Page 69 of Crude Heir

“A few months ago, Kelly Oil & Gas found an anomaly in their accounting.” There’s a round of foot-shuffling and a low-volume curse as he dives into the heart of the matter. “Derrick and Nicole have traced the manipulation back to our area, specifically, to La Escuadra.”

“How much money are we talking?” Sage, the security lead, breaks in during the brief silence with the question that’s sure to be on everyone’s mind.

“Millions,” Nicole speaks up, her voice somber. “Tens of millions, actually.”

The revelation lands like a bombshell. Sage’s mouth literally drops open in shock.

Ezequiel drags his hand down his face in disbelief then folds his arms over his broad chest.

The hardest hit seems to be Bill. He lowers his head, slowly shaking it in dismay.

Elena takes Addler’s hand, squeezing his fingers.

“What’s happened before today doesn’t affect the new company’s bottom line. I made sure there was a clause included in the contact in that regard.”

“Thank goodness,” Bill mutters, looking like he just aged a few more years, while the others give a relieved sigh.

“It’s not just the staggering amount of money; it’s the betrayal. Who among our ranks is pulling that kind of money out from under those entrusted with the financial responsibility of the company?”

“And whoever the fuck they are, they gotta go,” Ezequiel adds fiercely. There’s a collective murmur and nods of agreement. Everyone understands the enormity of what we’re dealing with now.

“Exactly,” I agree.

“We need to act quickly,” Addler continues. “In a couple of hours, Simon Kelly, Derrick’s brother, will be arriving to announce the construction division has been sold, and I’m the new owner.”

The very mention that Simon and I are brothers rankles, not that I can do anything about it. I glance at my watch. He should be heading to the airport right about now.

“What we’re asking you to do is help check on locations where Kelly Oil & Gas has been doing business.”

“What are we looking for?” Ezequiel asks, his brow furrowed.

“We need to confirm the work being done on paper is actually being done in the field. I want to try to capture any discrepancies before they close the books on the construction division.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have much time to do it,” I add, trying to convey the urgency.

“Hiding that amount of money means it’s something big or it’s widespread. Either way, it’s not good for the company. Since Simon Kelly was so eager to push this sale through, we’re convinced the problems are part of the construction division. I’d like to get ahead of it in case he decides to torpedo the handoff and damages the brand.”

“That’s a lot of ground to cover,” Bill says, looking doubtful.

“Nicole and Elena worked together last night to exclude anything you approved,” he explains. “Which narrowed down the list considerably.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” He crosses his arms, swallowing hard. “But what if it’s something I had to authorize because of an approval limit? I can only go by what our lead confirmed, and right now, every one of them is in question.”

“I went back to the high-dollar invoices,” Elena interjects, “because I figured you’d be concerned. We have a couple of locations we can check for items we’ve purchased, but when it comes to the cost for having boots on the ground, we can only verify if the work they claim to have performed was actually done.”

Bill leans in, rubbing his chin. “Where do we start?”

Elena looks from Addler to me then to him. “I think it may be best that you pick up Mr. Kelly at the airport,” Elena suggests.

“She’s right, Bill,” Addler says thoughtfully. “You’re still the lead, even though you don’t work for them anymore.”

“It’ll also help us control the timetable,” I point out.

“Right.” Bill checks his watch. “I don’t have much time before I have to take off.”

Meanwhile, Elena passes out a list of properties that need to be checked. Bill scans the document, frowning as he reaches the bottom. “The Rio 8 & 9 were P&A.”

I turn to Nicole, needing more information on what that means.

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