Page 11 of Echoes of Obsession
“Just with the Cage,” he answers. “And I know exactly how they’ve been doing it.”
“Before we get into that, I have an update on Colt,” I start. “When he got word that his Ma was sick, he left to take care of her. Unfortunately, she’s not doing well. He’s asked me for a permanent removal from the club.”
“No,” Knox whispers sadly.
“I told him that unless there’s a club he wants to transfer to, he will remain an Obsidian,” I explain. “He doesn’t have to come back, but I ensured he knew he had family here if he ever needed us.”
“It’s okay, Pup,” Taylor comforts Knox. “We’ll take some time off and go visit him.”
Knox’s eyes widen, letting me know he isn’t quite ready for that long trip.
“When the time is right,” Taylor adds.
“Allie’s birthday is in a few weeks,” Venom reminds us. “She wants to throw a community party with food trucks, clowns, games, bouncy houses, and singing.”
“Then,” Knox practically bounces in his seat. “She wants to take every bit of money made that evening and donate it to her mom’s shelter to help families in need.”
“Nine going on thirty,” Jax smiles. “That little girl is amazing.”
She really is. Allie hasn’t had it easy in her short life, but the fact that she wants to do something so selfless doesn’t surprise me.
“We’ll have to think of something more to do that’s just for her,” I add. “Venom, talk to your woman and see if she can come up with something.”
The room breaks out in chatter while everyone throws out ideas and I remain quiet for a little while to let them get it out of their systems.
“The Cage,” I say when the noise dies down. “As everyone knows, money is missing. A lot of fucking money. Knox and Hayes have been looking into it for months now.”
“Hayes has been looking into the Cage’s financial past and I’ve been digging up everything I can on the employees,” Knox announces. “I haven’t found any major red flags apart from one of the bartenders owing back pay on child support. But he has payments being pulled from his checks to get it caught up.”
“Maybe he wanted it paid in full,” Parker suggests. “More money for him when he gets paid.”
“I had that same thought, but there hasn’t been a significant amount of money being directed towards the backpay,” Knoxexplains. “And no one has substantially increased their weekly bank deposits.”
“However, we did finally figure out where the discrepancies are coming from,” Hayes adds. “It took us ages before we caught it. Someone has been doctoring the inventory orders.”
“Explain,” I demand. “I’m the one who places those orders.”
“Which is why we didn’t bother looking at them until recently,” Hayes says. “On three separate occasions, after you had already submitted your supply orders, someone modified them.”
Hayes slides a piece of paper down the table, and I snatch it up.
“This one in particular,” he begins. “Your original order was for a restock of different types of spirits and liqueurs as well as several different cocktail and mixer ingredients.”
“Typically, twenty grand for a restock,” I say absently as I look at the order form.
“Exactly,” Hayes says excitedly. “But this order alone was only five grand.”
“Someone changed your order after you had already paid,” Knox continues. “The company refunded the amount that was changed, and we were none the wiser.”
“The company you buy from has their employees deliver and put away your orders,” Hayes reminds me. “It’s part of their contract. You wouldn’t have noticed that you didn’t receive as much as you had ordered.”
“So, when it came time to check inventory your list doesn’t add up to what you have because of the unmarked changes.”
“Hold on,” I raise my hand to stop any more information. “If there was a change in my orders, wouldn’t the refund go straight to The Cage’s bank account? If anything, it sounds like I should have more money than I knew of.”
“I checked three times, Ghost,” Knox says. “You pay them with checks from your bank, but every time they’ve refunded you for changed items, they’ve sent the money to an offshore account in the Caymans.”
“Could it be someone from the supply company?” Reynolds asks.