He nodded. “Yeah. Brody just likes any kind of computer issue. He’s like a magpie with them, and right now the Gold Moon access is the shiniest thing in the room.”
“Right now,” I said, my tone firm, “the Gold Moon records and how easily we can access them are the only thing that might help link Wes’s evidence to wrongdoing at the company. So we need this loophole wide open. For the time being, at least.”
Brody nodded. “Yeah. I suppose.”
“When we’re done, then you can help me close it.”
He nodded again. “Definitely, whether you like it or not. No system should be this easy to access.” He switched his attention back to his laptop and read out the ID number to Charmaine.
“Fox Austin.” Triumph rang out in her voice. “See, my new system works.” Then one corner of her mouth tugged to the side as she scrolled through the employee records. “Wait a minute…Fox Austin? That’s not actually anyone I recognize.”
A hollow opened up in my chest. Gold Moon was technically small enough that Charmaine should have known all of the employees, or at least been aware of them.
“When did…?” She scrolled some more. “When did we hire aFox Austin?” She wrinkled her nose as she concentrated again. “Hang on…” She typed something else. “Okay. So, I’m not sure he’s a real person, but someone is definitely collecting the paychecks. So if it’s a falsified name, someone is hiding behind it.” She pointed at the evidence from payroll that checks had already been issued in his name. “Let me verify some other records.” She opened another program and Brody sighed.
“HR records, too? For the love of God, ladies.”
She glanced at him, but didn’t stop doing what she was doing as she searched for any information we had about him.
“Okay. It says here that his ID picture was accidentally shredded in the warehouse.” She shook her head. “I have no idea what that means or how someone could manage it. We were expecting a call to update us and a new picture for the system, but no one seems to have followed it up.” Her finger hovered over the trash can button. “I should get rid of this record, right? It’s just cluttering up the system as it is. It’s not even real.”
“Wait.” I covered her hand with mine, and Brody shook his head.
“Don’t change a thing,” he said. “Whoever created this record has access to your system. If you delete it, they’ll know you’re onto them. Really, you want them to keep doing exactly what they’re doing, and if they feel safe, they’ll do it even more. If they don’t feel safe, they’ll either go dark for a while or they’ll change their methods, and that will make it so much harder to find them.” He shrugged. “Whatever we find, we need to leave it exactly as it is, and just gather the evidence to wrap in a nice, neat bow for the police.”
I curled my right hand into a fist as anger twisted through me. Everything felt so close now, like I could spit and hit justice. “They’ll pay. Whoever did this will pay for putting Wes in the hospital.” And they’d fucking pay for Dad’s death, because — whether it was intentional or not — he wouldn’t have caught Lycan Flu if he hadn’t been trying to find out what was going on at the warehouses.
But maybe everything was about more than making people pay. I wanted to honor Dad’s legacy, but seeing all of those employee records Charmaine had access to, all of the names, it made me think that maybe the best way I could honor Dad was to take care of the people who’d worked so hard for him.
I filed that thought idea away for later. We had shit to take care of just now.
My phone rang, and I stepped slightly away from the group as I slipped it from my pocket. It was Wes, and I looked out of the window as I answered.
“Hey.”
“Hey, Jo.” He was peppy for a guy in the hospital. “They’ve said I can check out.”
I grinned. That explained the peppiness. Wes was always happier when he was free. I looked at the others. “Wes has been discharged.”
Brody smiled. “Pretty sure Patrick said he can stay in the condo next door to this one.”
“What’s that about a condo?”
I grinned.
“You mean, I’m not continuing to sleep on the floor somewhere in your vicinity?”
“Like my oversized guard dog?” I countered, then I grinned wider. I guessed I already had one of those to share a bed with.
“Is this what Charmaine meant when she told me Patrick was sorting out our accommodations? I thought he was just adding more patrols or limiting the rooms we could use or something. I gave her my key, but I expected to find my clothes at your mom’s place.”
I laughed. That wasn’t Patrick’s style at all. “Oh, nothing so basic,” I muttered. “We’re in Lycan Heights for the time being as his personal guests. I think it’s the ultimate in ensuring our security.”
“Probably,” Wes agreed. “I think it’s much more difficult for other packs to infiltrate known pack houses, especially a home belonging to a powerful one like Silver Claw. In those situations, every pack member becomes as good as a soldier. Everyone is a guard.”
I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. He was speaking from his experience. “Are you okay with this, now that you know what Patrick’s doing?” He had his own pack to consider. Neither Charmaine nor I had that issue, and I hadn’t really considered that Wes did until speaking to him now.
“Absolutely.” He was silent a moment. “Anything to make sure you’re safe and happy.”