All Chapters of Between You and the Bullet: Chapter 51 - Chapter 53

The bank records for Northbridge Strategic Services arrived that afternoon.Maya reviewed them first, then pulled out only the relevant pages and placed them in front of Audrey and Nathan.“It’s a more straightforward company than I expected.”“Straightforward?”Audrey looked at her.“What it claims to do doesn’t match how the money moves.”A corporate risk and crisis-management consultancy should have regular payments coming in from multiple clients, along with routine expenses for salaries, contractors, office space, and operations.Northbridge had almost none of that.“It lists three employees, but there are no regular payroll payments. There are some basic tax and registration expenses, but almost none of the fixed costs you’d expect from a normal operating company.”Nathan looked down at the records.“Money comes in only when it’s n

“…Julian Ashford.”Even after saying the name aloud, Audrey kept her eyes on the screen.There was nothing unusual about Julian’s name appearing as the executive responsible for the acquisition the year before. On major Ashford Global deals, he often took a direct role. If anything, his involvement would have been expected.That was not the problem.The problem was the managed account that had funded the anonymous matter opened seven weeks earlier. That same account had previously paid the same attorney, and at the end of one of those earlier matters stood Julian.That was all they had.For now, it was still only that.“Audrey.”Nathan’s voice finally made her look up.“What are you thinking?”The question was different from the way he usually asked for an assessment. He was not pushing her toward a conclusion, and he was not trying to reassure her. He simply