Chapter 5 — The Blue Mitten

The man in the doorway wore a charcoal suit and had the eyes of someone who had fired a great many people. They went straight to my husband.

Marcus made a small strangled sound and slid out of his chair onto his knees. “M-Mr. Sterling.”

It was Arthur Sterling, Director of Corporate Compliance at Summit Engineering. Marcus’s ultimate superior.

Sterling stepped in, nodded briefly to Mr. Harrison, and looked down at the floor where Marcus was kneeling. “Marcus. Yesterday Mr. Harrison provided my department with a financial ledger linking you to a former subcontractor.”

The relatives went rigid, realizing the family shame had just walked into the corporate spotlight.

“The statute of limitations on the original bribery may well have expired,” Sterling continued. “But Summit has a zero-tolerance policy on historic fraud.