Seraphina
Copyright© 2025 by Krista*
Chapter 8
“Oh, crap!”
Eric studied the transaction records, dumbfounded. There it was, another listing for $1000 withdrawn and sent off to a specified account that he had discovered was to a private bank in Belize. Just the same as the earlier ones. And the authorization code was matched to an employee badge number that was assigned to Seraphina.
“This makes absolutely no sense at all,” he thought to himself. Poking his head through the doorway, he called out. “Zoe? Can I see you for a moment, please?” She came in and at his request, sat down. “I know I’m not your favorite person right now, but I need your help with something.” The cashier nodded.
“Try and remember. Is there any time you can recall that people here had their work badges replaced?
Maybe they were lost or needed to be updated?”
Zoe thought a moment, and then nodded. “Around two years ago, several people needed replacement badges because they went missing. Either from their desk or car or something else. Why?”
A glimmer of hope came to Eric. “By any chance, was Seraphina one of those people?”
“I think so. She used to always keep her work badge in her purse. Then she needed a replacement and always wore it on a lanyard around her neck after that. Why?”
“I think you just gave me the big clue to get to the bottom of everything. Once we know more, I will give you the details.” He couldn’t help but allow a big smile to cross his face. “I need to go to HR and get some additional information.”
“Is it something that can prove she is innocent?”
“If what I’m thinking is correct? She will be cleared of ALL accusations, and I will be kissing her feet in apology.”
“From your lips to Gods ear.”
Two hours later, Eric practically danced as he entered Jeff Bakers office. “I solved it! She is totally innocent! Let me tell you what I discovered!”
Several badges had gone missing over a period of about a month. They were replaced and everyone was warned to take better care of them, or the next time there would be write-ups. Seraphina had been one of the people who needed a new badge. However, the new badge had a new employee number. The number on the previous badge had never been deactivated. So, she actually had two active employee numbers at the same time.
“So about four months after the replacement, someone went into payroll and set up this auto transfer.
Small amount, so not to attract attention. I’m telling you, Jeff, that the whole accounting department needs to be reviewed and updated. Every payday, the money went out to an off shore bank account in Belize.
The total comes to $54,000 as of last night. Strange thing is, previously, the money was transferred out usually within a week of the deposit. There has been no activity for several months and there is $10,000 just sitting there.”
Jeff closed his eyes to think about what he had heard. “A bank in Belize. Jesus. Do you have the name of the account holder?”
“The people at the bank were reluctant to give me that information, but I said that we had no plans to file charges. We just wanted to clear up an accounting error. Eventually, they told me. Have you ever heard of someone named David Malaga?”
“David Malaga? Seriously? He was a senior manager here at one point. Worked here almost ten years!”
“Where is he now?”
“Dead. He had a heart attack a few months ago. We had a memorial service for him here because he was so well liked. I can’t believe this!”
“Look, this isn’t the total proof for the ‘smoking gun’ needed, but I want to say that based on what we know, Seraphina can be cleared to return to work ASAP with a big apology and all pay owed. I can see how we can start the process of the bank closing and returning the balance in the account, but I don’t think we will see any of the previous funds returned.”
“I’m not worried about that,” Jeff countered. “You discovered what was going on, and in the process, cleared her name. I just hope that she will forgive us for this whole situation.”
“A big part of that will be on me,” Eric sighed. “Honestly, you have to be either blind or oblivious to the fact that a relationship has been developing between us. I have very strong feelings for her. And I want to hope that she was feeling the same. Now? I don’t know if we can work past this.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank all of you for coming to this meeting today, before we open for business. We have a lot of things to cover today, and I want to get started quickly.” Jeff looked around the room at everyone, including a newly returned cashier who was sitting off to the side of the room. “I want to address something of top priority importance. If anyone has questions, see me later.
“Gold Mine has been a family owned dealership since 1960. However, that will be changing in the coming year. A conglomerate of dealerships based in Oregon will be purchasing Gold Mine in the early part of next year. At this time, everyone can relax because your jobs are safe. However, as part of due diligence, there were some financial irregularities noted. Eric Fulton was sent here from the Oregon office to research and discover what was going on.
“In the process of researching company finances, an anomaly was discovered. Transactions had been set up by someone who would have funds sent to another bank each payday. This was set up with stolen identification information. We have corrected the situation.
A voice called for additional information, along with the name of the person involved.
“As I just stated, we have corrected the situation. Now, let me stress this to all of you, Seraphina Willis has been cleared of ALL financial liability or responsibility for this situation. She is totally innocent, and I deeply regret that she was caught up in this. Again, she is innocent of ALL wrongdoing, and if anyone has doubts, I can provide the information to prove this.” Looking at her, Jeff continued. “Seraphina, I am so very sorry for all of this and I hope that one day you will forgive us.”
Seraphina gave a half nod but kept her face neutral. She had mixed feelings about returning to Gold Mine, but she needed her job because as she had predicted earlier, when she had made a few soft inquiries on looking for new employment, there was no interest. She never got an answer on if it was due to the cloud that was hanging over her from Gold Mine, or not. Comments of “Good!” or “That’s great!” and similar were heard.