Brought to His Knees-Tough Guys Laid Low By Love
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“Ugh.”
She sat up and Piper rolled to look at her. At almost twelve, her dog no longer appreciated being woken up before eight in the morning. Even then, Trudy had to push her out the doggy door so she could do her business before Trudy left for the day.
“I know, I’m sorry,” she said, giving Piper’s ear a scratch. “Go back to sleep.”
Ring, ring. Ring, ring, ring, Ring! Ring! Ring!
She hauled herself to her feet. She cut the power to the treadmill and picked up her phone.
Her best friend, Meisha Komano’s smiling face was identified as the caller. She wouldn’t have answered the phone for just anyone right now. She’d talked to enough people this morning to not want to pick it up again until Monday.
“Hey, Meisha.”
“Oh my God! Are you okay? What happened? Why didn’t you call me? Who the fuck were they?” Meisha fired off her questions faster than the shots from last night.
Trudy sank to sit on the treadmill and cradled her head in one hand and phone in the other. “I’m okay. I was going to call you after nine.”
Like Piper, Meisha didn’t believe the day started before ten. Luckily her job as an online educator allowed her to wake up late and roll out of bed at noon. Trudy had chosen to wait until nine because that was the earliest she could call Meisha and expect to have an intelligent conversation that wasn’t being interrupted by yawns coming from the other end.
“What? This is some shit that you wake me up for. Jesus Tru, you could’ve been killed.”
“I know.” That’s the same thing everyone she’d spoken to said. It was a good thing she’d hid under her desk and not gone out to investigate. She would’ve been sliced and diced right along with Mark.
“I’m sorry about Mark. He was a good guy.”
Meisha had met all of her employees during a company picnic that Trudy had thrown earlier in the summer. She’d met Alice and Ernie then.
“Yeah, he was. I talked to Alice this morning. She’s hysterical. She doesn’t know how she’s going to take care of Ernie by herself.”
“He had just the one child, right?”
“Yeah, but he’s enough. I don’t know if you remember him, but Ernie has a rare brain disorder. Mark was working two jobs just to pay off the medical bills alone. Alice didn’t work because they couldn’t afford the cost for a special sitter.”
“Awww, that’s too bad.”
“Sucks.”
“What do you need me to do? I can be there in thirty.”
Trudy looked at the clock. Six–thirty–two in the morning. “Hey, you never told me why you’re up so early?”
“My fucking neighbors were fighting–again. I had to call the police. They were still talking about what happened at Hollander Accounting when they came to take my statement. Not the best way to find out that your best friend’s business had been broken into and a guy was killed.”
Trudy cringed. “You’re right. Sorry.”
“I’m getting dressed now.” Meisha let out a yawn. “I want coffee, lots of coffee when I get there.”
“I’m fine. Go back to sleep.” Trudy yawned herself.
“How about we both go back to sleep and I’ll swing by later? You’re not going to work today, right?”
“No, I closed the office. It has to be cleaned. I have my laptop though. I can work from here.”
“Why don’t you just relax for the day? You deserve it.”
“I can’t. I’m working on a big account. I have to get the audit completed by the end of the month. It’s too important for me and the business to slack off. This contract could open up a lot of doors.”
“Work, work, work,” Meisha said. “Oh, I’ll bring my laptop too. We’ll be two girls with their laptops and vanilla cappuccinos, working away, making money, conquering the world. How about it?”
Trudy didn’t want to be alone anyway. They hadn’t caught the guys who’d killed Mark, and if they wanted to come after her she doubted Piper’s attack skills would be enough to fend them off. “Sure.”
Meisha yawned again. “Okay, eleven–ish?”
Eleven–ish really meant twelve–thirty in Meisha speak. “Eleven–ish,” Trudy said.
Trudy disconnected the phone and got up. She turned the television off and made her way out of the extra room where her treadmill and elliptical were set up. “Are you coming with me or staying in here?” she asked Piper.
Piper rolled to her other side.
“Guess you’re staying here.” She turned off the light and left. She made the short walk to the only other bedroom in her ranch house. In her bedroom she crawled into bed, not bothering to take off her sweaty work–out clothes, which were now dry.
She’d worry about cleaning herself and her sheets when she woke up. Right now, her mind clouded over in a heavy daze.
… … …
While Trudy sat on the sofa, crossed legs supporting her laptop, Meisha lounged on the chaise, aiming the remote control at the television.
“I swear. Who gave these idiots a marriage license in the first place?”
Trudy hadn’t been paying attention to the bickering couple on screen. Who aired their dirty laundry on national television anyway?
“I mean, he knew the baby wasn’t his when they got married. Why is he so surprised that the new baby isn’t his too? Give me a break.” Then for added measure, Meisha screamed at the television. “She’s a whore, Jessie! Your momma warned you not to marry her.”
Trudy shook her head. Meisha spent most of her days watching daytime television and communicating with students via internet. Trudy realized that at some point her best friend might’ve lost touch with reality.
Trudy and Meisha were complete opposites. Everyone always questioned how they’d met and became best friends. While she was quiet and methodical, Meisha was loud and boisterous and lived like “tomorrow might not ever come”, as Meisha loved to say.
