A Shadow of Scarlet (Book #3)

Karen went into Wolfe's office. Callie lingered for a moment before she followed her to peer over Karen's shoulder at Wolfe's computer screen.

"That's not correct. We don't have anything there." Karen told Wolfe. "What's the entry?"

Wolfe tapped a few keys and clicked her mouse.

"Okay . . ." Wolfe dragged it out. "It's a project that's been in the works for about a year. Maybe a bit longer. That makes it supposedly something that began during my time. I didn't approve it. I would have had to since it was my responsibility back then. Before we gave it to you. I don't remember it. At all. Which I should because it hasn't been that long."

"What does the file say? Who is leading the project? Who is reviewing it?"

"No one. There's nothing in the file. Just the basic project information and inception dates. A couple of later updates saying that things are on schedule, but no one signed off on it anywhere I can see. It's a two million dollar project according to the expenditure list."

"Two million? We've invested two million in this project we don't know about? Who approved the funding transfers?"

"No one. Like I said, the file is empty."

"Were the funds transferred and used?"

"As far as I can tell at a glance, yes. But for what I don't know."

"So, basically, we've spent two million on a project we don't know about, to buy things we have no record of, by someone who is currently anonymous. Correct?"

"Yes."

"Then, the only possible conclusion is that someone in the House is stealing from us. In large dollars."

Wolfe nodded. "The question is who. And why."

Karen agreed. "The even bigger question is; Are they still doing it?"

For that, Wolfe had no answer. Not yet.

Fifteen

"We need to see what's going on at the project site. Plus, we need to know more about the property and who owns it."

Karen was outlining a plan. She proposed that she go look at the site. Wolfe would stay to see what she could dig up on the property. She'd also talk to the bank about who authorized the funds transfer and where it went. They might be able to get the money back if the transfer wasn't properly authorized.

"Callie goes with you. Take someone else too. Just in case." Wolfe was adamant.

"We can take Paul. He's steady and reliable. He's seen Callie fight and knows how to support her."

"Good choice. I'd also like a crash team nearby. We have no idea what to expect or what you may walk into. This is not the usual business."

Karen didn't like the idea but could see the merit in having backup if things went really bad. She nodded.

"Done. But, I don't want them in my hip pockets. They are backup, not lead. I want them to be invisible."

"When do you want to go?" Wolfe asked as she finished sending a request to Lainey to see what she could dig up about the property. She wanted tax records, ownership changes, the works.

"Now is as good a time as any."

Wolfe nodded. "Then security needs to scramble to assemble their team."

"Which is good for them. Please have Erik bring the car around. Have Paul meet us at the car. We are leaving now." Karen just spoke into the air knowing that security would pick it up and make it happen. That was their job. Usually they did it very well. Usually.

"Callie?" Karen stopped at the door when Callie didn't automatically follow her.

"Fox?" Callie asked.

Karen looked at Callie steadily without answering. Callie looked at Wolfe for some kind of intervention or something but nothing was forthcoming. Nothing from that corner of their triad ever would on this type of thing. Callie knew her role. Either she did it, or she did not. If not, then she didn't belong there. And, she would break her promises. Which would hurt the most. For all of them.

Steeling herself, Callie joined Karen at the door. Her job was to be with Karen when Karen needed her. There was no other option. No compromise.

"Lainey knows. She'll talk to her." Karen murmured at Callie as they left. "And, we shouldn't be that long."

Callie nodded that she heard. She also knew that today was probably Fox's last chance to prove herself. If she didn't, then her's and Calllie's relationship would change. In a big way. Lainey watched them leave before returning to her search for the information on the property.

It wasn't that much later when Lainey noted Fox coming into the reception area. She didn't greet Fox or say anything. It was up to Fox to take the initiative if she was going to be able to stay.

Fox didn't speak after she came in. She stood for a moment waiting, then sat gingerly on the edge of the spare desk. She remained very quiet. Lainey continued to do her property information research. Ignoring Fox as if she wasn't there.

"That's wrong." Fox told her suddenly.

"What?" Lainey swivelled as if startled. "How long have you been here? I didn't hear you come in."

"I just got here." Fox lied, ducking her head shyly.

