Ferocity

by T. L. Reeve

  “She got away with it for ten years, didn't she?”

  He had a point.

  “Okay, so she enters each transaction appearing to go to a supply company and she puts the money into another account?”

  “Yes,” Timothy answered with a nod. “As I said, these are the first of the expenditures that I found. I am sure there are more.”

  But how? There had to be some kind of trace of the money. “Can you find the amounts in the bank statements? Sure, it would be easy to steal from the till during the spring and summer since the sanctuary is open to the public. The rest of the year, we rely on donations. Those donations are either through our site or come in the form of checks. Not so easy to take from.”

  “Who goes over the mail,” he asked.

  “Well, Maisie does,” she said, then groaned, closing her eyes. “How could I be so blind?”

  “Hey, don't go getting down on yourself,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “She's kept you in the dark for as long as both of you have been running this sanctuary, maybe longer it appears. Now, at least you know where the money is going to and why your budgets have been cut.”

  True. Nevertheless, it didn't make sense. Maisie had everything. She was the belle of the ball. The daughter who did no wrong. The one who could dance into a room and everyone fawned over her. Money, when Maisie had been younger, wasn't even an issue. With her small appearances on local news channels and library tours she did along with parades and merchandising while sharing their big cats with the masses, she should have had more than enough to live on. So, what happened?

  The phone on Scarlett's desk rang, drawing her from her thoughts. She blew out a frustrated breath. The more they learned about her sister, the more she felt like she never knew Maisie. Timothy grabbed his laptop and stepped back, giving her room to answer the phone. “Hearts and Paws, this is Scarlett Leon how can I help you?”

  “Miss Leon, this is Mr. Brinks from PP&E. I thought I would let you know the loan has been paid in full.”

  She cut her gaze to Timothy. “What loan would that be?”

  The man cleared his throat. “The one your sister, Maisie came in and requested. She said both of you were in agreement the sanctuary needed a few upgrades.”

  She snorted and stared at Timothy. “Right, the loan. Sorry. We've been busy with those upgrades. I'm glad you could help us out on such short notice.” Each bitter word she spoke only ignited the anger coursing through her.

  “Not a problem,” Mr. Brinks said. “Also, if you don't mind letting Mrs. Cruz-Velasquez know that the secondary loan for supplies has been drawn up. She can come in and sign for it when she's ready.”

  She arched a brow. “I’m sorry, did you say, ‘she,’ can come in and sign for it? I thought both of us, per our family’s will, had to sign for it?”

  Mr. Brinks cleared his throat. “Dear me, she said you might forget, due to your injury.”

  Injury? What the fuck?

  “Miss Leon?” Mr. Brinks said. “Did I lose you?”

  “No, I’m here.” Scarlett sighed. “Right, my injury. I guess my mind is a little foggy today. What was the new agreement?”

  "Well, your sister has power of attorney over you and the sanctuary. She has since your parents died." Papers rustled in the background causing dread to seep into her system. "Seems your parents put you under conservatorship as well. Due to your injuries sustained by a lion attack. Anyway, as such, your sister can sign for the loan herself. This was just a courtesy call since I haven't been able to reach Mrs. Cruz-Velasquez."

  Scarlett wanted to scream. To rage and kick. Her parents had complete control over her life and now, Maisie did too. All because she tried to help her sister and the lion. She didn’t know if she should cry or throw up. Instead, she bit her tongue. “Right, right. Sorry, thanks again for calling.”

  “My pleasure, Miss Leon. I’m glad you’re back to assisting your sister. I am sure she appreciates your help.” The man hung up, leaving her to stare at the receiver in her hand.

  “Well, it seems our guesses were correct. Maisie used the auction money to pay off the loan. And, get this, it was for upgrades to the facilities here.” She let out a derisive laugh. “And my sister has a conservatorship over me.”

  “What?” Timothy narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean upgrades? What do you mean conservatorship?”

  “Yep, it seems that's what she was using the money for. The other, I guess our parents had one on me since the accident, so my oh-so-kind sister carried it over after their deaths.”

