT would have a list of who has access. Why?”

“Access to the database creates a clear opportunity for fraud.”

“I’ll ask the IT director to send you an access list. Anything else you need?”

“Copies of your lease agreements and large vendor contracts.” I’d compare the amounts in the original contracts with what the company was actually paying. After, I’d go through the last year’s vendor payments and refunds. There were thousands of lines, but I’d sort the vendor names and addresses in a manner which would most easily find anything suspicious.

“Dominic will have hard copies in his files. By the way, what will you have him do to assist?”

God, I hated giving him busy work while I attended to the real job. But what choice did I have? Mr. Chambers had been clear about keeping his son in the dark. “I’ll have him work with the different supervisors to obtain the list of items I requested.”

“Good idea.”

The intercom buzzed, and his administrative assistant’s voice came through. “Sir, your wife is here.”

“Ah, tell her to come in.”

Crap. Personal and professional were about to collide.

Dominic’s mom walked in, but instead of the dreaded, “how nice to see you again,” she looked at her husband before focusing her attention on me. “Hello, I’m Mrs. Anna Chambers.”

If it wasn’t for the wink, I’d have thought I was in the twilight zone. “Hello, Mrs. Chambers. I’m Kelsey Maxwell.”

“Kelsey is the auditor I brought in,” her husband offered before his assistant buzzed again.

“Sorry, sir, I have Dan Mills on the line. He says it’s urgent.”

“Excuse me, ladies. I need a few minutes.” He took the phone and went over by the windows to take the call.

Anna immediately smiled. “Nice to see you again, my dear.”