They had actually met on the playground in the second grade. Some bullies had pushed Trudy down and took her Skittles and, out of nowhere, this petite half African–American, half Japanese little girl was pushing and yelling at the three older boys. “You leave her alone! Don’t mess with her!”
After some pushing, punching, biting and scratching, Trudy’s Skittles had been returned and she had a best friend forever.
But their demeanor wasn’t the only area where they were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Meisha was petite, standing only five–foot–one and maybe one–hundred and ten pounds, while Trudy was taller at five–foot six and worked her butt off to fit into size ten clothes. Meisha stood out, looking exotic with her caramel complexion and smoky, light–brown eyes, while Trudy always felt as though she blended well into a crowd. The only feature that stood out on her was the color of her eyes, light green. Sometimes people gave them a second glance but other than that she was run of the mill normal, with pale skin and brown hair.
Meisha had her long black hair sitting in a haphazard bun. When she got up, the bun shifted to the side. “I swear,” Meisha said. “I need to stop watching this mess. This is exactly why I’m not getting married.” As she walked to the kitchen, she pulled up her skinny jeans.
That’s just not right, Trudy thought, watching her. Meisha’s skinny jeans were falling off her tiny butt. She’d gotten the jeans from the Young Misses section from the department store and they were still too big. If she didn’t love Meisha as much as she did, she would feel the urge to smack her. Well, loving Meisha wasn’t the only reason Trudy wouldn’t make a move to hit her, since Meisha could kick her ass without breaking a sweat. Her Japanese father had seen to that.
“Why? Because of some idiots on TV?” Trudy asked.
“Look at them. They’ve been together for four years. There is such a thing as too stupid to mate you know.”
Trudy could hear cabinets banging, cereal being poured into a bowl and the refrigerator opening and closing.
Meisha came back and took her seat on the chais
e, holding a mixing bowl full of cereal. Meisha could eat anything she wanted and not gain a pound. If Trudy looked at food for too long, she’d gain weight.
“I thought you had to work?”
Meisha took a spoonful of cereal. “I’m done. How much longer you gonna be tied to that thing?” Meisha said, referring to Trudy’s laptop.
She shrugged. “Probably a while. There’s something not right with some of the transactions. The money comes in okay, but there ends up being a shortage somewhere. I can’t figure out how it’s leaving. So far all the withdrawals seem legit.”
“Uh oh, embezzlement?” Meisha asked.
“I think so. The company suspects it, but they can’t seem to figure out who’s doing it and where the money is going to.”
Meisha pointed her dripping spoon at Trudy. “If anybody can find out you can. You’re the best.”
“Thanks, I sure hope so. I’d love to have an account as big as this one on a full–time basis.”
Trudy bit her lower lip as she scrolled through the transactions, scanning for anything out of place.
“How much are they paying? Enough to buy a new car–or motorcycle?”
Trudy rolled her eyes at the thought of buying a motorcycle. Trudy had gotten on the back of Meisha’s Yamaha R4 once and it had been enough. What she really needed was a car, a new one. She’d been driving the same car she’d had since finishing grad school nine years ago. It was in the shop more than it was out, forcing Trudy to know the bus schedule by heart.
“Enough to buy a new car and afford a ticket to Japan with you.”
Meisha’s high–pitched scream peeled through the room. “That would be awesome! I always wanted you to visit my grandparents with me.”
And she’d always wanted to go but could never afford the price of a ticket or to be off work for the two week vacation.
Just as Trudy was about to flick her gaze up to Meisha to tell her just that, she spotted it.
“Bingo.”
Chapter Three
“Are you sure?” Andras asked.
As soon as Kristof heard the news on CNN that a human accounting firm had been broken into and someone had been killed, he knew it wasn’t a coincidence. The break–in happened to be at Hollander Accounting, the firm he’d contracted to audit the books of the company he and his brothers had built from the ground up. If he needed further clarification that this break–in wasn’t a coincidence, the intruders had jumped from a three–story office building, down to the parking lot, and ran away. No, his gut told him the break–in and murder had been because of Dark Wolf Enterprises. And being who he was–what he was–meant trusting your gut if you wanted to stay alive.
“The news reported the man’s torso had been shredded and his insides ripped out.” A murder distinctive of wolf shifters. “I’m positive that this was a message sent to us,” he added. “They want us to drop the audit.”
Andras grumbled on the other side of the cell phone. After Kristof heard the news, he knew his boss and older brother should be informed.
Finally, after grumbling, Andras added, “Well, that’s not going to happen.” Andras took a deep breath. “I knew this was probably too much for a human firm to handle.”
“But you wanted fresh eyes to look at the account,” Kristof reminded him. “And I agreed. If we’re ever going to find out who’s stealing from us, we needed to take the job off site. We weren’t getting anywhere handling it in–house, that’s for sure.”
After months and months of looking for the source, none of their accounting employees could find anything. That only proved two things to Kristof, whose job as the Chief Financial Officer required him to oversee the company’s finances. One, whoever was stealing from them was good and two, it was an inside job. No one outside of the company would have access to the accounts the thief was pilfering from.