  Timothy sat opposite from her in a huff. “This is fucked on so many levels I don’t know where to begin.”

  “We’ll start with the easy stuff. Dave and his father would never draw up the conservatorship documents on me. So, if what Mr. Brinks said is true, they went to someone else.” She frowned. “There would also be court hearings and mental health or psychical examinations. I’m sure there’s more I’m missing too.”

  Timothy played with his bottom lip. He pulled at the plump flesh using his thumb and forefinger, drawing her attention to the sensual bow of his mouth. His obsidian eyes swirled with intent as he listened to her and when he cut his gaze toward her, the pure unadulterated resolve etched into his features had her panties dampening. Damn, why did he have to be so sexy while she was trying to be serious? You should be ashamed of yourself. Lusting after one man while two have warmed your bed, she chided herself. “I doubt Dave would have either. I think both sets of documents are forgeries.”

  She snorted. "You don't know my parents well enough. After running headlong into the lion's den, I'm sure they thought about sending me away, too."

  "Wouldn't you have known when you were in college?" he hedged. "At some point, the information would have come out."

  True. Yet, what stuck in her crawl was how vindictive her family could be, especially where she was concerned. It'd been why she turned out as she did—a bitchy shut-in. "Guess we'll never know. Anyway..."

  Timothy adjusted his position in the chair. “So, about the upgrades. No one just decides to upgrade a place like this. Most importantly, not one working in the red part of the year. How did she prove the assets to afford the loan payments on a two million dollar loan?”

  "Maybe she used the ledger she's been hiding money in? It only seems appropriate since she's concealing the money from the actual sanctuary.”

  Timothy nodded. “Plausible. She would've needed an architect to draw up plans and a construction company? Maybe a bid or two to show different projected costs?"

  “She probably had it,” Scarlett said. “If she can forge the books, what’s to stop her from doing the same with the bidding.” She closed the lid on her laptop and stood. “Can’t deny she isn’t good at her job. She's a performer when it comes down to it.” Guess those classes finally paid off.

  “We need to get the bank to hand over all of the loans for the sanctuary. We're running blind. Even with what I’ve uncovered on my own, I think there’s more.”

  A knock at her door drew her attention. She held up her finger as she crossed to it. Scarlett opened the door and relaxed. “I'm glad you're here.” She stood aside as Dave entered her office. Ever since they were little, Dave had this six sense about him. Whenever she was in need, he came running. Any time. Any day.

  “I couldn’t shake the feeling something was amiss when we talked, so I came here instead.” He sat next to Timothy. “What did I miss?”

  “The bank called Scarlett,” Timothy said. “Seems the loan has been paid off and now another has been drawn up.”

  Tension radiated off of Dave. “What?”

  “It gets better,” Scarlett muttered. “Seems the money was earmarked for upgrades to our facilities.”

  Dave chuckled, the dark sound slithered down her spine and was filled with foreboding. “Oh really?”

  Scarlett inclined her chin. “Seems Mrs. Cruz-Velasquez can pick up the paperwork whenever she ready. But there’s more.” Scarlett
filled Dave in. She knew she’d have to do it again when she saw Kenny and Edward. A part of her wished Dave would have been with his friends and brought them with him to get all the nonsense out of the way.

  “Shit.” Dave scrubbed his face. “We can't allow this to continue.”

  “Well, anything we do now, might cause Maisie to run,” Timothy said. “We have bits and pieces to this puzzle. Not the whole thing.”

  “Well, first thing’s first. We need to see the conservatorship paperwork. My father didn’t handle it,” Dave said. “If anything, he advocated for Scarlett. He demanded your parents send you to therapy and then asked to question Maisie for them. He never believed her cock and bull story about not being anywhere near the cats.”

  “How do we get them if we don’t know who the lawyer was that helped my parents?” Scarlett asked.

  “We go to the bank. More specifically, I go to the bank. Since I represent the sanctuary, I should have all copies of important documents. If the Leon Trust was left to you and Maisie, then the trust should know under what conditions you’ve been put on conservatorship.” Dave stood then. “Give me an hour and then we’ll wrangle the other two up and go over what we have.”

