Read Skeleton Key for Free Online Page B

Durand Depot was turning a tidy profit and looked to be on the verge of an even brighter future. Adrian had worked a deal with the shipping industry, which would soon put a profitable local trucking company out of business. Marshall wasn’t too thrilled about how the backdoor deal was negotiated, but it was to be a very profitable enterprise. With dollar signs in his eyes, Marshall was persuaded to invest money that he didn’t have in a real estate deal in Palm Springs, Florida. It would be his vacation home until retirement. So Mortonson embezzled twenty thousand of the business’s dollars for the initial investment. His plan was to keep the books secret from Adrian until he figured out a way to pay the money back or “cook” the books to make the transaction disappear. However, Marshall Mortonson eventually learned that his money was stolen in a scam. He had lost the entire twenty grand, and then Adrian discovered his partner’s financial ledger. One day, Marshall entered his office to find Adrian sitting in his desk chair. Desk and file drawers were opened and papers were scattered all over the desk and floor. It looked like the office had been ransacked. Adrian’s face was red with anger.
    “ What happened?” Marshall asked. But he was more concerned with Adrian’s anger than he was with the mess in his office.
    “ I’ve been reading the company’s books. Are you keeping any secrets from me, Morty?”
    Marshall saw his account ledgers in Adrian’s hand, and he knew he had been caught, so he confessed. As Marshall spoke, Adrian’s temper died down, and eventually he began to smile. Then he said, “You need to take care of this, Morty. What you’ve done is a crime. I could turn you in, and push you out of the business. Probably I’d bankrupt you, and possibly you could end up in jail. You and I are supposed to be partners . I won’t forget what you’ve done.”
    Over the next many years, Marshall began embezzling from the company a little at a time—stealing money from the business—and then showing Adrian how he was “repaying” the large amount he had originally stolen. He began keeping two completely different sets of books. One set was legitimate, and one set of books was a masterpiece in creativity. However, trouble was just beginning for Marshall. Adrian had begun the process of legitimately spending the company into debt. Whenever he was approached by Marshall about his exorbitant spending, Adrian would say, “Have I done anything illegal , Morty? Stealing is more your cup of tea, I’ve noticed. You’ll have to take care of it, won’t you?”
    Marshall Mortonson, who was stealing money to pay back the money he had previously embezzled, was additionally being forced to figure out ways to cover the debt that his partner was creating. He began to underreport earnings and cheat on the company taxes. He was creating false vendor accounts and creating phantom employees who he then paid with false payroll checks. Adrian was enjoying life while he was basically blackmailing his partner into a life of crime. Occasionally, Marshall would sneak back into the depot “attic,” take another look at his duel set of books, and give thanks that Adrian Payne had been missing from his life for so many years. He had built the business back up once Adrian disappeared, and it was doing a profitable business once again. Still, he feared that someday his dirty deeds would be discovered. The consequences of that would be devastating.

Chapter 6

    Clay donned what looked to him like a miner’s cap, headlamp and all, and stood before Erika feeling kind of silly. Clay decided that Erika was the sexiest woman—even at 42 years of age— that he had ever seen. She was already making him smile and feel like a kid every time he looked at her. From the moment she’d opened her door, he could see that she had a zest for living that was missing in his own life. He, on the other hand, had spent the past year in near