Chapter 5 - DEAN MORRIS
Dean Morris agreed to speak with Bernice only after Gideon authorized him.
He sounded embarrassed.
The $9,000 loan had been real.
No interest.
No contract initially.
Just:
friend helping friend.
Then Dean’s accountant insisted on documentation.
A promissory note was signed later.
Gideon repaid:
$6,500.
Remaining:
$2,500.
The NightBridge-funded payment closed it.
Dean said:
“I didn’t know where the money came from.”
Bernice believed him.
Then she asked:
“Did the loan affect the vendor bid?”
Dean answered carefully.
“I hoped Gideon would give us a fair look.”
Not:
favor us.
Still uncomfortable.
NorthStar’s scoring records showed Gideon gave Marlow:
88 points.
Two other reviewers:
90 and 87.
So he did not artificially inflate the score.
Marlow won because:
lowest lifecycle cost,
best service response,
and existing regional coverage.
The procurement process may have reached the same result without Gideon.
The problem remained:
he failed to disclose a material financial relationship.
Then NorthStar offered Gideon a resolution.
Return to work in a non-procurement role after:
written conflict acknowledgment,
ethics training,
and repayment relationship fully documented.
No firing.
Reduced bonus.
No management authority over vendors for one year.
Gideon had received the offer four days before Bernice found Roger on the floor.
He had not accepted.
Why?
Pride.
He wanted full clearance.
He believed accepting reassignment implied guilt.
So he kept fighting.
And kept using night hours.
And kept Celina coming.
And kept Roger out of the guest room.
Bernice stared at him.
“You had a way back to work.”
“Yes.”
“And you chose not to take it.”
“I wanted my name cleared.”
“At whose cost?”
Silence.
Then Celina produced her bank records.
She had not kept much NightBridge money.
Total retained:
$1,780.
She used it for:
rent,
car payment,
groceries.
Nothing suspicious.
But then Bernice asked:
“Why did you agree to stay here so many nights if you thought Roger slept?”
Celina said:
“Because Gideon said it helped you.”
That hurt.
Then:
“And because I needed money.”
Honest.
Then Bernice asked:
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Celina looked away.
“You and I weren’t really talking.”
True.
The sisters had been distant for a year.
Why?
Their mother’s move.
Bernice and Celina had disagreed over whether to sell their mother’s furniture when she downsized.
Not a major legal fight.
A personal one.
Celina accused Bernice of treating family objects like clutter.
Bernice accused Celina of keeping everything.
They stopped calling except for holidays.
Then Gideon used the gap.
He told Celina:
Bernice approved NightBridge but doesn’t want family drama around it.
He told Bernice nothing.
Two women already distant were easier to keep separate.
Then Celina said:
“There’s something else.”
Bernice looked at her.
“Gideon told Roger not to tell you I was here.”
Bernice went cold.
How?
He called it:
Mommy’s sleep-work secret.
Roger was told:
May you like
Mom works nights so Aunt Celina helps, but Mommy gets worried, so don’t mention it.
The five-year-old had been carrying an adult secrecy rule for weeks.
