Chapter 21 YellaWood 500 #3
“Oil?” Cassie said, stunned. “How?”
“There’s an ally in Japan who is getting ready to perform a hostile takeover of a company that Greg has been supporting. They’ve been siphoning off funds as they prepare to take over their stocks on the Nikkei.”
“WOW!” she said in a loud whisper. “Is that even possible?”
“He just needs a few more weeks.”
“Man, how do you even know this Wen?”
“Daddy,” she replied smugly. “He trusts me with high level information.”
“He’s definitely grooming you. Better than mom ever groomed me.”
“Relax. You are still the heir apparent. Once Carry comes in and gives up any claim she might have by pledging fealty to the Matriarch.”
“Hey Billy,” Aarie said as he stepped out of the restroom. “Who’s this freeloader we picked up.”
“Funny, Aarie,” James deflected. “Veronica needed a moment with Carry.” Billy recoiled and Aarie saw it.
“Are you okay?” Aarie said with concern as he sat down.
“Veronica’s going to fire Carry over Greg,” he blurted out without thinking.
“WHAT?” James said and whipped his head forward. “She wouldn’t,,,”
“No way!” Aarie protested. “Greg is her man.”
“And Carry loves him too,” Billy let slip.
“Are you kidding me?” James protested. “You knew about this?”
“It’s been that way since they met,” he said with a shrug. “What are you going to do?”
“Nothing,” James replied to Billy. “Nothing unless she fires her over Greg. That girl is pure gold for Veronique.”
“Hold on,” Aarie protested. “You knew about Carry,” he said with a wry smile. “Didn’t you James?”
“Of course I knew. I’ve known the whole time. That’s one of the reasons we brought her on.”
“Huh?” Aarie said while scratching his head.
“To separate Greg and Carry, numnutz,” Billy said. “Strategically sound.”
“You mean she’s the Face of Veronique to keep her from Greg?” Aarie asked, still confused.
“No,” James instantly corrected. “We needed her in that role. The bonus was that it created the separation.”
“So, you think Veronica and Greg belong together?” Billy asked.
“Of course I do. She needs his stability in her life after what Quinton did,” he stated firmly. “I don’t want her to be unhappy, now, do you?”
“Brick, do you think we’ll ever get out of this stinking hellhole of a safehouse?” Jack asked.
“I told you that Keith was working on the arrangements to move you.”
“AGAIN!” Jask protested. “Why can’t you just kill the son of a,,,”
“Just stop, Jack,” Brick interrupted. “You knew the risks going in.”
“But I didn’t know I’d be moving every two weeks after you extracted me,” he whined.
“Oh, geez. Can’t he ever stop complaining,” Keith griped loudly as he entered the safehouse.
“He wants out,” Brick moaned.
“Well, he’s going to have some nice bright clear Texas skies in a few days.”
“Roddy’s ready?”
“Yes, Brick. Danny went down to arrange everything.” He sat the fast food on the counter. “We’ve got what you asked for.”
“Thanks,” Jack said as he moved over to pick up the large order of Five Guys fries. “I’ve missed these so much.”
“Well, you are going to miss them a lot more. There isn’t one close to where you are going. You’ll have to suffer with what Texas offers.” Keith smiled and then laughed. “That look on his face was worth it.”
“When does he move?” Brick asked.
“You and Danny will take him down tonight,” Keith said. “Not a moment too soon. This coming weekend is the YellaWood 500. I’ve got to head down to Talladega.”
“Company thing?” Brick asked.
“Yeah. Big client who is hosting us for his Midwest expansion plans. I’m heading up security for the trip.”
“Bring me back a souvenir, would ya?”
“Sure thing, Brick. I’ll get some autographs for you,” Keith boasted.
“Check this out, Greg,” Molly suggested as she handed a folder to him.
“Where am I looking?”
“Page three and nine. Something didn’t look right about the numbers.”
“And I’ve got some on page seven of this report,” Janet added thrusting a folder at Greg.
“This whole document is wrong!” David protested. “These numbers are being skewed, but I’m not sure where they went,” he puzzled aloud. Greg stepped over with both folders in his hands and looked down at what David was reviewing.
“Those should be repeated on page twenty-one,” he said, flipping the pages. “WHAT?!”
“They’re not there, my friend,” David confirmed. “That’s why I went back to page five to look at it again.”
“Where in the world did this money go?!” Greg protested, slamming his fist on the desk, causing the pages to flip over.
“Here!” David said. “TSC Affiliate!”
“What is TSC Affiliate?” Janet asked.
“I’ve never heard of it,” Molly replied.
“David, Check this folder and I’ll check that one,” he said as he handed a folder into his hands. “Same thing here.”
“And here,” David confirmed. “TSC Affiliate.”
