Page 7 of Phoenix

“Um…Did they say what happened to him?”

“I can’t really give you any medical information due to HIPAA rules.” Her gaze darted behind me, then she leaned forward and whispered, “There are two police officers stationed outside his room because it’s under investigation.”

“Thanks.”

I made it halfway to the doors before glancing over my shoulder. I didn’t spot anyone looking at me. No alarms were going off. But I couldn’t shake the prickling sensation between my shoulder blades that made me think someone was watching me.

4

PHOENIX

I’d spent the morning and early afternoon reviewing the center’s financial trail, comparing it with the finances of each board member and the manager. I’d already eliminated the board one by one.

None of them had the balls—or the brains—to pull off a slow-drip embezzlement scheme like the one bleeding Juniper Grove dry. Their finances were mostly clean. Stupid as fuck with their spending, yeah. And I was pretty sure that at least one of them was paying a blackmailer, but I’d address that when this was over.

The payments were easy to spot when you had a head for numbers and money—like I did. Which was how I’d accumulated millions in my bank account. After graduating from high school at fourteen and college at eighteen, I had put my bachelor’s degree in accounting and master’s in finance to good use by helping very rich and powerful people with their books. But some of them hadn’t been squeaky clean, and I almost ended up under investigation with the FBI.

I was young and needed some direction, so I decided to prospect the Iron Rogues. It had been the best decision I’d ever made. And being a fucking genius when it came to money meant I worked my way up to becoming an officer quickly, being named treasurer around five years ago. Our president was no slouch either, having spent years on Wall Street before coming home and taking his father’s place as our leader. Between the two of us, the Iron Rogues never needed to worry about money.

That didn’t mean we sat around on our asses. We owned a lot of legitimate businesses and some that were…not so aboveboard. But we kept our activities within the bounds of what was honorable. We lived by our own code, and we were judge and jury when it came to people who fucked with the club.

Which meant that when I figured out who’d been stealing from Juniper Grove, it wouldn’t be the police they’d have to answer to.

Paul had been my first instinct, but I wanted proof to back it up.

By the time I was halfway through cross-referencing the budget line items against the center’s actual conditions, I knew it was him. The timing, the sudden uptick in the center’s administrative expenses that just so happened to align with funds disappearing from the donation pool.

It was clear that he’d been skimming for at least a year. Maybe longer. The asshole thought he was smart enough to fly under the radar, but he didn’t stand a chance now that I was looking into him.

I was poring over the spreadsheets for what seemed like the fifth time, when Deviant barged into my office, scowling like he was about to put a bullet in someone.

“Guy’s a fucking ghost,” he muttered, flopping onto the chair across from me and tossing a USB drive onto my desk. “Paul Vogel has the digital footprint of a ninety-year-old monk. No socials, no online subscriptions, nothing but his damn work email and the most boring paper trail I’ve ever seen.”

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair before crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yet somehow, he’s siphoning money from a youth center,” I said flatly, dragging my eyes away from the spreadsheet on my screen to frown at him. “So unless ghosts can make bank deposits, he’s hiding something.”

Deviant dipped his chin in agreement. “Got one thing, though. He’s got an account at another bank. Tried to hide it but was dumb enough to use a fake name variation, and the address linked back to him.”

“That explains why every one of the missing dollars I tracked went straight into a personal checking account that didn’t appear on any of the center’s records,” I grunted. “The withdrawals deposited into the unknown checking always happened soon after donation money hit Juniper Grove’s accounts. Just enough to keep it from raising red flags so no one would notice.”

And I was pissed as fuck at myself for almost letting him get away with this shit.

“Figured you were onto it.” Deviant pointed out with a grim nod. “But we still don’t know what the hell he’sdoingwith the money. The withdrawals are cash. Always from different ATMs. No pattern, no receipts, no digital trail.” He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Best guess, he’s paying someone off or feeding a habit.”

I leaned back in my chair, stretching my neck and crossing my arms over my chest. “But there’s no sign of any vices showing up in his spending—from either bank account.”

Deviant shook his head and rolled his eyes. “You’d think a guy running a scam this long would’ve at least treated himself to a new car or some better clothes.”

He had a point. The greasy little shit still drove a junker, and his wardrobe looked like it came from the dumpster behind a secondhand clothing store. “Maybe he’s paying off some dark shit. Debt. Blackmail. Who the fuck knows?”

A crooked smile cut across Deviant’s face. “Then again, maybe he’s just saving up to buy a personality.”

I gave him a dry look that said I thought he was a fucking idiot, then turned my attention back to the computer. Except I didn’t really see anything. My mind had wandered to Lindsay again. Like it had constantly since the moment she drove away from the compound.

The way her tits had looked in that snug little tee, gently bouncing as I walked her to the door. Her hips swaying. That pouty mouth that was just beggin’ to be kissed. I’d been hard as a rock when she’d challenged me with fire in her green eyes, unconcerned with the fact she was staring down a fully patched member of the Iron Rogues in his own fucking clubhouse. I might have believed her bravado if it hadn’t been for the pretty blush that stole across her cheeks. I’d spent way too much time wondering how far that flush would spread down her body when my mouth was on her pussy.

Still, her backbone had impressed me, and her smart mouth was sexy as hell.

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