Free Punishing His Accountant: Caught Stealing by Alicia Roberts Page A

about to do.
    At five o’clock, as the rest of the office was packing up to leave, she picked up a manila folder and took a stroll past the corner office to make sure Josh wasn’t there.
    The lights in his office were turned off, and the report she had dropped off for him was gone. Certain that her boss was safely on a plane to Argentina, Ella made her way back to her desk and logged into the company payments system.
    ***
    Ella’s heart beat wildly as she went into the InterPlus accounts payable section. Her fingers were trembling, but she managed to type in all the details need to transfer $99,468 to the fake business account that was actually hers.
    It’s not wrong, she told herself, she’d repay InterPlus as soon as her papers came through. Everything was set up perfectly, and when the company was audited in six months’ time, nobody would find out about her “loan”.
    Still, she felt a little badly about betraying Josh’s trust in her. She’d considered asking him directly for a loan, but she was afraid to. Ella was certain he’d turn her down, and worse, he’d think badly of her for having such messed-up personal finances.
    She valued his high opinion of her too much to risk it.

Chapter 2
     
    As she passed Josh’s office the next morning on the way to her desk, Ella was horrified to see that the lights were on and the door was closed.
    She hurried to her workstation and sat down, he r heart pounding in her ears. Obviously the trip to Argentina had been called off. That meant he could get full access to the company books before she could replace the money she had borrowed.
    Fighting down her fear, she pulled out her reports for that day. She had covered her tracks well, she told herself. With hundreds of large payables going through InterPlus on a daily basis, it was highly unlikely Josh would even notice her withdrawal.
    She left the office for lunch, hoping to avoid talking to Josh until her loan came in the next morning and she could make the transfer to cover her tracks.
    When she returned at one o’clock, she found him waiting for her at her workstation. She thought he looked angry, but she told herself she was imagining it.
    “Good afternoon, Mr. McGould,” she managed to choke out.
    “Good afternoon, Ella.”
    “Was your trip to Argentina canceled?”
    He scowled. “Yes, it was.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that .”
    “ It’s unfortunate. A lot of money was at stake.”
    Ella took a deep breath. So that was what he was angry about. Maybe he hadn’t noticed the transfer after all.
    “ Could you please run a report for me?”
    “Of course,” she replied. Please, she thought, not accounts payable.
    “I need you to run a detailed accounts payable for the past 24 hours.” He looked directly at her without changing his expression.
    A wave of terror swept through her. This is it, she thought. My whole life is ruined.
    Josh didn’t wait for her to answer.
    “Bring it to my office at four o’clock,” he said curtly and left.
    The afternoon passed in a blur. Ella tried to figure out what to say when she delivered the report. With any luck, she could get out of the office before he read it and have the amount deposited tomorrow morning before work. Maybe then he would go easy on her.
    What was she thinking? Of course he could see the report on the computer. He had asked for the report so he could make her squirm.
    At four o’clock she had the report printed and knocked on Josh’s office door.
    “Sit down,” he ordered.
    Ella sat down. Josh remained standing, towering above her. It made her feel like a schoolgirl who had been called to the principal’s office. Only this was worse. Much worse.
    “ Ella, have you ever worked for a company that had two chief accountants watching the books?”
    “Yes,” she said.
    “Can you tell me why this is done?”
    “It’s to guard against…” She paused, feeling her heart thumping wildly.
    “Yes?” Josh’s dark eyes drilled into her.
    Her throat