Chapter 8
Cassian made the decision on a Thursday morning.
It cost him before lunch.
Rinaldo Marine Logistics would undergo a full independent forensic audit.
Not only Vale contracts.
Everything.
Five years.
Every vendor.
Every subsidiary.
Every payment large enough to matter.
The accounting firm would report to outside counsel rather than Cassian’s internal people.
Any evidence of criminal fraud in the legitimate companies would be referred through proper legal channels.
Rebecca stared at him.
“You understand what you’re opening.”
“Yes.”
“Your organization has relationships you may not want outsiders examining.”
“I know.”
“Some of those records may create problems for you unrelated to Adrian.”
“I know.”
“Then say it clearly.”
Cassian looked at her.
“I’m not burying Claire’s work because exposure might inconvenience me.”
That was enough.
He signed.
Then he removed Adrian from every Rinaldo-controlled vendor list.
Vale Strategic Transport contracts were suspended.
Sabine’s remaining access to Rinaldo properties was revoked.
The wedding vendors were paid cancellation costs without conditions preventing employees from discussing what they witnessed.
Older Rinaldo men reacted immediately.
“You’re handing accountants five years of books because your fiancée betrayed you?”
“No.”
Cassian looked at his uncle.
“I’m doing it because my wife found something and died believing I would eventually know what to do with it.”
“You don’t know that.”
Cassian nodded.
“That’s true.”
The answer surprised the room.
He continued.
“But I know what I’m doing now.”
By evening two longtime business partners had retained attorneys.
One relative stopped returning calls.
Three employees voluntarily disclosed questionable practices Cassian had never been told about.
The audit was no longer controllable.
That was the point.
Cassian had spent his life making sure every important process ended where he could reach it.
This one would not.
Late that night he returned to the temporary house where Elodie slept.
Her mother’s photograph stood on the nightstand.
Cassian looked at Claire’s face.
Then at Sabine and Adrian reflected behind her.
He finally understood why opening the audit frightened them.
But one question remained.
If Sabine and Adrian were simply fleeing fraud charges, why take Elodie?
They could have left alone.
Instead, they hid a three-year-old inside luggage and risked everything.
The child was not cargo.
May you like
She was leverage.
Cassian just did not yet know what they planned to demand.