"Oh. So, what did you say a moment ago? I didn't quite catch it." Lainey ignored the small lie. She knew that Fox only said it to cover the fact that Fox didn't want anyone to notice her presence. That way, no one would kick her out of wherever she happened to be. No one ever told the wall or carpeting to leave.

Fox pointed briefly at Lainey's computer screen. "I said; that's wrong."

Lainey looked at her screen. "What's wrong with it?"

"I don't know. I just know it's wrong."

"How do you know it's wrong if you don't know what's wrong?" Lainey was sharp in her question.

Fox just ducked her head again. Lainey got up to lean on the edge of the spare desk next to Fox.

"Hey sweety." She crooned softly. "I'm not going to eat you. You know that don't you?"

Fox gave her characteristic jerky nod.

"You know it's ok if you're here, right? We like to have you around. I like having you around."

Fox nodded again.

"So, talk to me."

"I know I'm not supposed to interrupt. Sorry. I didn't really mean to." Fox apologized to her feet.

"Fox!" Lainey almost scolded. "I don't care what you've been told before. When you're here, it's not an interruption if you know something that we need to know. So, tell me what's wrong with what's on my screen. Look at me!"

Fox glanced up for a second.

"I don't know. I had to do a school project over the summer last year. An internship. I worked part time at City Hall for three weeks. That's where they keep those records. I wasn't there very long. I don't really know anything, but that doesn't look right." Fox twisted her hands while she squirmed on the edge of the desk.

"Does it look phoney? Like it was made up instead of it being the real document?"

Fox shrugged one shoulder in a hunching motion. She didn't know. All she knew was that it looked wrong to her.

"Ok. Do you still know anyone there who could check the actual records for us?"

Fox gave her hunching shrug again. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Fox. I need your help with this. You know people who can tell us what we need to know. It's time for you to stop being afraid of being noticed. Time to start showing us what you're really made of."

Fox looked up at Lainey in surprise.

"Fox, you're not a little kid anymore. It's time to get serious." Lainey pointed. "There's the phone. I need that information. You know who has it. So, stop goofing off and get to work!"

Lainey crossed her arms. Waiting. Fox sat still for a moment before pulling a more than slightly tattered notebook out of her back pocket. It was very dog-eared. Flipping through the pages she looked for the number of the phone at City Hall.

"What's that?" Laine asked while Fox flipped pages.

"It's my phone book. All the phone numbers of people I know."

"Why don't you have that on your cell phone?"

"I don't have a cell phone. We can't afford one." Fox continued to flip pages in her notebook. "We can't afford much because my mom doesn't get paid a lot for working at The Pit. She tried waiting tables. That didn't work out too well. I had a job once, but they said I stole stuff. I didn't! I got fired anyway and they didn't pay me. We have to really careful not to spend too much or mom can't pay the rent on the apartment."

"Spend too much? On what?"

"Just stuff."

"Like what? Food?"

"No, we get help from the food bank. Usually that's enough but mom has to be really careful with how much she drives the car because gas is expensive. It's why I was only at City Hall for three weeks. We couldn't afford for my mom to drive me there every day and walking took too long. I had to quit. I got an F. My teacher said I was lazy."

"You walked from your apartment to City Hall? Every day?"

Fox nodded flipping another page. "I walk almost everywhere if I want to go someplace. We can't afford for me to take the bus. Oh, here it is!" Fox showed Lainey a stained page in her notebook.

"Fox? Do you walk here every day? From home? And walk home again afterward?"

Fox nodded. She put her finger on an entry on the worn page.

"Here's the number. I'll read it out so you can call. You want to talk to Rebecca."

"You call. They know you. They don't know me." Lainey pointed at the phone again. "I have my own work to do. Tell me when you've got the information. We can compare it with what's on the screen."

Fox looked at Lainey and her pointed finger. She picked up the phone to carefully dial the number from her notebook.

"Good. I'll be right back." Lainey opened the door to the inner office, disappearing inside.

"You tell Scarlet that if she doesn't fix this I will quit!" Lainey hissed in anger at Wolfe as soon as she closed the door behind her. "This is abominable. It is a serious abuse of her privileges and responsibilities. I will not be a part of it."

