Chapter 2 - The Approval He Never Signed

Matteo read the page three times.

The signature block looked legitimate.

His name.

His authorization code.

His executive household seal.

Even the time stamp matched the pattern used by his private office.

Only one thing was wrong.

He had never approved it.

“Who has access to my authorization credentials?” he asked.

Dante answered from behind Evelyn. “Your executive assistant, me, and the household manager for domestic spending below ten thousand.”

Matteo looked at Evelyn.

She remained very still.

Marisol said, “Below ten thousand?”

“Yes.”

She tapped the paper.

“This is nine thousand.”

Nobody spoke.

Matteo remembered the missing household charges.

Eight thousand four hundred.

Small enough to avoid obvious alarms.

The surgery request.

Nine thousand.

Also small enough.

“Where did the money go?”

Marisol turned to the computer.

“I need bank records.”

“Get them.”

“I need authorization from you.”

“You have it.”

“I need it on paper.”

Matteo almost smiled.

“You are auditing my forged authorization and still want my real one.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because criminals love impatient men.”

Dante made a sound that might have been a cough hiding a laugh.

Matteo signed.

Marisol scanned the page.

Evelyn finally spoke. “If someone used your code, then your security is the issue.”

Matteo looked at her. “Interesting.”

“What?”

“You are already discussing how it happened before we know who did it.”

“I am offering a reasonable possibility.”

“You have offered many of those today.”

Norah sat with her hands folded tightly.

Matteo turned to her.

“Did Anna receive the money?”

“I don’t know.”

“You told me the request was approved.”

“I found the approval in the archive, but not the transfer confirmation.”

“Why did you keep this from me?”

Norah looked ashamed. “I was afraid.”

“Of Evelyn?”

“Yes.”

Evelyn gave a short laugh. “This is absurd.”

Norah looked at her.

“You threatened to have my husband’s landscaping company removed from every Moretti commercial property.”

Matteo’s eyes moved to Evelyn.

She did not deny it.

“Why?”

“She was copying confidential accounting records.”

“Were the records wrong?”

“That does not matter.”

“It matters more than anything else in this room.”

Marisol’s laptop chimed.

“Bank access is active.”

She began searching.

Matteo turned to Dante.

“Bring Anna here.”

Evelyn said, “That is unnecessary.”

“Everything you call unnecessary has become interesting to me.”

Dante left.

Three minutes later, Anna entered alone.

“Lily is asleep in the sitting room,” she said quickly. “One of the kitchen girls is with her.”

Matteo gestured to the chair.

“Sit.”

Anna did, but her back remained straight.

“Norah says you requested an emergency advance for Lily’s surgery.”

Anna’s face changed.

Not surprise.

Humiliation.

Matteo hated recognizing it.

“Yes.”

“Nine thousand dollars?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you ask me?”

“Because the hospital wanted a deposit before they would schedule the specialist.”

“You had insurance.”

“It covered most of it. Not all.”

“And you could not pay the difference.”

“No.”

“What happened after you submitted the request?”

Anna looked toward Evelyn.

“Mrs. Crane told me it was rejected.”

The room became still.

Matteo asked, “Did she show you the rejection?”

“No.”

“What exactly did she say?”

Anna clasped her hands.

“She said Mr. Moretti does not finance personal problems.”

Something hot moved through Matteo’s chest.

He kept his voice calm.

“What else?”

Anna hesitated.

“Tell me.”

“She said if I could not manage the responsibilities of employment and motherhood, I should reconsider whether this position was appropriate.”

Norah whispered, “God.”

Evelyn stiffened. “I was protecting household standards.”

Matteo ignored her.

“What did you do?” he asked Anna.

“I borrowed money.”

“From whom?”

“My brother. A credit union. Two online lenders.”

“How much?”

“Enough.”

“That is not a number.”

Anna looked directly at him. “Enough to still be paying it.”

The answer stopped him.

He had spent more than nine thousand dollars the previous month replacing a watch he had left in a hotel safe because he disliked asking the hotel to ship it.

Anna had gone into debt for her daughter while someone used his name to pretend help had been given.

He looked at Marisol.

“Find the transfer.”

“I’m looking.”

Evelyn spoke sharply. “You cannot blame me because Mrs. Mercer made poor financial decisions.”

Anna stood.

“Do not.”

Everyone looked at her.

The quiet housekeeper was gone.

