Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Helena

After speaking with Maddox, I headed to the office center toreview the books for him.At least, that was something that I could contribute to the MC and for Maddox. A weight was lifted from my chest now that I'd let him in on the entire scope of the mess I'd gotten myself into.

Although I feltincreasinglylike I was entering uncharted territory withMaddox,things were starting to slide away from me like quicksand. Everything was either confusing, or there were moments when I could see things crystal clear.

The computer room was more of an office center than anything, filled with gadgets that the club or the members might need for work or day-to-day life: Internetaccess, desktop computers, printers, a copy machine – those sorts of things. While the club didn't accommodate living quarters for allmembers,there were perks. One of these small ones was business items like computers and printers. It was nice to see that Maddox was keeping it up.It made it more convenient for the MC members when legal or business issues needed to be resolved.

Rabbit turned out to be a surprise and not in a good way. He'd been reluctanteven to hand the booksover and was already proving difficult to work with. He was middle-aged with thinning strawberry-blonde hair and apaunchybelly hanging over his belt and busting out of his cut. Grease stains dotted a shirt that was unbuttoned too far for my liking. He looked sloppy, andI tried not to show the distaste that I was feeling.

Rabbit wasn't a member when I was here; hehad been an addition since Maddox took over. Hopefully, he was trustworthy, orthe club was screwed. Working with things like the MC's books revealed all sorts of secrets.

Rabbit was pacing the room,jittery and tapping the tables as I ran copies, which was a little irritating.

"Look, Maddox wants me to help, and I did the club books before," I added, not bothering to mention that I had a degree in accounting because I was guessing that wasn't something that would make a difference to him.

"Yeah, I get that." He twisted his mustache nervously as he fiddled with the edges of his vest. "It's just that he said we had to be on the quiet-like, andI'm not sure involving someone else is such a good idea—especiallya girl. No offense," he added.

Tilting my head athim,I squinted. "Sure, no offense." He nodded, apparently not understanding the absolute sarcasm in my voice. What an asshole.

"Look, I understand that it needs to be quiet. Club business isn't anything to mess around with, especially if itconcernsmoney. Nobody will hear a word from me. I get it when certain things need to be secret.Thisisn't something to gossip about," Isoothedwhen I finished the final copies. Rabbit's head was bobbing, and I wondered what sort of qualifications he had for doing the club books to begin with. Damn, but he seemed like an overall weird fit for the Iron Brotherhood. I made a note to ask Maddox about Rabbit out of idle curiosity.

"Where can I find you after I take a look? Do you stay here at the clubhouse?" I pried as I folded the pages in half. "Maybe we can meet back here and compare notes? As long as it's stillempty, is that okay? Ineed an hour or so to look through these."I already had a few comments, but I wanted to run the numbers and put an Excel sheet together.I wasn't sure why they didn't already have one. I knew what my dad thought about using anything computerized for his finances, but I would have thought that Maddox wouldn't have been so old-school.

"No, I don't stay here." More fiddling with the vest. "I've got my own place. I'll be aroundtohelpget the Open Road readysince the Cobras will be coming."He glanced at me as if verifying that I'd heard about the other motorcycle club coming this evening."You know," he said leadingly.

"Yeah, I heard." I ignored him. "So, meet me back here in an hour? We can go over things." I sat down at one of the back tables, digging out a couple of pencils and a yellow crayon from the box in the middle.

"Sure, I can do that." Rabbit gave a dismissive shrug but seemed agreeable enough as he left.

As soon as he was gone, I put him out of my mind, transitioned to one of the computer stationsfacingaway from the doorway, and powered it up. There was a lot of work here and not much time to do.

The first order of business was pulling up an application for the Odd Duck and printing it off. I felt a sense of excitement thinking about getting a waitressing gig there.It'd bea nicestart towards somecash to headout of here.The Duck was always busy, sotips would be good there. Regardless of what Maddox said and how he acted, I needed to ensure I had options.

