Chapter 2 - CLAIRE CARTER HAD BEEN PAID $417,860
Marcus stared at his screen.
Then frowned.
Once.
Twice.
“Vincent.”
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
David stepped forward.
“I can explain the payroll delay.”
Marcus ignored him.
“Claire Carter isn’t listed as unpaid.”
Vincent looked at the work log again.
“What does that mean?”
“She has reported wages.”
David immediately relaxed.
“Exactly.”
Then Marcus continued.
“And consulting payments.”
David stopped breathing normally.
Vincent looked at him.
“What consulting payments?”
Marcus rotated the tablet.
CARTER HOSPITALITY SOLUTIONS LLC
Year-to-date payments:
$417,860
Even Rory understood that was a large number.
“Mom doesn’t have that much.”
Before Vincent could answer, a voice exploded from behind them.
“RORY!”
Claire pushed through the dining room in a black apron, hair damp from the kitchen heat.
She grabbed her daughter.
“I told you to stay in the office.”
Rory burst into tears.
“I’m sorry.”
Claire held her.
Then noticed every face turned toward them.
Vincent offered the work log.
“Is this yours?”
Claire’s embarrassment became anger.
“Rory took it from my purse.”
“Are the hours accurate?”
“Yes.”
“How much have you been paid in the last eleven weeks?”
Claire looked toward David.
“Nothing.”
Marcus asked:
“Do you own Carter Hospitality Solutions?”
“What?”
“An LLC.”
“I don’t own an LLC.”
“Have you ever received consulting payments from Sterling Hospitality?”
Claire actually laughed.
Then saw nobody else was laughing.
“I’m waiting tables because I can’t buy groceries.”
Marcus’s expression flattened.
David recovered quickly.
“Claire used to work in our office.”
She turned toward him.
“What are you doing?”
“She had administrative access.”
Vincent looked at David.
“Are you accusing her of creating the company?”
“I’m saying we should investigate before everybody decides I’m a criminal because a child brought you a sad piece of paper.”
Rory flinched.
Claire stepped forward.
“Don’t talk about my daughter.”
David ignored her.
“I gave Claire flexibility. Advances. Extra shifts.”
“You scheduled me fourteen days straight.”
“Because you begged for hours.”
“Because you weren’t paying for the ones I already worked!”
Phones were coming out now.
David noticed.
“Everybody put those away.”
Nobody did.
Vincent did not threaten him.
He did something far more dangerous.
He called his general counsel.
Then the bank.
Then an outside forensic accounting firm.
Sterling Hospitality could not be seized because Vincent was angry.
David still legally controlled the restaurant.
But Vincent’s investment agreements gave his fund audit rights and consent rights over certain distributions.
By dinner, those distributions were frozen pending review.
Payroll records went under preservation notice.
Vendor ledgers were copied.
David could still walk into his office.
He just could no longer quietly erase the past.
Vincent turned toward Claire.
“Your wage claim will need to go through the proper process.”
Disappointment crossed her face.
Then he added:
“But no one is destroying another record.”
That difference mattered.
May you like
Because by midnight, Marcus discovered Carter Hospitality Solutions was real.
And somebody had built it using Claire’s identity.