"Lainey? What . . .?" Wolfe pushed away from her desk to stand up in surprise.

"That girl!" Lainey stabbed a rigid finger toward the outer office. "Her mother works for Scarlet. Yet, they have to get assistance from the food bank to have enough to eat. Usually enough to eat, as she puts it. Which means; no they don't get enough, but she won't say that because she doesn't want to be pitied.

"They have no money for what she calls 'stuff' and what the rest of the world calls basic necessities. They barely make rent on the dumpy apartment they live in. According to the background information I have on her it's not that expensive. Yet, they can't afford to live there and buy food."

"She has to walk here and walk home again after we all leave at night. That shy young girl has to walk alone, for hours, in the dark all the way across town, because Scarlet doesn't pay her mother enough money to live on. She doesn't even have the money for bus fare to help her be safe from predators on her way here. Let alone on the way home!"

"She has to walk everywhere. She failed some of her classes in school because she couldn't get there on time. Because Scarlet doesn't care. YOU didn't care."

"Lainey, I didn't know." Wolfe tried to explain.

"It was your job to know."

"Lainey. Stop for a second. Did you know? If you didn't know, how was I supposed to know if you couldn't give me that information?"

"It doesn't matter. You were responsible. Now She is responsible."

Wolfe sighed. "Yes. I was. And yes, She is. I will review the salary schedules and adjust them. How's that?"

"I will review and adjust the schedules. When I'm done I will send it to you to give to Her." Lainey told Wolfe the way it was going to be.

"Yes Ma'am." Wolfe sounded meek as she acquiesced but there was a glint of humor in her eye. "I hear and obey."

Lainey glared at Wolfe. It wasn't funny.

"Fox also needs a phone. And, a bus pass. And, more clothes to wear. She's wearing yesterday's clothes today."

"Lainey, you can't save the world."

"I understand that. But, I can save that girl. And you are going to help me do it."

"Exactly how are we going to do that? She isn't even level one and probably won't ever be." Wolfe held out her hands in exasperation.

"Wrong. She's been taught to not interrupt, or be in the way, or be noticed. Probably by her mother, so that when she was at The Pit no one would molest her. Can you imagine a pre-teen girl in that place when it's active? Or even a young teen? Alone? What a horrible risk to have to take.

"What's worse is that she probably had to be there during the times when they were open in order to do her school homework on the computer. She probably had to use the computer at that place because they didn't make enough money to have one of their own at home. So, to keep her safe, her mother taught her to be a mouse. A very tiny, quiet, invisible, little mouse."

"She's submissive. Not a leader."

"So? You know Subs will volunteer to help. Look at all the examples here in the House who do just that. She doesn't because she's been taught not to, even when she wants to."

"It's not indifference?"

"No. She wants to, but won't because of her training. Probably years of it. She's naturally shy too. That combination, plus her submissive tendencies to accept whatever comes at her, make her appear indifferent. She waits to be told it's ok to help. Even when she really wants to get in there and dig."

"She tries hard to be invisible. She hides behind her hair and looks at the floor at lot. She rarely speaks up to keep from drawing attention to her presence. That way she's still part of the group even if they don't know it. She pretends to belong."

"Add to that her lesbian aspect, which her mother tried to suppress from public view and the inevitable stigma and snubbing she'd get from it, she's probably really emotionally screwed up too." Wolfe mused. "The question is whether she can be saved and rehabilitated. Whether she's worth the effort."

"She's honest, kind, loveable, and a human being." Lainey left out everything else she really wanted to say on top of that simple statement about how it was partly Scarlet's fault that Fox was a victim.

"So, how?" Wolfe asked the question in verbal shorthand implying that she agreed with Lainey.

"I don't know. She needs someone who can teach her to act out. Someone who won't care if she's different or a lesbian. Someone who also won't make a move on her or use her because of it. Someone who could use her help, but who will force her to come out of her shell just on general principles even if the help isn't really needed. Someone to get into trouble with just for the fun of it. And, get out of it again. Safely. Oh!"

Lainey suddenly grinned to herself.

"Oh no. I know that look. What evil plan have you hatched now?"