  “Sure,” Scarlett said. “An hour.”

  “Don’t look so down, Scar. We’ll figure this out. I am a hundred percent sure this paperwork is bogus.” He crossed to her and placed a kiss to her lips before cutting his gaze to Timothy. “Take care of her.”

  Timothy nodded. “You got it.”

  Dave strode from Scarlett’s office. Rage burned through his veins. None of the documents the bank had were real. Which meant, Maisie also pulled the original will and trust from the bank and replaced it with forged documents. What was her end game? What did she hope to accomplish? As it stood, she was running the refuge into the ground. Give the place another year, maybe five, and it would be boarded up. She wouldn’t have to deal with it.

  Yet, didn’t it play better for her if she kept the sanctuary? Then it hit him. What if Maisie wanted a redo of her childhood? What if she wanted back into the limelight? Play the savior when her sister became incapacitated. The thought gave him pause. Fuck me. He pushed out the door of the main building and came face to face with Kenny and Edward.

  “You,” he said pointing to Kenny. “You’re coming with me. Edward, I need you to go up and sit with Scarlett. Make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid. Timothy is already up there.”

  Edward nodded before pushing between Kenny and Timothy to get to the door. When he was inside, Dave turned to Kenny. “I’ll explain everything on the way to the bank. But, this is worse than both of us knew.”

  Kenny gave him a look crossed between confusion and anger. “How did I fucking know.”

  “It’s a wonder we didn’t figure it out before now.” Dave jogged toward his car. “Hurry, we can’t let Maisie see us. I’m sure the bitch has a snitch or three around here. We don’t want to let her know we’re onto her.”

  Kenny climbed into the passenger side of the vehicle. “You’re right. So, spill.”

  Dave pulled out of the gated property and turned onto the paved road. "It's a clusterfuck. Worse than I expected. I hope to get more answers at the bank." He started from the beginning and told Kenny about the conservatorship. The fact the loan had been paid off and what it'd been for. By the time he finished, they were pulling up to the bank.

  “Give me a second,” Kenny said. “I feel like breaking shit.”

  Dave understood. “My dad would never do something so deranged.”

  Kenny waved him off. “Never thought he would. Nor you.”

  “Good. This could be fucked when we get in there,” Dave said. “You sure you’re up for this?”

  Kenny grunted. “Yep. Lead the way.”

  They stepped inside the bank and Dave went straight for the first available teller. He grinned as he folded his hands on the counter. “I wonder if you could call Mr. Brinks and let him know Dave Youngblood here is to speak with him.”

  The girl smiled in return. "I sure can. It's good to see you again, Mr. Youngblood." She picked up the phone and dialed an extension. When the person answered she began to speak. "Mr. Youngblood is here to see you, Mr. Brinks. Should I send him up?" She waited for a beat. "Can do. Thank you." She hung up the phone then motioned to the staircase to the left of where they stood. "Mr. Brinks will see you now. Have a good afternoon."

  “Thank you.” Dave turned from the counter and headed for the stairs. “Should be interesting.”

  Kenny chuckled. “Being told you’re part of an embezzlement ploy at best and money laundering at worst...”

  “Yeah, like I said, interesting.” Dave smirked as they stepped onto the landing.

  Benji Brinks, branch manager and head of the loan department for PP&E Bank, approached both men with his hand extended. “I was surprised when Mandy said you were here. It’s been a minute.”

  “Sure has.” Dave shook his hand.

  “Good afternoon, sir,” Kenny said, taking Benji’s hand. “Thanks for seeing us.”

  “Come on, let’s talk in my office.” Benji waved them toward the corner office with a nice view of downtown Colorado Springs. When they were situated in his office, he continued, “How’s your dad? Still got that sixty-seven handicap?”

  Dave nodded. His plan was simple. Kill Benji with kindness then ask for all the paperwork dealing with the conservatorship and the will. Might be confusing for him, however, enough was enough and Maisie was going down. “He’s doing well. Said he got together with your father at the club the other afternoon. Those two are inseparable.”