For the first time, Matteo saw anger without fear covering it.

“Do not talk about my daughter like she was a bad purchase.”

Evelyn’s eyes widened.

Anna stepped closer.

“I came to you because the handbook said employees could request emergency medical advances. I filled out every form. I gave you the hospital estimate. I gave you the surgeon’s letter.”

“Anna,” Norah said softly.

But Anna continued.

“You looked me in the face and told me he said no.”

Evelyn recovered. “And perhaps he would have.”

Matteo’s voice cut through the room.

“No.”

Evelyn turned.

He stood now.

“I would not have.”

Anna stared at him.

Matteo continued. “I would have approved it.”

Evelyn’s jaw tightened. “You cannot know what decision you would have made months ago.”

“I know exactly what decision I make when a four-year-old needs surgery.”

“You did not even know her.”

“I did not need to.”

Marisol raised one hand.

“I found something.”

Everyone turned.

She rotated the laptop.

“The nine-thousand-dollar advance left the household reserve account two days after the approval.”

Anna’s breathing changed.

“Where?” Matteo asked.

“To a payment processor.”

“Which one?”

“Northstar Employee Services.”

Evelyn said immediately, “Payroll vendor.”

Marisol nodded. “They do payroll support for several private households.”

“So the transfer could be legitimate,” Evelyn said.

Marisol continued, “Except Northstar did not receive it.”

Matteo leaned forward.

“What do you mean?”

“The routing information belongs to a different institution using Northstar’s name in the memo field.”

“Whose institution?”

“A local credit union.”

“Account holder?”

“I need a subpoena or cooperation from the bank.”

Matteo took out his phone.

Marisol lifted a finger. “Legally.”

He lowered it.

“You are very committed to making my life boring.”

“I am committed to making evidence usable.”

Dante asked, “Can we trace any linked payments without the account holder?”

“Yes.”

Marisol typed.

Then she stopped.

“What?” Matteo asked.

“There are recurring transfers out.”

“To whom?”

“One is a medical debt collection company.”

Anna frowned.

Marisol looked at her.

“Mercer Family Surgical Account.”

Anna went pale.

“That’s mine.”

Matteo stared at the screen.

“Someone stole nine thousand dollars in her name and then used part of it to pay her debt?”

Marisol shook her head.

“Not exactly. The debt payment was six hundred dollars.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Norah whispered, “To keep her from defaulting.”

Matteo looked at her.

She swallowed.

“If the debt went into collections too quickly, Anna might have asked questions. She might have gone back to payroll or requested another advance.”

Anna stared at Evelyn.

“You knew.”

Evelyn’s face hardened. “You are all constructing a story because you want one.”

Marisol clicked again.

“Another transfer went to Briarwood Mobility Solutions.”

Anna frowned. “What is that?”

Norah answered before anyone else.

“They make orthopedic equipment.”

Anna looked confused.

“I bought Lily’s brace through St. Anne’s.”

Matteo’s instincts sharpened.

“How much went to Briarwood?”

“Two thousand four hundred.”

“That is not a brace,” Anna said.

“No,” Marisol replied. “It looks like a deposit.”

“For what?”

Marisol opened the vendor website.

Wheelchairs.

Home ramps.

Therapy devices.

Custom pediatric mobility systems.

Anna moved closer.

“I never ordered anything from them.”

Matteo’s phone rang.

Dante glanced at the screen.

“Security gate.”

Matteo answered.

A guard spoke quickly.

Then Matteo’s expression changed.

“What do you mean, someone is here for Anna?”

Anna turned toward him.

The guard continued.

Matteo put the call on speaker.

“We have a courier from Briarwood Mobility Solutions, sir. He says there’s a delivery requiring Mrs. Mercer’s signature.”

Anna whispered, “I didn’t order anything.”

Matteo looked at Evelyn.

For the first time that morning, she looked genuinely frightened.

“What is the delivery?” Matteo asked.

The guard paused.

“A custom pediatric wheelchair.”

Anna gripped the desk.

Lily could walk.

With difficulty, yes.

With a brace, yes.

But she could walk.

Matteo’s voice dropped.

“Do not let the courier leave.”

He ended the call.

Anna stared at Evelyn.

“Why would anyone order my daughter a wheelchair?”

Nobody answered.

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Then Norah whispered the question Matteo was already thinking.

“Unless someone expected her to need one.”