Sutton and Sebastian were as different as they were identical. Baz was always serious, all business, while Sutton had a ready smile and a relaxed attitude that put everyone at ease.
The only ones missing now, she thought sadly, were her brother Miles and their sister Harley. But Miles had left Royal for Chicago and his own security company years ago and Harley and her son, Daniel, were living in Thailand while she ran her nonprofit, Zest. Beth missed them both. Especially at times like this.
“Anyone know what this is about?” Sutton’s question hung in the air.
“You guys would know more about it than I would,” Beth said, and looked at Luke.
“Nope. Not a clue,” he replied, shaking his head. Then
he looked at Sebastian. “Aunt Ava hasn’t said anything to you?”
“No.” He didn’t look happy about that, either. “Ever since Mom came home to work at the company again six months ago, she’s been moving around from section to section. Like she’s familiarizing herself with everything again.”
“It’s a good idea,” Zeke said.
“The question is,” Piper put in, “why did she call us all here?”
“The answer is a simple...yet complex one.” Everyone turned to look at Ava as she entered the room.
Everyone came to attention in their seats and Beth had to marvel at it. Ava Holloway Wingate commanded a room once she stepped inside it. Almost sixty, she was the picture of refined elegance. A slight touch of gray at her temples shone in dark blond hair that was pulled up into her standard chignon, and her gray-green eyes swept the room with a glance. She wore a pale blue business suit and black heels.
She and Beth’s father had been incredibly close, to the point where sometimes it seemed as if they forgot they’d had five children together. But because of how they’d been raised—including Piper—the Wingate siblings had stuck together, and that closeness remained today.
Ava took a seat at the head of the table and folded her hands together in front of her. “I won’t waste time on pleasantries...”
Beth threw a glance at Sutton, who shrugged in answer. Ava never wasted time on pleasantries—like How are you? I’ve missed you. Or even I love you.
“You all know I’ve been spending time at the company these last six months,” their mom was saying in her clipped tones. “I wanted to get to know each department in turn, get a handle on how things were running.”
“Mother,” Sebastian interrupted quietly. “Why don’t you just tell us what it was that required this meeting?”
“Fine.” She looked at all of them, her cool eyes appraising. “I’ve found a discrepancy in accounting.”
“What?” Sutton sat forward, all pretense of casual disinterest gone.
Sebastian, in charge of his siblings and cousins, as always, held up one hand to quiet everyone. His gaze fixed on his mother, he said, “What exactly did you find, Mother?”
“In the simplest terms,” Ava told him. “I’ve discovered money missing. Being quietly, carefully, skimmed from several different accounts.”
“How much?” Zeke’s question broke the stunned silence.
Ava looked at him directly. “At this point, it’s difficult to be sure. But, at a minimum, several hundred thousand dollars.”
“What?” Sebastian slapped one hand on the table and Piper jumped. “Sorry,” he muttered.
“How long has this been going on?” Beth watched her mother’s face and noticed the tightening at the corners of Ava’s mouth.
“From what I can tell at this early stage,” Ava said, “it’s been going on several years.”
“Who the hell would do that?” Sutton demanded of no one in particular.
“And how?” Luke asked.
“It couldn’t have been easy,” Piper murmured.
“Easier than it should have been,” Ava said with a quick look at her sister. “Every department is compartmentalized. Every section has their own bookkeeping division. No one knows what’s happening anywhere else.”
“That was done deliberately,” Sebastian reminded her. “Breaking it up seemed the best way to keep everything from being centralized.”