“We need to find out what TSC Affiliate is,” Greg admitted. “That’s nearly twenty-three million dollars that’s gone missing there.”
“I bet we’ll find the same thing for all the other errors we’ve seen,” David suggested. “Everyone start checking page twenty-six.” There was a flurry of activity as everyone grabbed a new file and started searching through them.
“Same thing in all of these,” Greg said as he pointed to a stack of folders.
“Same here,” Molly said then Janet confirmed, “And here.”
“We need to total this up,” David said. “Molly, you and Janet figure out the total damage. Greg and I will start going through the organizational documents. We have to find this TSC Affiliate.”
“Main file room?” Greg asked.
“In the secure cabinet,” David confirmed. “I’ll text Andy for the code to access.”
“Alright,” he said confidently. “Thank you girls for helping us find this accounting error.”
“Greg,” Molly interjected. “This is NO Accounting Error!” She waved her arms over all the files spread across the desk. “There’s intent here. This is a pattern that is traceable, but well hidden. Whoever is behind this knew what they were doing.”
“I agree with Molly,” Janet chimed in. “This is being done on purpose. And if I’m reading these files correctly, it’s all about moving money around within the company, but not hiding it. It’s almost like it’s being used as a backdoor payment system.”
“Backdoor?” Greg asked, stunned. “Did you just say Backdoor?”
“Yeah, Greg. Why?” Janet asked, now looking confused.
“David, do you remember our last conversation with Nobuko?”
“Yeah, he said that he was setting up a backdoor payment system so he and Taito-San could avoid some of the tax scrutiny and red tape on their future joint endeavors.” David looked down at his phone. “I’ve got the code. Keep digging girls. We have to know how much is missing. Let’s go Greg.”
“On your six, boss!” Greg said as they quickly strode out of Greg’s office to the Main File Room.
David and Greg scanned their badges to enter the room, then moved to the Secure Cabinet.
David scanned his badge, then Greg scanned his badge.
A few seconds later the screen by the door prompted them to enter the one time security code for access.
David typed in the code from the text, and the door unlocked.
Greg opened the door. “Man, I tell you Andy has gone a little overboard on this security.”
“After that Marsden breach, he’s locked everything down.” David just smiled. “That is what we are paying him to do, is it not?”
“The Matriarch will see you now,” Kelly Sutton pronounced. “This way,” she said as she got up from the desk and led them to the door. “You may enter when she calls you,” she said then spun and left.
“Katie’s mom sure got an upgrade,” Cassie observed.
“Jessica made a couple of mistakes, and now she’s sleeping with the fishies,” Wendy said with almost a sense of pleasure in her voice.
“That should tell you exactly why we NEVER cross the Matriarch,” Cassie cautioned.
“Katie’s mom got the upgrade for the work that Katie is doing with us,” Wendy said with snootiness.
“Well,” Cassie breathed out. “You have to admit that she’s been very helpful. We’re almost ready for Carry to come in. She’s seeing all the advantages we’ve got in being in the Family,” she affirmed.
“Yeah,” Wendy said. “If Greg wasn’t in the way, then maybe she’d already have joined us.”
Thinking quickly on how to protect Carry, “Then why don’t we break them up and hook her up with Billy,” Cassie blurted out. She was unaware that Jenny was standing on the other side of the door with Suzie, listening in.
“Why Billy? He’s too dang pure of heart,” Wendy protested.
“Because Carry has looked at Billy like she’s looked at Greg. I caught her doing it backstage in LA and Portland,” Cassie said firmly. “And the way she hugged him in D.C., man, I thought Greg was going to lose it.”
“Yeah,” Wendy said with a laugh. “Poor Greg. He never even saw that coming.” Wendy twirled her finger in her hair. “You know what, you might be right about using Billy like that.”
“Of course I am. You find the weakness in the person you want to manipulate and use that against them,” Cassie said matter of fact like.
“You have been learning well, Cassie,” Jenny said as she opened the door. “Please step in. We have much to discuss. Wendy, your dad will be here soon.”
“Veronica,” Carry started then just froze as she looked for the words to say.
“Relax Carry,” she replied. “It’s high time that we sat down and had a talk with Greg about us,” Veronica stated.
“Do you really think that both of us should talk to Greg about us at the same time?” She started to sound panicky. “I mean what if he turns on you or me?”
“That’s not Greg, dear. You know that,” she assured her. “I think he needs to see that we can compete for him without us fighting over him.”
“You really think this will help Greg to choose one of us over the other?”
“No, Carry. I think this will show him our integrity. You might work for me, but that will never be used against you to prevent you from seeing Greg.”
“Then, you are so confident in the end result that you want me to see him choosing you because I made the mistake of walking away over a misunderstanding.”