Chapter 2 - WHAT THE ACCOUNTANT FOUND
Theo fell asleep in Maggie's bed that night.
He had not slept there since he was five.
Maggie let him.
The birthday presents remained unopened downstairs.
The baseball glove stayed hidden in the closet.
She could not bring herself to show him.
Not yet.
At 11:42 p.m., after checking on Theo twice, Maggie went into her home office and called Aaron Blake.
Aaron had managed her family accounts for six years.
He was not dramatic.
Which was why his message frightened her.
“You were right.”
Maggie closed the office door.
“Tell me.”
A pause.
“I need you to understand that some of this is preliminary.”
“Aaron.”
“Okay.”
Papers shifted.
“For the last eighteen months, payments associated with Drew's household have increased by roughly forty percent.”
Maggie frowned.
She knew she had been helping more.
Drew's ex-husband had stopped paying reliably after a business collapse.
Cody's school raised tuition.
Their car lease changed.
Expenses happened.
“What kind of increase?”
“Not just bills you've approved.”
Maggie went still.
“What do you mean?”
“There are recurring payments from the Barrymore Family Support account that were never specifically authorized.”
Maggie stared at the dark computer monitor.
“How?”
“The account had standing instructions.”
“For tuition and insurance.”
“Yes.”
“Not everything else.”
“No.”
Aaron continued.
Private tutoring.
Luxury car detailing.
Country-club dues.
Vacation deposits.
Electronics.
A cosmetic dentistry bill.
Several charges routed through a management company called Howerin Family Services.
Maggie had never heard of it.
“Who owns that?”
Aaron hesitated.
“Drew.”
Maggie closed her eyes.
“How much?”
“I'll give you the full number tomorrow.”
“Tell me now.”
“No.”
She almost laughed.
“You work for me.”
“Yes.”
“And I'm telling you that giving you a partial number without confirming transfers would be irresponsible.”
That was Aaron.
Infuriatingly correct.
Maggie leaned back.
“How did she access the account?”
“She didn't exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
“A signed authorization expanded the approved expense categories fourteen months ago.”
“Signed by who?”
Another pause.
“Maggie.”
Her stomach tightened.
“I didn't sign anything.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because the signature is wrong.”
Maggie stared.
Aaron explained.
The authorization had been uploaded through the family office portal.
It used Maggie's electronic signature.
But the authentication came from a device she had never registered.
Then he said:
“Do you remember giving Drew access to any old tablet or laptop?”
Maggie did.
A tablet.
Three years earlier.
After Drew's divorce.
Drew claimed hers broke.
Maggie gave her an older iPad without thinking.
“What are you saying?”
“I am saying someone may have used saved credentials.”
Maggie's hands went cold.
“May have?”
“Yes.”
“Can you prove it?”
“Not yet.”
“Then don't accuse her.”
“I didn't.”
Good.
Maggie needed that.
Facts.
Not rage.
Aaron continued.
“There is something else.”
“Of course.”
“The car payments you canceled today?”
“Yes.”
“The vehicle is not in Drew's name.”
Maggie frowned.
“Whose?”
“Howerin Family Services.”
The company.
“And the school?”
“Cody's tuition is being paid through a scholarship support designation tied to your charitable foundation.”
Maggie sat forward.
“What?”
“You didn't know?”
“No.”
This was different.
Maggie personally covered Drew's younger daughter Olivia's tuition.
She paid Cody's school expenses too.
But not through the Barrymore Foundation.
The foundation funded literacy programs.
After-school arts.
Food security.
It did not pay family bills.
“That is illegal?”
“Not necessarily criminal from what I have now. But it is absolutely a conflict problem if someone misrepresented eligibility.”
“Who approved it?”
“Your sister submitted the application.”
“My name?”
“No.”
Aaron's voice changed.
“She listed Cody as financially disadvantaged and living in a single-parent household with no significant family support.”
Maggie almost laughed from disbelief.
“No significant family support.”
Her own money had been paying the mortgage.
The car.
Insurance.
Camp.
Medical bills.
And Drew had represented her son as unsupported to gain foundation benefits.
“Who at the foundation approved this?”
“That's the question.”
Maggie stared.
The foundation committee knew Cody was her nephew.
Or should have.
Unless the application had been disguised.
Aaron said:
“I want an independent review before we conclude anything.”
“Yes.”
“Maggie.”
“What?”
“Do not confront Drew about this yet.”
She looked toward the hallway.
Upstairs, Theo slept after asking why his cousin hated him.
Maggie whispered:
“I wasn't planning to.”
That surprised even her.
Hours earlier she might have wanted to destroy everything Drew touched.
Now she wanted something colder.
Accuracy.
The next morning Drew called thirty-one times.
Maggie answered none.
At nine, Drew arrived at the house.
Security called.
“Ms. Howerin is at the gate.”
“Do not let her in.”
“She says it's an emergency.”
“Is anyone injured?”
“No.”
“Then no.”
Theo came downstairs wearing pajamas.
“Is Aunt Drew here?”
Maggie hated that he looked worried.
“Yes.”
“Is Cody?”
“No.”
Theo looked toward the window.
“Is she mad?”
“Yes.”
“Because of me?”
Maggie knelt.
“No.”
“But you canceled stuff after my cake.”
“That happened because of choices adults made.”
“Cody's a kid.”
“Yes.”
“He won't have school?”
Maggie's heart tightened.
She had spent the night thinking about exactly that.
Stopping financial support was not the same as wanting Cody harmed.
Cody was eleven.
Entitled.
Cruel yesterday.
But still a child shaped by adults.
“We'll figure out what is fair.”
Theo looked skeptical.
“You said cancel everything.”
“I was angry.”
“You sounded calm.”
Children noticed too much.
Maggie smiled sadly.
“Sometimes that's when I'm most angry.”
He nodded as though storing this for later.
Then:
“I don't want Cody kicked out of school.”
Maggie looked at him.
After what Cody had done, Theo was worried about him.
She kissed his forehead.
“I don't either.”
That did not mean Drew's life would stay unchanged.
At ten, Aaron arrived.
He carried a binder.
Maggie looked at it.
“How bad?”
He sat.
“Bad enough that I brought paper.”
That almost made her laugh.
He opened the first page.
Howerin Family Services had received money from three sources tied to Maggie.
Personal support account.
Foundation reimbursement.
And one account Maggie did not recognize.
Barrymore Educational Trust.
Maggie stared.
“That was my father's.”
“Yes.”
“It was closed.”
Aaron looked at her.
May you like
“No.”
And suddenly the family problem became older than Drew's entitlement.