Maybe Makarovich wasn't even looking forme,I thought, hopefully, but I still printed off a hard copy of the application and paused. Maddox had said he ordered new IDs for me, so I'd need to find out when they'd be ready.It'dprobably be bestto fill it out under whatever assumed name was on the ID.

Next,I opened a spreadsheet, ensuring it synced to a new user under a generic tag, andwarmed up my fingers. It was a good thing that my ten-key game was strong. After going through all theentries, I started working through the ledger pages and setting up the spreadsheet to understand the discrepancies that Rabbit discussed. Prioritizing, Ibeganlogging numbers.

The club had its fingers in all sorts of pies, businesses that were legitimate and not so legitimate. They ran businesses in town, invested in real estate, had employees, and paid taxes. But the Brotherhood also had another set of books. Those entailed all the illegal activities. My father had at one time talked about transitioning away from that side of life but was never able to make it happen. Of course, he could have just been placating me. There was a time in his life when he had been ashamed of the drugs and guns. They weren'tpreciselysmall-time either. Theyran some pretty big shipments. It didn't look like Maddox changed anything; it looked like the Brotherhood had grown. I bit my lip in concern as I looked at the numbers.

Working steadily, Ireviewedthe entries, did the math,anddouble-checked each valuation.The numbers all added up eventually, but the discrepancy wasn't in the mathat the end. There was one section recently of a few months where one was particularly glaring, but the real problem went back for a big stretch, almost eighteen months. I went back through and looked again at the sequencing of some odd deposits and the valuations of some runs. Sitting back, I ran my hands over my thighs.Money was takenand then put back each time. Damn it.

After shutting down my account, logging out, and powering off the computer, Ileaned back in the chair and tried to think about the ramifications as Rabbit entered the room. There was no sense in wishinghewould have waited to come back until later after I'd had a chance to talk to Maddox.

"Hey." His greeting was less than enthusiastic, and I could tell he was already a couple of whiskeys into the evening, eventhough it was still early.

"Hey," I kept my greeting equally dispassionate and neutral. "How's things going out in the club? Getting ready?" I was not looking for an answer, but it seemed polite.

"Yeah, everyone is keyed up good and tight for tonight," he said disinterestedly. "So, did you find anything?"

I wasn't sure what made me decide to keep quiet, but the decision wasmade at the lastminute. "No, I couldn't," I said casually. "I guess I'm just missing it." Shrugging, Ipassed him the copies, ignoringthe self-satisfied smirk that crossed his face. He hadn't expected a chick to find anything.

"Don't worry about it, sugar. I'm sure you tried your best." He gave me a wink that made me want to vomit.

I smiledand nodded, gritting my teeth to hold back the sharp retort thatwantedto escape. "I did try," I added.

He grunted in response,turning away to shuffle off to who knows where. I watched him go, feelingfrustratedat his dismissive attitude toward women in general. I had always hated men like him, who instantly dismissed me. Who thought I didn't have any value other than my pretty face, tits, and a hole for their dick. I still bit the words back that I wanted to shove down his throat. Even though it suited my purposeperfectly, I hated every second of it.

Once he was gone, I exhaledslowlyand glanced down at the second ledger copy in my hand. Before Rabbit had come back, I made another set for myself. I had my computer spreadsheet that I made, which was more important than anything else. The discrepancy I spotted earlier gnawed at me.I was not saying it was Rabbit, but I did not know it wasn't either.There was also the possibility that he could alert whoever was behind the embezzlement. Maybe they were working together. Whoever itwas,that was something that Maddox could sort out.

It was better to wait until I talked to Maddox first. I didn't know Rabbit, andthe idea that someone had been stealing from the club for so long wasn't something I wanted to share with a stranger.

Determined, I returnedto my room and left the papers behind my old desk calendar.Tucking the corners back in just in case someone went looking for them.