"We don't want anyone deleting things by accident," Elaine explained to the finance staff. "And we don't want anyone feeling accused just because their account appears on an approval. We're collecting the records before we interpret them."
Dennis Vale stood beside the finance department's coffee machine when the team entered. He had been expecting auditors, but he had not expected to see the department's permissions temporarily restricted before anyone asked him a question. His own login still worked for ordinary reporting, yet he could no longer alter the Lakeside vendor file or remove an attachment from an old invoice. The screen informed him that the account was under preservation hold.
"Who authorized this?" he asked the IT specialist.
"The new owner, through legal counsel and the independent audit committee. The business can still operate. The records under review are protected."
Dennis swallowed. The pending $180,000 request had not disappeared over the weekend, and no owner approval appeared beside it. The financial software now displayed the request with a second message: DOCUMENT RETAINED FOR AUDIT REVIEW. He printed the page and carried it to his office, where he sat down and looked at it without moving for several minutes.
Bradley arrived at eight-thirty in a tailored blue suit, with Sloane following him and filming short clips for her audience. He had slept badly but attributed the restlessness to excitement. The scheduled company meeting was an hour and a half away, and a small graphic designer had already sent over a mock-up of his expected new business card. His assistant informed him that the independent audit team had arrived and was conducting interviews in finance.
"That's what auditors do," Bradley said. "Let them count paper."
"Mr. Vale has been trying to reach you."
"Tell him I'll talk after the announcement. I have a company to run."
Sloane was less carefree. She had spent part of Sunday looking up Loretta Simmons and had woken with the unnerving suspicion that Bradley was missing a simple and important fact. She asked him once more whether he knew who controlled Harbor Gate Capital. Bradley said he knew Patricia Holt and that was enough. When she asked whether Patricia owned the entire business, he rolled his eyes.
"Investors don't show up at company meetings to worry about name tags," he told her. "They hire people like Patricia. And people like Patricia hire people like me."
Sloane wanted to ask about Lakeside Advisory, but the lobby clip was already open on her phone and fans were asking what she would wear when her boyfriend became CEO. She had made public promises about his promotion, and part of her hoped that behaving as though everything were fine would make it true. She decided to keep filming, though she placed a copy of the incorporation documents and Bradley's old messages in a private folder before leaving her apartment.