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“Because it was mine, for the store.”
“Do you have the invoices to prove it?”
There was a long pause where Karl said nothing. “I must have them.”
“So, what you’re saying is that you bought from his suppliers, and you put it in his warehouse space instead of your own inventory space and no one noticed when counting things. And then, when it was pointed out, you allowed him to count it as part of his inventory. That’s bad news for you and bad business for him, so why would you do that?”
“I needed it to appear that the business was doing better than it was, so I purchased inventory from my own accounts to sell from my store to boost my revenue on the books. I used the account I newly opened with James’ distributors because their cost point is insignificant compared to others.”
“You know what this looks like.”
“I do. It looks like I’m somehow getting inventory under the table. I’ll show you what is really going on. There are smaller boxes because they are small things for the cages and a few little things to send home with the animals, stones and so on. Exotic animals are pricier than people realize, and the markup isn’t as much as you would think.”
“But that means you are competing with Dad’s business, and you contracted not to do that when Dad fronted the money for you to open your pet shop.”
There was silence for a few moments. “I didn’t think you knew that.”
“Dad has told me everything because when he no longer runs things, I’ll take it over but from a distance. You have a non-compete clause and you still haven’t paid back his investment,despite having money for overflow backstock and a new house and car.”
“I’m being honest when I say the business isn’t doing as well as I had hoped.”
Something didn’t ring true. The car he drove was about fifty thousand dollars, and his house was new in the last five years.
“Then how do you make the payments on that car and your house?”
“Luckily, they are paid off.”
“If your business isn’t doing well, how can that even be?”
There was a silence that spoke volumes to Becky. “Just come this weekend. I’ll show you.”
“You have invoices and payment trails?”
“Of course. Just come.”
Now he was sounding like he was becoming desperate for her to come. Becky knew Carter nor anyone else would let that happen. She would be getting her car back tomorrow with the information they gathered. Another meeting would be happening, and Becky wasn’t sure if she should bring this up or not. She had already sent the results to her father’s private email and the cloud. Now what?
Did she ask Jessie to work on this more or just leave it to the accountant? Becky had hoped that since Jessie couldn’t do much in a day and certainly couldn’t walk around as she had expected, helping her work on the accounting problem would lower her frustration and loneliness. But would it be too much to continue using her help? She called Jessie to discuss it.
“You don’t know how much I love a problem to sink my teeth into. The others come by, but I worked on exciting projects before coming to Jac. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happier than I’ve ever been, but sometimes I miss it. You have saved me from insanity, and I can’t thank you enough. Now, let’s plot our next course of action.”
There was so much to untangle, and Becky remembered how crazy Mark had been when the love of his life got in the way of a government official and that official’s efforts to step up to more prominent and higher positions. This wasn’t nearly as big a deal, of course. And Becky was thankful that Jessie was anxious to join her in untangling the mess. It made it easier to manage.
Mark’s agreement that it wouldn’t hurt her to find out why there was such a difference in numbers made things more relaxed. The problem was, the deeper Jessie dug, the more obvious it had become. Something was illegal in this set up and she was afraid to discover who and what was involved. Now with her uncle’s most recent call, it made more sense and yet it still wasn’t right.
Becky started to withdraw, having a hard time knowing things were not on the up and up. And she wasn’t working, not what she was used to and that depressed her mood more. She wasn’t sleeping well or eating well despite her watch guard getting stern. Carter was careful to give her space and yet, not let her get into her own head for too long, but things were getting harder.
She decided to go back to her parents’ home, but how to tell Carter was another story. She chose to stay home more and more until after two weeks and nothing else was discovered, she sent Jac her resignation.
“Since I can’t come and do my full job, and there is no end to this seclusion with insufficient information to go forward, I am submitting my resignation. Effective immediately.”
Becky watched Jac’s name come up on her cell phone as he called her not a minute after she had emailed the note. She ignored the message, and it went to voice mail. Carter came into the office a couple of minutes later.
“Baby?”
“I’m not talking about it.”
She pushed past him and left the room. Becky was under no illusion that if he wanted her to stop, he could have just filled the door, but he let her walk past him. It was obvious that even he thought maybe it was time to back up. He’d say he was doing what she wanted him to do, but she could see the handwriting on the wall.
