The billionaire looked toward his financial officer.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
The officer adjusted his tie.
“We believed it was a routine administrative issue.”
The CEO looked toward him.
“Your maintenance team raised it more than once.”
He stared.
She continued.
“And our reviewers requested additional evidence.”
The officer's voice hardened.
“We provided revised summaries.”
The CEO nodded.
“Yes.”
Then she asked, “Who verified the revisions?”
The financial officer looked toward the younger executive.
The younger man swallowed.
“The maintenance department coordinated with the outside provider.”
The CEO turned toward him.
“Who signed the relevant technical statement?”
He hesitated.
Then looked down at the report.
The billionaire became impatient.
“Answer her.”
The younger executive took a breath.
“The summary was prepared through our internal records process.”
The reviewer leaned forward.
“That wasn't the question.”
Silence.
The younger executive looked toward the financial officer.
Then toward the billionaire.
Finally, he admitted, “I don't know who verified every underlying entry.”
The billionaire's face hardened.
He leaned back.
For several seconds, he stared at the ceiling.
Then he spoke quietly.
“Get the maintenance department.”
The financial officer looked uncomfortable.
“Sir, I think we should—”
“Get them.”
No one argued.
The maintenance technician was replacing labels on a storage cabinet when her supervisor approached.
She looked up.
He seemed unusually tense.
“The executive office wants to see you.”
Her stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Something about the acquisition.”
She put down the label printer.
For a moment, she imagined the worst.
Termination.
Another shift reassignment.
An accusation that she'd delayed the transaction.
She remembered the other employees who had quietly stopped raising concerns after management criticized them.
Then she thought about the original discrepancy.
The records she couldn't verify.
And the repeated assurances that everything was fine.
She removed her gloves.
“Should I bring the documentation?”
Her supervisor hesitated.
“Yes.”
She walked to her desk.
Collected the authorized records relevant to the issue.
Then followed him toward the executive offices.
As they approached the conference room, she could see the people seated inside.
The billionaire.
The chief financial officer.
The operations executive.
Several attorneys.
And a woman in an extraordinary blue dress.
The technician recognized her immediately.
She had seen photographs of Meridian's CEO in industry publications.