Chapter 12 #2
“Exactly. We’re really looking—” Cindy cut herself off as Myra and Adam returned.
One look at their faces told Jonas things were serious.
“Can we all gather back at the dining table?” Myra asked.
She turned to Tasha as everyone started to comply.
“Sweetheart, will you go into the library and work in there for now? This is serious business, and if your mom wants to tell you about it later, or ask you to join us in a while, that’s totally up to her.
But I need to let her know what it is first so she can make that decision. ”
Tasha was obviously upset, but she looked to her mom, who gave her a nod. She heaved a sigh, gathered her laptop and notebook, and left the room without a word.
When they’d all taken seats, Myra began. “I wouldn’t normally do this in front of a whole pack, but we’re so small and so new, I think that everything that happens really does affect all of us, right now.”
She looked around the table, receiving nods of agreement from the whole group.
“I’ve had a call from John Rodriguez,” she continued.
“He’s the alpha in New York, and he used to be in the FBI.
Now he works security, but he has a lot of sources there still.
He works closely with the National Council, and he has some sort of system in place that triggers him if a werewolf is mentioned in an investigation. ”
Jen leaned forward, her gaze intent on Myra. Jonas saw Adam put his arm around Olivia’s shoulders. She gave him a startled look, but didn’t say anything and didn’t pull away.
“He said he’s found out that someone’s reported the truck stop that Olivia is working at as a criminal enterprise. They’re looking into it to see if it’s worthy of an investigation.”
“Whoa,” Jen said, sitting back. “If he’s had a trigger, then a werewolf’s name was mentioned in the report. Olivia’s name.”
“That’s right,” Adam said.
Cindy realized Adam had maneuvered the seating so that Olivia was sitting next to him. She saw the woman’s face lose all color. It was so fast, Cindy worried she might faint. Candace must have thought the same, because she was already up and moving towards the kitchen.
Olivia turned to look Adam in the eye. “I swear to you—”
“Olivia,” Myra interrupted. “We are absolutely not accusing you of anything. Not one thing. If you did somehow get involved in something, you’ll tell us and we’ll work it out, but we’re starting with the assumption that nobody here has done anything wrong and we’re gathering and sharing information. ”
That stunned Olivia into silence. She accepted the glass of water that Candace put in front of her and took a sip, clearly not sure what was happening.
“I would say it’s pretty clear this has something to do with Brenda,” Jen said.
Cindy gave Jonas big eyes.
“Wow,” Thomas said. “Is it?”
“It is,” Myra confirmed. “It would be way too much of a coincidence that the FBI started investigating the truck stop shortly after we upset Brenda. Cindy, is it all right if I share with everyone what you learned from your parents?”
Cindy just nodded, stunned. Jonas wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulled her in close. She took a deep breath, letting his heat warm her through.
“Okay, please remember that this is all pack business and should not be discussed outside of the pack without serious thought. And it’s hearsay at this point.
We’re not convicting anyone, or even accusing anyone, at least not to any authority…
yet. We’re just gathering info and updating the pack so we’re all aware there’s a security concern. ”
She looked around the table until everyone nodded their understanding again.
“Before we get any further, Olivia, do you think Tasha should be here for this conversation? I didn’t want to make that decision for you, but she’s nearly an adult, very mature and responsible, so I’m completely on board with including her if you think it’s appropriate.”
Olivia took in a long breath. “I’ve done absolutely nothing illegal, and she’ll know that, so while it might be upsetting for her, I think it would be best if she were included.”
Bill was at the end of the table closest to the door, so he stood up. “I’ll ask her to come in.”
Olivia looked at Myra. “You believe me.”
“Of course we do.”
“After the mess with Mesa, it would have been easy for you to assume…” She shook her head. “Others might not have taken the time to think it through.”
Myra didn’t hesitate in her reply. “We didn’t need any time to think it through.
You’re one of ours. It hasn’t been years, but we’ve all gotten to know each other these last weeks, and yes, I suppose at some point we needed to hear you say it, but there was no doubt in my mind.
Our mind,” she said, nodding towards Adam.
Olivia didn’t have time to respond before Tasha came rushing in. Joe got out of his seat so that Tasha could sit next to her mother.
“Tasha, it will only take a second to bring you up to speed. As you noticed, we didn’t talk for very long before your mother decided you were old enough to be included in the conversation.
It’s going to be a little bit scary, but I want you to know straight off, nothing bad is going to happen.
The pack totally has this, we just need to get the details figured out. All right?”
Tasha looked concerned, glanced at her mother, swallowed hard. “All right, Myra, I understand.”
“Okay, our friend John Rodriguez, a werewolf who has sources highly placed in the FBI where he used to work, as well as being connected to the National Council, has let us know that there’s the possibility of an FBI investigation of the truck stop your mom is working at.
We, of course, know your mom is not involved in illegal activities, and, well, we haven’t really talked about this part yet, but we think someone is intentionally trying to cause trouble with the pack.
Unfortunately, that places your mom at the center of it, but I don’t think she’s the target specifically. The pack is.”
She took a big breath. “The good news is, we found out early and can take steps to shut this down.”
“That’s…that’s not good for Mom,” Tasha said, hesitantly.
“It does suck for your mom, but we’re going to see that it’s fixed. If she loses her job or, more likely it seems to me, the truck stop goes under, we’ll be sure she finds something else as soon as possible. We are all in this together. One hundred percent. That part is not in question.”
Tasha’s eyes filled, but she didn’t cry as everyone at the table offered their agreements.