“Shit. We can’t put mortals in danger. It might raise some questions. Especially if the intruders are jumping from three–story buildings and leaving witnesses behind to write about it. Have the news agencies interviewed her yet?” Andras took a deep breath and then groaned. “I can just picture it now, some human telling the reporters that she witnessed men with super–human strength growling and jumping out of her window. She’d probably throw in that she was working for us while she is at it.”
“Don’t start stressing out about it. No, she hasn’t been interviewed and no, she wouldn’t mention our name anywhere. I had her sign a confidentiality agreement before I gave her the contract. Plus, I highly doubt she’d even put two and two together. Why would she even suspect the break–in had something to do with our account anyway?”
“What I don’t understand is why go through all this trouble to kill a human? They want to send us a message to stop the audits–sure. But why risk getting caught and having their handiwork splattered across every news station when they could have done something more subtle to get their message across?”
“Maybe they think she’s getting close to cracking the case?”
“And they want her out of the picture as soon as possible–no matter the cost. Find out what she knows, but don’t ask her about it over the phone,” Andras said. “I’m sure by now her phone is tapped.”
“I’ll let her know I’m coming, but I agree, no mentioning of what she found–if anything–over the phone.”
“Shit. This would all be unnecessary if I could just get a read on whoever is doing this. I can’t even get a fucking guilt reading out of anyone in the pack.”
“I don’t know how anyone is even able to keep a secret from you. Have you checked the lineage records? Has a shifter ever been able to keep secrets from his or her Alpha?”
“No, never. I’ve personally met with everyone at our company and no one smelled wrong or untrustworthy. I’m officially stumped.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of this soon,” Kristof promised. “First, we find out why someone from the pack is stealing from us, and then we find out how they’re able to keep it a secret from you.”
“And then, I make an example out of him or her so this shit will never happen again,” Andras said, emitting a low growl.
Kristof lowered the glass window that separated him from the human driver of his limousine. “Michael, change of plans. I need to return home and then to the private jet.”
“Yes, sir,” the driver said.
As the driver made a U–turn, Kristof raised the dividing window back into place.
“How soon can you get to her?” Andras asked.
“I’m on it now. Call Lajos and have him meet me at my house. We’ll leave as soon as possible.”
He’d definitely need Lajos, his younger brother and head of security, with him on this one. If anyone could sniff out a shifter it was him. And a shifter in Jacksonville, Florida, where there wasn’t a pack, would surely stand out.
“Alright. Keep me posted.” Andras said, just before disconnecting the line.
Kristof knew his gut had been right. As soon as he’d seen the news he made arrangements to visit the human firm on Monday, when the reporter said her business would be open again. He’d thought to come to her personally and thank her for her services, pay her more than her contract stipulated and fire her. He didn’t normally end contracts personally, but since he’d been the one to hire her, he felt a personal stake in this.
If this were any other business agreement, he would’ve never made the arrangements. His cousin and accounting manager Erzsebet usually handled this stuff. Because of the nature of what was going on, Kristof thought the less who knew about the outside firm, the better. He’d taken care of everything himself. He’d even spoken to Gertrude Hollander directly after awarding her the contract. He needed his wolf to provide the extra reassurance he needed to ensure she would be the right person for the job. His wolf could sense a liar and a dishonest person right off the bat. When his wolf sensed loyalty in her voice, he knew she wouldn’t go against the gag clause of the contract.
His
wolf had also sensed something else… What, Kristof couldn’t tell, but his interest had been piqued.
On the way back to his house, Kristof called his personal assistant and had her ready a bag and arrange for the company’s private jet to be on standby. When the limo pulled around the driveway to his mansion, he saw his assistant on the wide steps, holding his overnight bag.
The driver started to open his door. “No need, Michael,” Kristof said. “I’m not getting out.”
He rolled down his window as Katalin, his assistant, came down the stairs. She wore jeans, a t–shirt and gym shoes. Her long brown hair was hanging loose around her small pixie–like face. She had his bag slung over her shoulder.
When she approached, he opened the door to retrieve his bag. “Is Lajos here yet?”
“He said he’ll meet you at the airfield.”
“Thank you.” He closed the door and hit the switch to roll up the window.
“Hey, wait a minute. Aren’t you going to tell me where you’re going?”
He stopped the window from coming up. “I can’t right now.”
She crossed her arms, squinting her light–blue eyes at him. “When are you coming back?”
He blew out a heavy breath. He really didn’t have time for all of her questions. “Probably tonight.” He engaged the window again.
“Then why the bag?” she asked.
He stopped the window again. “Just in case I need to stay the night. Is that all right with you?”
“You know, this is the easiest job I ever had in my life.” She said the same phrase she often repeated to him.
“Katalin, please, this is the only job you’ve held in your life.”
“This sounds all top–secret. Normally nothing you do or talk about is remotely interesting. Any other time I have to hear about this business, that business, or numbers. Ugh.” She said the last part with a shudder.
“Huh, I thought I was teaching you how to do your job.”
“This is a part of my job.” She leaned closer to the window. “What’s going on? I can keep a secret.”