The next morning, Elise asked Grant where he had been on December 14.
She did it while pouring coffee.
He did not look up from his phone.
“December?”
“Fourteenth.”
“That’s specific.”
“I was reconciling some holiday charges.”
Grant took the cup she handed him.
“Probably the office.”
“Your calendar says you worked from home.”
He paused.
Only for a second.
Then he smiled.
“Then I worked from home.”
Elise stirred sugar into a coffee she drank black.
“Did you sign for a package?”
“I sign for packages all the time.”
“Mine.”
“What was it?”
“Perfume.”
He shrugged.
“Maybe.”
A small lie.
Not even a good one.
Elise had learned not to interrupt people when they were giving her useful information.
Grant kissed her cheek and left.
At the office, she opened the consulting payments again.
The company was called Meridian Advisory LLC.
No website.
No prior invoices.
Three transfers in six weeks.
$47,500.
$48,000.
$46,750.
All below the $50,000 threshold that required Elise’s approval.
She clicked the vendor setup form.
Created by Sloane.
Authorized by Grant.
No tax documentation attached.
Elise printed nothing.
Paper could disappear.
She saved every record into the folder.
At eleven, Sloane appeared at Elise’s office door with a stack of documents.
“Grant asked me to bring these.”
She wore a different perfume today.
Something clean and citrusy.
Elise almost laughed at the effort.
“Come in.”
Sloane placed the documents on the desk.
Loan renewal.
Covenant package.
Personal guarantee.
Elise looked up.
“What is this?”
“The bank wants updated signatures before Friday.”
“Why is there a personal guarantee?”
Sloane blinked.
“Grant said it’s standard.”
“It isn’t.”
“I can ask him.”
“Please do.”
Sloane turned to leave.
Elise called after her.
“Sloane.”
She stopped.
“That perfume you wore at dinner.”
The color left her face so quickly Elise almost felt sorry for her.
Almost.
“Yes?”
“It suited you.”
Sloane swallowed.
“Thank you.”
“Where did you get it?”
A beat.
“A friend.”
“Nice friend.”
Sloane smiled too late.
Then she left.
Elise waited five minutes before opening the loan documents.
The guarantee covered a revolving credit facility she had not approved.
Maximum exposure: $2.4 million.
Grant had signed on behalf of the company.
The lender required Elise’s personal signature because her name was attached to the family trust that held part of the collateral.
She read the default clause twice.
If the company failed certain covenants, the lender could pursue her personal assets.
Elise called Grant.
“What is this guarantee?”
He sighed.
“Temporary liquidity.”
“How temporary?”
“Ninety days.”
“Why didn’t you bring it to me?”
“I’m bringing it to you now.”
“After the facility was opened.”
Silence.
“Elise, we needed speed.”
“You needed my signature.”
“And I knew you’d understand.”
That sentence bothered her.
Not because it was manipulative.
Because it sounded rehearsed.
“Send me the full loan file.”
“You have the signature page.”
“I said the full file.”
Another silence.
“Tonight,” he said.
He hung up.
At 2:17 p.m., an email arrived from Sloane.
Per Grant, attached is the complete bank package.
It was not complete.
Page 38 referred to an exhibit that was missing.
Elise replied with two words.
Exhibit C?
Sloane answered immediately.
I wasn't given one.
Elise leaned back.
Then another email appeared.
This one from the bank’s automated system.
A wire notice.
Meridian Advisory LLC.
$49,200.
Scheduled for tomorrow.
Requested by Grant.
Approval pending.
The approver listed beneath his name was not Elise.
It was Sloane.
