Page 8 of The Mogul: Leonard

He raises an eyebrow, scolding me, but I can see a hint of amusement in his eyes. His wife, Silver, is not even hiding her amusement.

“What? Is someone threatening the life of the most handsome senator in the entire United States?” He drags me into a quick hug.

“Humble too!” Silver mocks him, rolling her eyes.

We walk to the patio near the swimming pool where they were having a relaxing time reading books, from what I can see. A grip squeezes my chest. Until five years ago, we spent Sundays discussing work and solutions to our problems next to this same swimming pool, but now he has a family, and I can’t compete with that. Not that I feel the need to compete with Silver for my friend’s attention, but it was nice to spend time with someone who could understand my massive problems instead of mulling them over alone in my office.

“No, someone is stealing from my company.” This gets their full attention.

They turn around to look at me without a hint of a smile on their faces.

I motion for them to sit down in the lounge area so I can explain.

“This is confidential, so I count on your discretion,” I say, even though I know they won’t breathe a word about what I say here.

Raphael smiles. “You know so many secrets about me you could drag me into the mud for ages if I spill the beans.”

I chuckle. It’s true. He has a couple of massive skeletons hidden in his closet that could cost him his career.

“Out with it. You’re making me anxious,” Silver presses me.

I take a long breath. It is difficult trying to summarize this mess without sounding crazy. “I’m trying to acquire a company to merge with Walton Tech.”

Raphael’s eyes widen, knowing what a big deal this is for me, but he says nothing, so I continue with my explanation. “We are looking into our finances to be sure everything is on track, and Trish noticed that some money is missing. It’s been going out of our bank account during the last year.”

“Are you serious? How much are we talking about? How haven’t you notice it before?” Raphael fires with concern.

I look up into the clear sky and sigh. “One thousand four hundred seventy-six dollars.”

They both stare at me with their mouth hanging open.

“That’s it? Not even two thousand dollars? And you’re making a fuss about that?” Raphael looks baffled.

“It’s not the amount, per se, it’s the fact that there’s no trace of it. It leaves the account, and that’s it.” I can hear the defensive tone of my voice, but the way they’re looking at me is unsettling. Like I’m crazy, and they don’t know how to tell me.

Am I? Crazy about cracking a mystery and I don’t even know if it will change anything in the company.

“What do you mean ‘that’s it’? It’s not like money just disappears.” Raphael frowns.

“That’s exactly what happened. Not the entire sum, but small amounts from time to time. It got overlooked in the big scheme.” It comes out like an exasperated groan.

“That’s weird.” The frown on Raphael’s face deepens.

“Can it be something bank-related? You know, like a glitch or something,” Silver suggests.

I shake my head. “I’ve looked into it, but I came up empty-handed. Jesus, it’s driving me crazy.”

“Why? It’s just a small amount,” Silver points out, and I understand her point. The first thing that comes to your mind is that it’s a ridiculous sum for someone like me. I spend way more than that on coffee during the year. But this is deeper than just the amount.

“Because Walton Tech is the leader in cybersecurity, and the fact that someone is stealing under their noses is beyond concerning. Especially if nobody can come up with an explanation, it’s a breach in security in their own systems.” Raphael sums up the situation for me.

Hearing it out loud from someone else is almost terrifying.

“I see.” Silvers seems concerned too.

Watching their faces darken with worry feels like a bucket of cold water getting dumped on my head. I haven’t had the guts to admit how serious this situation is until I talked to them. I rub a hand over my face and try to calm down and be reasonable about it.

“It’s so fucked up,” I whisper, and Silver puts a comforting hand over mine.

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