"Violet. Have Her recall Violet. Have her bring little Daniel. Assign Fox to them. The question is how do we assign Fox to someone she doesn't know? Without making it seem like we're just trying to get her out of our hair. Or, giving her a job she's too proud to accept because it looks like we feel sorry for her."

"We let Violet figure that part out." Wolfe approved of the idea. Violet was beautiful and very likeable. By everyone. She was also a brat. With a capital B. She could force Fox out of her invisibility shell just by Fox having to deal with Violet's general naughtiness. Violet's irreverent behavior could also teach Fox how to misbehave yet stay within the Rules. And be proud of it!

"Problem solved." Lainey turned to go back to work.

"Lainey?" Wolfe's call of her name stopped Lainey before she got to the door.

"Yes?" Lainey paused, but didn't turn around. Her conduct and anger at Wolfe had broken the unspoken rules of her job. She'd done it twice in just a few weeks. Maria could be angry. She could be disciplined for what she'd been doing. Maybe even fired.

"I don't tell you this enough, but I appreciate you and everything you do for us." Wolfe felt awkward as she said it. She always did whenever she apologized for her behavior.

"You have a good heart. Thank you for bringing all of this to my attention. I will ensure that Scarlet takes care of it. For everyone, but especially for Fox and her mother."

Lainey nodded without showing her relief at what she heard. "I'll have that other information for you shortly."

Sixteen

When Lainey returned to her desk, Fox gave her a page torn from her small notebook.

"What's this?"

"It's the information you said you needed. I copied down what Rebecca said. She said she'd send me a scan of the record but I don't have access to my email until on my way home. So I wrote it all down instead. It's different from what you have."

"She sent a scan? To where?" Lainey sounded excited. "Your email?"

Fox nodded.

Lainey opened her browser. "What's the email address? We can get to it from here."

Fox tried to tell her but Lainey got out of her chair pushing Fox into it.

"Go!"

While Fox retrieved the emailed scan from Rebecca, Lainey sat at the other desk and booted the computer there. She typed some entries to create an email account for Fox on GreenWood's server system.

"I have it." Fox told her.

"Good girl!" Lainey went over behind Fox, absently planting a kiss in Fox's hair. "Can you forward it here?"

"Yes. What email address?"

Lainey gave her the new address she had just created. "From now on, that's the email address for you here for things like this. Foxglove at GreenWood. Ok?"

Fox looked at Lainey.

"Things like this are work. These are not personal or fun time things. We do not use personal or fun email addresses for work. It looks bad to other people. No one would take us seriously if they had to send business emails to furrycutekittens at funpalace. Do you understand?"

"I understand. I will use it only for work things." Fox promised.

Lainey kissed Fox's hair again. "You can use it for other things. We don't mind. Callie uses her account for both work and personal email. Most of us do. But work stuff only comes here. Fun stuff can go anywhere, but work only comes here. Ok?"

Fox nodded.

"Good girl! The other computer is running. You can use it if you want while Callie is out with Miss Karen."

Fox nearly jumped out of Lainey's chair. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be in your way."

"Fox! You need to stop apologizing for everything. You are not in my way or bothering me. Not in the least. You are helping me."

Lainey sat down at her desk. She set up two windows side by side. In each was the copy of the property record. One from GreenWood's server, the other from Fox's friend at City Hall.

"So, my little helper. Come over here. Tell me what the difference is between these two documents. What made you think there was something wrong with the first one?"

With Fox's help, Lainey began to see the differences in the documents. Besides the slightly different layout and the different name of the property owner, there were other differences too. Like the official seal and stamp. The ones on the record from Rebecca looked different. Those were sharp and clear. The other ones seemed twisted and warped. As if someone tried to reproduce them after some of it had gotten erased. Fox tried to explain about imaging programs that could be used to create or modify an image on a computer, but Lainey waved that all away.

"I don't understand any of that. None of that matters anyway. What matters is that it's a forgery. On our server. Which means that whoever did it, also has access to our system." Lainey talked as she prepared her written report to send to Maria and Karen.

"If you want, I can try to see who created the document. Or saved it on your computer server." Fox was very quiet with her suggestion. As if she didn't want to be heard making it.