Chapter 3 - Four Years of Missing Money
Mason spent the next three days buried in numbers.
He stopped trusting explanations.
He stopped trusting signatures.
Most importantly, he stopped trusting people.
Every invoice was compared against delivery logs.
Every delivery log was compared against inventory records.
Every supplier was contacted independently.
The results were devastating.
Four years.
Four entire years.
The Grand Crest had been paying for products it never received.
But the theft was more sophisticated than Mason had imagined.
The same invoice would pass through purchasing, accounting, and management approval.
Nobody person was stealing everything.
Instead, each department handled a small piece.
A supplier inflated a price.
A kitchen manager confirmed delivery.
An accountant processed payment.
A manager approved the invoice.
The difference was split between several people.
No single transaction was large enough to trigger immediate investigation.
Thousands of small thefts became millions.
Andrea found another pattern.
“Look at these.”
She placed two spreadsheets beside each other.
“Same supplier.”
“Different company names?”
“Exactly.”
Mason leaned closer.
The supplier receiving the largest payments was called Lone Star Premium Foods.
But the company's state registration showed something strange.
Its listed owner was a man named Calvin Reese.
Andrea then opened another document.
“Calvin Reese is the brother-in-law of Richard Hale.”
Mason stared at the screen.
“And who introduced the supplier to us?”
Andrea hesitated.
“Rebecca Shaw.”
Mason leaned back.
The room became silent.
“Keep going.”
The fraudulent suppliers were connected through relatives, former employees, shell companies, and friends.
Brandon had not acted alone.
Richard had approved.
Rebecca had facilitated.
But there was another person who appeared repeatedly.
Daniel Cross.
The hotel's former controller.
He had left two years earlier.
His replacement had been Rebecca's recommendation.
Mason remembered him.
Quiet.
Competent.
Forgettable.
Exactly the kind of person nobody suspected.
Mason asked Andrea to investigate Daniel.
She returned two hours later.
“He owns a consulting company.”
“For accounting?”
“Yes.”
“Clients?”
“Several hospitality businesses.”
Mason frowned.
“Competitors?”
Andrea nodded.
“One of them is owned by Victor Kane.”
Mason's expression changed.
Victor Kane was one of the wealthiest hotel developers in Texas.
He had been trying to buy the Grand Crest for years.
Mason had refused every offer.
“Pull every communication between Rebecca and Victor.”
“We may need legal authorization.”
Mason called his attorney.
“We're getting it.”
That afternoon, Mason returned to the hotel.
Brandon was waiting.
He looked exhausted.
“You're destroying my career.”
Mason placed Joanne's letter on the desk.
“You destroyed hers.”
Brandon stared at it.
“I didn't write that.”
“No.”
“I made mistakes.”
“You lied.”
Brandon lowered his head.
Mason sat across from him.
“How much?”
Brandon stayed silent.
“How much have you been paid?”
“It wasn't like that.”
“Then explain it.”
Brandon rubbed his face.
“Richard told us there was a bonus arrangement.”
Mason's eyes narrowed.
“Us?”
“Several managers.”
“What bonus?”
“We were told the hotel had budget flexibility.”
“Meaning?”
“Buy lower, report higher, save the difference.”
Mason stared.
“And who received the difference?”
Brandon looked away.
“Cash.”
“From whom?”
“Richard.”
“And Rebecca?”
“Sometimes.”
“Did she know?”
Brandon laughed bitterly.
“She's the one who told us how to hide it.”
Mason's stomach twisted.
“Why did you accuse Joanne?”
Brandon looked at the letter.
“She found the records.”
“So?”
“She wouldn't stop.”
“Meaning?”
“She threatened to go directly to you.”
“She did.”
Brandon closed his eyes.
“We couldn't let her.”
“Who said that?”
“Richard.”
“And the food in her locker?”
Brandon hesitated.
“I didn't put it there.”
“Who did?”
“Security.”
“Which guard?”
“Tommy.”
Mason stood.
“Call him.”
Tommy arrived twenty minutes later.
He looked nervous.
Mason showed him a photograph of Joanne.
“Did you put food in her locker?”
Tommy stared at the floor.
“Yes.”
“Who ordered you?”
Tommy whispered, “Richard.”
“Why?”
“He said you wanted her fired.”
Mason's jaw tightened.
“He used my name.”
“Yes.”
“Did you believe him?”
Tommy nodded.
“Why?”
“He showed me a message.”
“What message?”
“A text.”
“From me?”
Tommy nodded.
Mason's heart stopped.
“Show me.”
Tommy pulled out his phone.
The message was real.
But Mason knew instantly.
He had never sent it.
Someone had spoofed his number.
The text said:
“Joanne Parker is to be removed immediately. Do not allow her to return.”
Mason stared at it.
“How long ago?”
“Three years and eight months.”
Mason took a breath.
Three years.
Eight months.
Joanne had been carrying the accusation for years.
He had spent that entire time believing she had been fired for theft.
Now he knew she had been framed.
But there was still one question.
Why?
Why go through all this trouble over a kitchen employee?
The answer appeared when Andrea entered carrying another folder.
“We found the largest discrepancy.”
Mason opened it.
It was not food.
It was a hotel renovation contract.
Five million dollars.
The contract had been awarded to a construction company called Vantage Hospitality Services.
The registered owner was Victor Kane's nephew.
Mason looked up.
“So this isn't about the kitchen.”
Andrea shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed to the paperwork.
“These inflated restaurant expenses were used to hide money moving into renovation accounts.”
Mason understood.
The hotel had been systematically drained.
But that was not the only purpose.
The financial losses were making the Grand Crest look weaker.
Occupancy was down.
Profit was down.
Expenses were high.
Someone had been manufacturing a financial crisis.
Mason felt the pieces coming together.
Victor Kane had tried to buy the hotel for years.
If Mason became desperate enough, he might sell.
And if he didn't?
They could force him into debt.
Mason suddenly realized why the hotel's numbers had deteriorated so quickly.
Someone wasn't just stealing money.
Someone was trying to make the hotel look like a failing business.
And Joanne had discovered it.
She wasn't fired because she knew about bad food.
She was fired because she accidentally found the beginning of a takeover scheme.
Mason looked at Joanne's notebook again.
At the bottom of the final page was one sentence.
“They don't want the hotel.”
He stared.
There was more.
“They want Mason to believe the hotel is worthless.”
Mason slowly closed the notebook.
May you like
The real enemy had been planning this for years.
And Mason had no idea how close they were to succeeding.
