Chapter 2 - THE INVOICE THAT MADE NO SENSE
Emily Carter worked remotely as a senior accounts analyst for a manufacturing company.
Numbers did not scare her.
What scared her were numbers that almost made sense.
Three weeks earlier, the Willow Park Homeowners Association treasurer had asked Emily for help reviewing vendor expenses before the annual meeting.
Not an official audit.
Just a second set of eyes.
Emily agreed because she was good with spreadsheets and because the treasurer, Tom Bennett, was seventy-two and hated Excel.
Most expenses were boring.
Landscaping.
Pool maintenance.
Lighting.
Insurance.
Security patrol.
Then Sentinel Neighborhood Security.
Annual contract:
$214,000.
High.
But Willow Park had:
three entrances,
night patrols,
camera monitoring,
vacation checks.
Possible.
Then Emily noticed add-on invoices.
Emergency patrol supplement.
Event security.
Holiday coverage.
Camera response standby.
Some billed the same dates.
Some described the same patrol hours.
Total duplicate-looking charges:
approximately $67,400 over eighteen months.
Emily flagged them.
Tom said:
“Margaret handles security.”
Emily looked up.
Margaret Wilson.
Vice chair of the HOA safety committee.
The same Margaret who had spent years treating the street like her private kingdom.
Tom lowered his voice.
“She negotiated Sentinel.”
“Do they know we’re reviewing this?”
“I told Margaret we were cleaning up records.”
Emily remembered the look Margaret had given her two days later.
May you like
Not neighborly irritation.
Recognition.
