been used.
She brought up the website, entered her code, and found the company history of Cyberflow after clicking on the icon. She noted when it had been founded—the official date of incorporated status. Tom Labrador was listed as the original CEO, which was no surprise. Transfer of ownership was initiated by the courts a very short time after Tom’s death. The applicant was Drake Labrador, again no surprise except for the speed at which the company changed hands. Company earnings indicated that Cyberflow was already in the black and climbing in profits before Drake assumed ownership. The means of transfer was outlined in the will. The surprise involved the split of the company: Seventy percent went to Drake—the remaining thirty percent had been divided between Avalon’s mother and Drake’s parents. Avy did not know that.
“Now there’s a surprise,” she said. “According to this my grandmother owns fifteen percent of Cyberflow.”
“How well do you get along with her?”
“I don’t. She disowned my real mother after the conviction. From what mom tells me, she never came by to visit me when I was little. I sure don’t remember a letter or postcard for any holiday.”
“Bad blood,” he said. “You were guilty by association. That blows.”
When she studied the earnings statements from Drake’s administration to the present, the figures did not show a company that was making profitable strides, or at least a decent growth percentage that would have been anticipated with such a corporation like Cyberflow. She knew this from her business and accounting classes. Expenditures on advertising seemed high. Those figures could have been false, buried in unknown or secret accounts, Avy realized. It didn’t take a math major to understand it. Likewise, the general labor force had doubled since the beginning, showing an unclear understanding of profit and loss. The greatest expense in personnel came with the addition of an armed security force—a chief with about thirty officers.
Avy pointed at the screen. “Look at that.”
Sebastian, who had been reading along with her, squirmed in his seat. “What are they using, solid gold motherboards? High-tech electronics is a competitive field with lots of patents involved. Security is always extreme, but that’s a small army they have there. That excess alone is eating into profits.”
“You have a good head for business.”
“I had no choice but to learn off the cuff. I’m a bare bones outfit. I have to watch my books. Comes from paranoia. But I did pick up a lot from Dad, who owned three computer stores.”
“I agree. I’m no expert, but it doesn’t look like he knows what he’s doing. There’s a big turnover in the secretary pool. But I knew he was a cad. There’s also lots of petty cash for tons of private purchases. I knew about the limousine service, but I didn’t know he had two private jets. I’ll bet Mom’s plastic surgery, personal trainers, and salon visits are coming straight out of the company expense account.” She gave her head rueful shake. “The company is wasting away and he's the cancer who is eating it. His bio is bogus too. He doesn’t have degrees in management or business. He was a mail clerk at one time. I know that he sold insurance when he was younger because Mom told me. The dude’s incompetent—way out of his element.”
“Are there any records of him working for Cyberflow during Tom’s administration?”
She checked the files. “I don’t see it listed. Maybe Tom didn’t trust him enough to hire him. Something was wrong.”
“It sounds like Drake was a man who would create more problems by draining the expense account.”
“That might have caused some nasty disagreements. Which could have led to something more serious.”
Avy was exploring some very dangerous territory, but her eyes were wide open, seeing a disturbing trend. Sibling rivalry was common in the lives of professional men where one just
She brought up the website, entered her code, and found the company history of Cyberflow after clicking on the icon. She noted when it had been founded—the official date of incorporated status. Tom Labrador was listed as the original CEO, which was no surprise. Transfer of ownership was initiated by the courts a very short time after Tom’s death. The applicant was Drake Labrador, again no surprise except for the speed at which the company changed hands. Company earnings indicated that Cyberflow was already in the black and climbing in profits before Drake assumed ownership. The means of transfer was outlined in the will. The surprise involved the split of the company: Seventy percent went to Drake—the remaining thirty percent had been divided between Avalon’s mother and Drake’s parents. Avy did not know that.
“Now there’s a surprise,” she said. “According to this my grandmother owns fifteen percent of Cyberflow.”
“How well do you get along with her?”
“I don’t. She disowned my real mother after the conviction. From what mom tells me, she never came by to visit me when I was little. I sure don’t remember a letter or postcard for any holiday.”
“Bad blood,” he said. “You were guilty by association. That blows.”
When she studied the earnings statements from Drake’s administration to the present, the figures did not show a company that was making profitable strides, or at least a decent growth percentage that would have been anticipated with such a corporation like Cyberflow. She knew this from her business and accounting classes. Expenditures on advertising seemed high. Those figures could have been false, buried in unknown or secret accounts, Avy realized. It didn’t take a math major to understand it. Likewise, the general labor force had doubled since the beginning, showing an unclear understanding of profit and loss. The greatest expense in personnel came with the addition of an armed security force—a chief with about thirty officers.
Avy pointed at the screen. “Look at that.”
Sebastian, who had been reading along with her, squirmed in his seat. “What are they using, solid gold motherboards? High-tech electronics is a competitive field with lots of patents involved. Security is always extreme, but that’s a small army they have there. That excess alone is eating into profits.”
“You have a good head for business.”
“I had no choice but to learn off the cuff. I’m a bare bones outfit. I have to watch my books. Comes from paranoia. But I did pick up a lot from Dad, who owned three computer stores.”
“I agree. I’m no expert, but it doesn’t look like he knows what he’s doing. There’s a big turnover in the secretary pool. But I knew he was a cad. There’s also lots of petty cash for tons of private purchases. I knew about the limousine service, but I didn’t know he had two private jets. I’ll bet Mom’s plastic surgery, personal trainers, and salon visits are coming straight out of the company expense account.” She gave her head rueful shake. “The company is wasting away and he's the cancer who is eating it. His bio is bogus too. He doesn’t have degrees in management or business. He was a mail clerk at one time. I know that he sold insurance when he was younger because Mom told me. The dude’s incompetent—way out of his element.”
“Are there any records of him working for Cyberflow during Tom’s administration?”
She checked the files. “I don’t see it listed. Maybe Tom didn’t trust him enough to hire him. Something was wrong.”
“It sounds like Drake was a man who would create more problems by draining the expense account.”
“That might have caused some nasty disagreements. Which could have led to something more serious.”
Avy was exploring some very dangerous territory, but her eyes were wide open, seeing a disturbing trend. Sibling rivalry was common in the lives of professional men where one just
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