“Be sure to tell her ‘thank you’ since she likes that phrase so much,” I said. “When will the money hit my preferred bank accounts?”
“Never, Harrison.” He was shaking. “Never.”
“This is beyond confusing,” I said. “Even for you. We either have the money or we don’t, so which one is it?”
“I was reading through everyone’s notes as usual.” He put a hand over his chest. “You know, checking to see what they were thinking—if all the numbers added up, and then I got to Andrea’s…”
“And then, it all started to make sense,” he continued. “The employees with weird titles getting paid for nothing, the lax workplace culture, the crazy benefits, the fact that this place has been stuck at number two for decades…”
He pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and held it out for me.
I stared at it.
It was a doodle of a suited man who looked suspiciously like me—with a knife in his neck. The words “you’re welcome, everyone” were scribbled on the handle.
“This is groundbreaking work from Miss Stone.” I rolled my eyes. “Truly.”
“Look at her words at the bottom…”
I glanced down and read her handwriting.
Offshore accounts.
Private investor payouts?
Quick private sale…
No escrow.
Handwritten & old records = Bernie Madoff vibes
Ponzi scheme?
Sweet Seasons might be a Ponzi scheme.
“No.” I dropped the sheet like it was on fire. “She’swrong.”
“The cafes are a front, Harrison.” His voice trembled. “That’s what the private investors see but…it’s all backed by a pyramid scheme—well, a Ponzi scheme…”
The world blurred around me, and all I saw was gray.
I don’t fall for things like this. This type of thing doesn’t happen to me.
The fuzzy record-keeping. The fake jobs. The missing payroll. All that missing money…
As much as I needed this to be wrong, it was the only thing that made fucking sense.
That old bastard scammed me…
“Where is Mr. Lewis these days?” I asked. “Where the hell does he live?”
“I would tell you, but I think you might kill him.”
“Will, not might.” I gritted my teeth. “You think he knew?”
He shot me a look.
“Of course he knew.” I rubbed my temple. “How much of this company is propped up by the scheme?”
