“Hi, Diane.”
The front door opened, and Jazz popped her head in, asking silently if it was safe. I waved her in.
“I’ve been doing some digging on your account, and I’m finding a lot of irregularities.”
Jazz walked past the kitchen, and a moment later, I heard the bathroom door shut.
“What kind of irregularities?” I inquired.
“Well, for the last three months, it doesn’t appear as if you’ve made any payments on your loan. And yet, when I go into your account, I can see that the money has been taken out of your account. Same day every month.”
The door to the bathroom opened, and Jazz returned to the kitchen.
“That’s really weird,” I said.
“Indeed. I need some time to explore this further. I’m getting the IT department involved. I’ll be in touch in a few business days.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I appreciate your help.”
“My pleasure. We’ll find out what’s going on.”
I hung up with Diane and set my phone aside.
“What was that about?” Jazz asked.
“It was the bank.”
“You don’t sound happy.”
“Something’s wrong with my account. My last three loan payments are missing, but the money has been taken out of my account.”
“The last three?” she repeated. “Seriously?”
The doorbell rang, preventing us from continuing the line of conversation. Jazz rushed to the door and opened it. Duke and Savage filled the doorway, holding paper bags of food. They immediately came in. Trailing behind them was Willa and a red-haired teenage girl.
“Hope you don’t mind, but I brought my sister, Waverly,” Willa said.
I smiled at Waverly. “I don’t mind. Hi. I’m Brooklyn.”
“Hi.” She gave a cursory wave and then followed Duke.
“Sorry,” Willa said quietly. “Things have been weird at home, and I thought it would be good for her to tag along. Even though there won’t be anyone here her age.”
“You know the cure for surly teenagers?” I asked her.
“What?”
“A slice of chocolate cream pie.” I winked.
“Brooklyn,” Savage called out. “Where should we put all this?”
“Hold on. Let me move the pies.” Jazz and I placed the pies onto a cookie sheet and slid it on top of the fridge.
“Why not put theminthe fridge?” Willa asked.
“Because there isn’t room. We made a ton,” I said. I looked at Waverly. “Do you like pie?”
“Meh,” she replied.