Thomas, on Tasha’s other side, put his arm around her, sharing the space with Olivia, giving Tasha extra pack comfort.
Adam cleared his throat, and Cindy was pretty sure his eyes were wet, too.
“You’re all caught up now, Tasha, except knowing that we suspect Brenda has something to do with this.
And we’ve all already agreed that this is not something we’ll be talking about outside of the pack right now.
I need you to promise that you’ll only talk about this with your mom and us.
We want to be very careful before we accuse someone who’s innocent, right? ”
Tasha frowned, but nodded.
“Right, so that’s where we were. What we discovered recently was that Brenda, who is an insurance agent, convinced Cindy’s parents to go in on a quote-unquote investment and lost them a ton of money.
Then she managed to convince them that it was their fault they’d lost the money, but she would loan them more money for a different investment that was sure to not only recoup their losses, but set them up for life. ”
“Seriously?” Bill asked. “People still fall for that load of crap?”
Cindy sighed audibly. “And I swear, they aren’t the best parents, but I wouldn’t call them dumb.”
“To be fair,” Jonas added, “she is their fourth. It’s normal to have a lot of trust and faith in your hierarchy. And she’s been their fourth for a lot of years.”
Bill nodded an acknowledgment of that.
“Anyway, when we didn’t invite Brenda to join the pack, she went to the McCarthys and basically told them they needed to whip Cindy into shape or she wanted her money back.”
“Holy shit,” Thomas said. “That’s nuts. Do we have any clue why she wants to be here so badly?”
“No clue,” Adam said.
“I have some information to add,” Jen spoke up.
Myra waved for her to go ahead.
“Before I left tonight, I was going to ask you and Adam if you had time to meet with Olivia and I. She came to me the other day and said she thought there might be something off at the truck stop.” She paused until it was quiet again.
“She didn’t have any proof, and didn’t want to accuse anyone without that, but she wanted me to be aware, and to ask my advice on how she might proceed safely.
I told her I was going to check at the Sheriff’s Office, to find out if there were any old or active investigations, or even rumors about the business, and then we could meet with you guys and fill you in. ” She nodded to Myra and Adam.
“I found out yesterday that there is actually an investigation. The guy in charge of it wasn’t in, but he was today.
I spoke to him this morning and let him know that I have a friend who just started working there, and he showed me his files.
They’ve suspected a money-laundering operation for some time, but haven’t been able to nail anything down. ”
“Wow,” Joe said. “This is like living in a movie.” He seemed to think about how that might sound and grimaced at Olivia. “Sorry.”
She just shook her head.
“But why would Brenda send one of the pack to apply for a job there if she knew they were corrupt, and she wanted to be in our pack?” Cindy asked. “Maybe she doesn’t know?”
“Maybe,” Adam said. “Although the insurance thing is pretty shady, so…”
Jen shook her head. “No, she had to know, if she’s the one who tipped off the feds to try and get Olivia in trouble.”
“Oh, right.” Adam frowned. “Do we think what she did with Cindy’s parents is illegal? Can we get the feds to investigate that?”
“I don’t know insurance fraud,” Jen said. “But it can’t hurt to describe the situation to John and see what he thinks.”
Olivia cleared her throat slightly, then spoke, quietly. “I’ve had some time to think on the things I’ve found at work. I think I can help the police. I’d like to talk to Jen’s colleague.”
Myra nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. And Jen can tell her coworker that there’s a possible federal investigation he might want to check into.”
“I’d like to talk to John,” Jen said. “Find out if Brenda actually had enough clout to get an investigation started, or if they’re really just saying they’ll get someone to look into it.
Either way, with Olivia being so new, unless she specifically told them that the truck stop hired Olivia to take over the criminal activity, I’m sure they’ll consider her at the bottom of their list of suspects.
And with my office able to show that Olivia talked to me before Brenda contacted them, I don’t think you need to be too worried.
” She reached over and patted Olivia’s hand. “We’ll get this sorted.”
“Cindy, do you think Brenda has, how did Jen put it? Enough clout to get an actual investigation started?” Candace asked. “It’s hard to imagine the FBI would be very interested in a small town truck stop.”
Cindy considered. “I think she’s pretty good at networking.
I can imagine her keeping up certain relationships in case she might be able to use them to her advantage later.
I think it’s possible she knows someone well enough to push for an investigation, but I also think Jen’s right, that Olivia’s newness in the position and the fact that she already went to the local police will keep this from getting out of hand. ”
Adam looked at his watch. “Okay, it’s getting late, and Tasha and Joe have school tomorrow.”
Joe chuckled.
“We all know what the situation is. Jen and Olivia will meet with the guy investigating from the Sheriff’s Office.
Myra and I will fill John in. We won’t go to Brenda’s alpha until we have a little more info.
Olivia, if you’d like any one of us to go with you when you meet with… well, anyone, we’re here for you.”
Everyone around the table nodded.
“Seriously, Olivia,” Cindy said. “We want to be there for you. This is a pack issue, you’re just the one getting stuck with the shit detail. Please let us be there with you.”
She could actually see Olivia’s shoulders drop as the woman let go of some of the strain she’d been holding. “I would really like it if you, Adam or Jonas could be with me when Jen and I meet with the deputy.”
Cindy smiled. “You got it.”
“All right, let’s head home for now. Everyone, please try and be a little more aware of your surroundings for a while, just to be on the super-safe side, okay?” Myra asked.
More nods around the table and they all dispersed.