Chapter 8 #2
Dorothy nodded. “I’m sure I will. And Kyle’s unique skills with people might also stand us in good stead, based on what you’ve said. But what’s the news, Mac?”
“What are you doing?” Her godfather was distracted, frowning as he looked at the neat piles of papers and ledgers. “Are these from the office?” His eyes went wide. “Oh dear! This isn’t good.”
He grabbed a ledger and slammed it shut. “You can’t do this here! I’ve told you that they’re watching. They’re listening! You need to keep this stuff hidden!”
“We are!” Dorothy insisted. “You’re the one shouting!”
“You’re a little loud,” Michael said, placing a hand on the old man’s arm. “Now, we talked about this, Mac. Take a breath and let’s talk calmly.”
Mac nodded. “I’m sorry. There’s just such a lot to watch out for.”
Confused, Warren eyed the abused ledger and hoped the ink on his scratch paper, tucked inside when Mac slammed the cover shut, hadn’t smeared everywhere before he had a chance to blot it.
Mac sighed, seeing the confusion on everyone’s faces. “They’re coming here.”
“Who is?” Dorothy asked.
“Those two cockroaches from the firm, Foster and Barnes. Harding and Devlin’s two lackeys. They should arrive in the next couple of hours. Then you really won’t be able to do this here.”
“Then where? We’re making such a lot of progress,” Dorothy said. “Warren has really begun to help us unravel the problem.”
It was really ridiculous how proud hearing her compliments made him.
Mac nodded. “Well, there’s a reason I told Andrew to make sure that Warren was on the team. His professors at university couldn’t say enough wonderful things about him.”
This was news to Warren, whose cheeks heated up as though someone had placed hot coals on them. For some reason, compliments from Dorothy were wonderful, but kind words from others made him tongue-tied.
“So, you’re shutting this investigation down?” Dorothy asked. “But you can’t, Mac. We need to do this! I only have Warren here for a short time. I can’t let him go. He needs to help me.”
The thought of how short their time together would be was enough to erase any traces of happiness from Warren’s face.
He straightened, looking at Mac seriously.
“She’s right. I’ve got to get back to Unity, but you’ve got a real mess on your hands, Mr. McGregor.
You really need to let us finish this investigation so we can get clear on where some of your money’s being siphoned and why. ”
Mac held up his hands in a gesture of half-surrender. “I understand. And I do appreciate your help. But I would suggest you do this less openly. In here is not a good place.”
It was a difficult problem. They couldn’t run the risk of Foster and Barnes reporting to their masters that Dorothy and Warren were working on this.
It was clear that Harding and Devlin were not entirely on Mac’s side.
Whether they were involved in whatever this scam was or not, Warren didn’t think they were trustworthy.
“We could work individually in our rooms, I suppose, and then meet up on walks, perhaps?” Warren suggested after a moment’s thought. “I doubt we’ll be overheard in the forest.”
Dorothy turned to look at him and nodded. “I think that might work.”
“Good. So pack this all away before Foster and Barnes arrive,” Mac said with a sad shake of his head. “I came here to get away from them and their masters. It’s terrible how they keep finding me.”
“If you dislike Harding and Devlin so much, why did you let them join the firm?” Warren asked. “It was only yours at one point, wasn’t it?”
“Oh yes,” Mac said with a smile and a nod.
“But I was a lot younger in those days. I was terribly ambitious. You know how it is. When you’re young, you think you can do it all.
As it turns out, you can’t. You have to get folks in to help you, and I thought those two monkeys were the ones to do it.
I was wrong. They’ve been nothing but weights around my neck.
” He pointed to the ledgers. “You’re not supposed to have company documents here. ”
“I know that,” Dorothy said. “But they’re here for you, and you’re Mac.” She shrugged, smiling.
He chuckled and left the room.
Michael, who had been silent throughout much of the conversation, stared at them. “You’re going to explain this all to me, right?”
“Yes,” Warren said, enjoying the secret look he and Dorothy exchanged. “Let’s go for a walk.”
The forest was pleasant in the afternoon sunlight as Warren, Dorothy, and Michael set off. Little creatures scurried away from the trio as they made their way deep into the woods where they hoped that no one would be able to hear them.
Warren and Dorothy walked side by side with Michael a little in front of them. When they found a good spot with a log to sit on, they settled down upon it. They were quite far from the hotel and hadn’t seen another person in a while.
Between them, Warren and Dorothy told Michael all about the strange figures in the ledgers, the way they would peter out eventually and show up somewhere else.
“It’s quite something,” Warren said. “I’ve noticed that there are symbols they use. A star, a spiral, and a circle are used repeatedly in the margins. I thought it was doodling at first, but it’s actually a pattern throughout the ledger.”
“What do the symbols mean?” Michael asked.
Warren shrugged. “No idea. I haven’t found where the money is being moved, but it is leaving the account, and it’s quite a lot so far. I’m surprised that no one else has picked it up.”
“Oh, I’ll bet they have,” Dorothy said. “They just think they can get away with it.”
“Okay, so you two just look like you need more time,” Michael said, summing things up succinctly as was his nature.
“Then you’ll be able to work out what’s happening and we can track down who’s responsible.
Then we can set Mac’s fears at ease and he can authorize some extra money for us to get help for Unity. Great.”
“Did you find out anything in town?” Warren asked.
Michael snorted. “Yes, I did. It’s not good.
According to some of the townsfolk, until about six months ago, everything was perfectly fine here in Pine Hill.
There was trouble in some of the other small towns but nothing here.
Then it spread, and now they’re all so afraid they don’t want to stick their necks out for anyone. Sound familiar?”
Warren nodded. “It’s like what happened with the farmers.” He glanced at Dorothy to make sure she understood, and she nodded.
“You mentioned that in your letters.”
“Yes, only there we knew what we were dealing with,” Michael said. “And we had more of us. We could do something. Here we would have to get these people to rally, and I don’t know if anyone could ever do that. They seem so utterly broken.”
Just then a twig snapped behind them. Turning in surprise, Warren stared into the face of a nightmare.