Chapter One
Clayton Gibbs stood in front of the CEO, the twelve directors, and his twin brother, Jaydin Gibbs. His audience sat around the large mahogany table that his father had purchased just three weeks before the tragic triple homicide that changed his and Jay’s lives forever.
The plush boardroom was on the fifty-sixth floor of the headquarters of Gibbs Worldwide Investments.
Clay pointed the laser creating the red dot on the screen. “This portion of the report highlights what Jay and I have been researching.”
“Clay, are you actually suggesting that we are missing over a million dollars of revenue each and every quarter from both our Chicago and London offices?” William Moody, his and Jay’s uncle, was CEO of the company.
The three of them were connected by the tragedy they all shared. Despite their many differences of opinions, he and his brother felt they were duty bound to their uncle for all he’d done for them.
Jay leaned forward. “It’s possible, Uncle Bill. What we do know is at the very least there is an accounting error that has continued occurring for the past five years, maybe going back even further.”
One of the longest serving members of the board and a dear friend of their father, James Sullivan seemed concerned. “If they are right about this, Bill, it would mean that someone high in the organization is either dropping the ball or is dipping into the till. I believe we should hire an outside accounting firm to check into this.”
Clay braced for his uncle and James to lambaste each other, which was typical for most board meetings. They were like oil and water and had never gotten along. Very few got along with Bill, whose surname fit his personality perfectly. Moody. He and Jay thought of James as their uncle, too, but they tried to never call him “Uncle James” in front of Bill. Whenever they did, Bill would lose his temper. Not surprising after all the difficult history between James and Bill. James had fallen in love with Caroline, the only sister of Clay and Jay’s father. But Bill had swept in and tore them apart. How? No one really knew. Bill married Caroline, and James was left with a broken heart.
Bill tapped his fingers on the surface of the table for a few moments, a habit of his that he and Jay had grown accustomed to. “I agree, James.”
That calm response surprised Clay and seemed to have the same impact on everyone else around the table.
“You do?” James’s eyes narrowed.
“I’ll get that set up immediately. Only board members should know about this. Let’s keep it confidential until we are certain what we are dealing with.”
“And I would like to recommend that Clay and Jay spearhead this effort, since they are the ones who discovered it.” James was pushing for more from Bill.
“Good idea.”
The congeniality remained, which was remarkable. Clay turned to his brother and saw the same look of shock on his face as the others. Very strange.
Bill wrote on his notepad. “I know just the firm we should engage. I’ll set up the meeting. Good work, boys.”
“Thanks.” Clay gathered up his papers. He wondered if his uncle would ever stop calling him and Jay “boys.” Doubtful. After all, Bill was twenty-five years older than they were. “You ready, Jay?”
“Sure.” His twin brother left his seat.
“Wait, fellas,” James said and turned to their uncle. “They should stay.”
“Why?” Bill’s unblinking eyes seemed to dare James to defy him. “We’re moving into executive session now.”
The earlier consolatory exchange between Bill and James was clearly over. They were back to their verbal barbs and blows.
“Next month they will be able to vote their own shares.” James’s edgy tone told everyone he wasn’t going to back down.
The others around the table looked at their files in front of them. They didn’t want any part of what was about to happen. They’d seen it far too many times.