  “I swear they’re connected at the hip.” Benji laughed. “It’s good for dad. Since mom died, he’s not been the same.”

  "I'm still so sorry about that." Benji Brinks' mother passed away in her sleep. The autopsy ruled the cause of death cancer related, though she'd been cured. The way Benji explained it, she had a massive heart attack due to the chemotherapy weakening her heart. She was only fifty-five. "Glad dad's around to help out when he can."

  “Five years in and we both can’t figure it out.” Benji sighed. “Anyway,” he cleared his throat, “I’m guessing this isn’t about my father. What can I do for you today?”

  “I know this is going to sound ridiculous,” Dave said, sitting forward. “I know I gave you the Leon Trust and Will, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere. I also lost the conservatorship paperwork. Can you get me a copy? I know it has to be placed with all the loan documents.” He tried to appear as sheepish as he could. “I’m blaming a secretarial mix-up at the office. I have a new person who is overeager to please sometimes, and she gets in over her head.”

  Benji snorted. “I understand. Let me pull up the file then go grab it. I can have a copy for you lickety-split.”

  “Thanks, man,” Dave said. “You’re saving my ass on this.”

  “Not a problem.” Benji tapped a few keys. “How is Scarlett doing? She seemed out of sorts earlier.”

  “Off day,” Kenny said. “I think she needs a vacation.”

  “Well, if the sanctuary is doing as well as it is, she should take one. The refuge is in perfectly capable hands with Maisie.”

  Dave grit his teeth. It took all of his strength to not blurt out, what was going on. Dave needed to be sure first. He had to read the conservatorship papers to find out which doctor supposedly examined Scarlett. Or, if like the website for the supply company Timothy told him about, it was a forgery too. Later, when he had a better grasp of the situation, he would come back and fill Benji in. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too late. “Maybe.”

  “Ah, here it is. Give me a moment.” Benji exited the office and went in the direction of the large two-story vault. Upstairs it housed all of the paperwork on their customers along with loans. Downstairs, they kept all of the safety deposit boxes along with the bank’s money.

  “Leave it to Maisie?” Kenny snorted. “Not even close.”

  "I don't think Benji knows how
deep the shit is about to get for him and this bank," Dave said. "When he does, I'm going to hate putting the nail in the coffin."

  “It’ll teach him to research better.” Kenny shrugged.

  “Yeah, but at what cost?”

  “Don’t matter,” Kenny grunted, crossing his arms. “Scarlett has been fucked over for long enough.”

  True. She had. “You’re right.”

  “I know I am.” He pointed to the vault. “Unwitting or not, this man helped Maisie cut Scarlett out of what made our girl happy. The sanctuary is her home. Maisie couldn’t give a shit about it and she’s spent her life preparing for this moment.”

  When Benji started back to them, Dave cleared his throat. “We’ll figure it out after we leave here. Can’t talk about it now.”

  "I agree." Kenny pasted on a smile when Benji joined them. "Sorry, it took me a minute. Someone did a horrible job of filing."

  Or, someone didn’t want Benji or anyone for that matter to find the file. “Not a problem. Again, I understand.”

  Benji opened the file and flipped through all of the documents then stopped on the information Dave requested. He folded his hand on it and lifted his gaze to meet Dave’s. “You don’t have to lie to me.”

  Dave blinked. “Excuse me?”

  “I know I had this conversation with Scarlett earlier and now you’re here looking for this paperwork your secretary conveniently lost?” Benji cocked a brow. “Be level with me.”

  Kenny let out a breath. “Well, at least he got smart quick.”

  "I think we should do this somewhere private because the implications behind what I am saying could potentially take down anyone in the vicinity of it." Plus, anyone who saw Maisie as a friend, could potentially blow what little case Dave could build for criminal prosecution.

  “Where?” Benji said.

  “The pub on Skyline. Meet us there in fifteen and use the alley entrance. Bring the file.” Kenny stood. “I need to stretch my legs.” He patted Dave’s shoulder as he started for the door.