Chapter 8 - THE PEOPLE WHO NEVER RECEIVED THE CHILDCARE THEY WERE BILLED FOR
The audit interviewed twenty-seven employees.
Fourteen had questionable NorthSound claims.
Nine said they never received care.
Three received care on different dates than the invoices.
One did not remember.
One refused to participate.
Fair.
The pattern was enough to continue.
Rochelle returned for an investigative interview with counsel.
She denied creating fake claims.
She admitted approving invoices.
She said NorthSound handled confirmations.
Then investigators showed her my seven claims.
Wrong phone number.
Wrong caregiver names.
Two dates when I had taken unpaid absences.
Rochelle said:
“I relied on the vendor.”
Then they showed her manager notes.
January 12:
BRIELLE ASKED ABOUT CHILDCARE. ADVISED NO PROGRAM AVAILABLE FOR HOURLY STAFF.
I was hourly.
The program included full-time hourly staff.
Rochelle had known.
“Why did you tell her no?”
Her lawyer asked for a break.
Afterward, she said:
“I misunderstood eligibility.”
Then another note.
March 8:
JUDITH — USE DAWSON ID FOR PILOT HOURS.
The room changed.
Rochelle said she did not remember writing it.
Forensics confirmed the note came from her company account.
That still did not prove what “pilot hours” meant.
Then the money trail arrived.
NorthSound paid:
PIERCE OPERATIONS CONSULTING LLC.
$36,000 over two years.
Rochelle’s company.
She called it implementation consulting.
No contract found.
No work product beyond six PowerPoint slides.
Could be overpriced work.
Could be kickbacks.
Authorities could decide.
Everett did not.
He kept saying:
“We investigate. We do not invent.”
I understood why he had stayed wealthy.
Not because he was brilliant.
Because he knew when not to claim more than the evidence gave him.
Then the audit found nine employees whose emergency-care benefits had been fully used on paper.
Meaning if they actually asked for help, the system would show no days remaining.
One was a line cook named Daniela Ruiz.
Her daycare closed after a water leak.
Rochelle told her:
“You’ve already used your emergency days.”
Daniela had never used one.
She missed two shifts.
Received a written warning.
Started crying during the interview.
“I thought I forgot.”
That sentence hurt.
The fraud, if that was what it became legally, did not only take company money.
It made workers doubt themselves.
It created absences.
Warnings.
Lost tips.
Bad evaluations.
Exactly the type of records Mason had attached against me.
Then audit counsel compared employee disciplinary history with NorthSound claims.
Workers with questionable care billing had higher attendance warnings.
Because the benefit they thought they didn’t have could not solve the emergencies they actually faced.
That was the real damage.
Mason called that night.
“We need to talk.”
“Through Dana.”
“About my mother.”
I hesitated.
“Five minutes.”
“She’s blaming me.”
“For?”
“NorthSound.”
“Did you have a twenty-percent profit interest?”
Silence.
“Yes.”
“Would it become forty-five after renewal?”
“Yes.”
“Did you disclose that in child support?”
“No.”
Clean.
At least.
“Why?”
“I thought it wasn’t vested.”
“It was twenty percent already.”
“Yes.”
“Mason.”
“I was hiding income.”
There.
No mother.
No accounting language.
“What else?”
He breathed out.
“I knew the billing was aggressive.”
“What does that mean?”
“I knew Mom estimated care usage.”
“Estimated children being watched?”
“I knew some claims were based on benefit allocation, not actual care.”
“That is a sentence designed by someone who wants jail to sound boring.”
“Brielle.”
“What?”
“I did not know your name was being used.”
I believed he might be telling the truth.
“Did you know Rochelle denied employees access?”
“I knew some managers weren’t promoting the benefit.”
“Why?”
“Because actual care cost more than administrative claims.”
My body went cold.
There it was.
NorthSound made more money when it billed a care day without paying a caregiver.
Simple.
“Did you tell your mother to stop?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Money.”
Clean.
Disgusting.
“What about Elodie?”
He started crying.
“Not the same.”
“Then prove it.”
“How?”
“Tell me why you filed for primary custody.”
“I wanted her.”
“That’s not enough.”
“I wanted more time.”
“And support?”
Silence.
“Financial discovery?”
Another silence.
“Mason.”
“My lawyer said if I became primary parent, support would probably reverse.”
There.
“And?”
“And the case might settle without digging through NorthSound.”
My chest tightened.
That was close.
Not complete.
Then Dana received a subpoena response from Mason’s prior family lawyer.
One consultation note.
Six months earlier.
CLIENT CONCERN: business income / vendor profit interest may become discoverable in child-support modification.
May you like
RECOMMENDS RESOLVING PARENTING STRUCTURE BEFORE FINANCIAL MOTION.
The custody fight and NorthSound had been connected from the beginning.
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