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She jerked, spilling some of the coffee on her thumb. She hissed putting down the cup and Timothy was at her side, apologizing. “Your timing sucks.”

“Sorry, bout that. I guess I got carried away.” He grinned. “Anyway, Dave worried about the same thing when it came to the loan and I agreed. It would make sense if she’s trying to cover her tracks. If she paid it off, perhaps in her mind it would mean there was nothing illegal about it. However, we all know better.”

“Or she thinks she is above the law,” Scarlett replied.

“That too.” He held out his hand to her. “Let me see your hand.”

“It's okay.” She brushed him off.

“Please?”

She relented, placing her hand in his. He bent his head, peering at the red mark forming near her nail bed and the space between her thumb and forefinger. He brought her hand to his lips and placed a kiss there. The bolt of shock accompanied a little thrill of anticipation. This man... She didn't know what to think of him. Timothy let her hand go then went back to his desk. “Don't worry too much about the deposit and transaction information, we have it with photos and video/audio logs. Your sister would be hard press to say we're lying, especially with a room full of people and yourself.”

“Right,” she agreed, pushing aside the tingle of awareness still spreading through her. “Denying it will only make this worse for her.”

It'd been one of the reasons Scarlett relented and went with Dave to the auction. She had to see for herself what her sister had been up to. What she found out while there, however, pissed her off. Scarlett always knew the battle—any battle against Maisie would be an uphill fight pretty much the whole way, but she could do it. Hell, she spent the majority of her time clawing her way through life, how would this be any different?

“When you're done there, I'll show you the binder with our food bills, it's a little more involved than the utilities.”

Timothy nodded. “Sounds great. With as well as you've documented everything here, I have no doubt the food ledgers will be easy to follow.” He frowned. “Which reminds me, how many other books are there? I mean, I can assume there is more than the one set you've kept, correct?”

“Yes, it’s easier if we both have them on hand should anything arise. If they're not in the safe in Maisie's office they’re at her home. And, if they should fall into the wrong hands well...”

“I understand. We're going to have to take a little trip you and I,” he said. “What do you say to a working lunch, just the two of us?”

“What did you have in mind?” He closed the lid on his laptop and folded his hands behind his head. “We need everything. We need all of the banking statements deposits and withdraws, and I’d like access to any loans the sanctuary ran on as well as charitable contributions. I figure your bank would have all of it on file, wouldn't they?”

She blew out a breath. “That's a lot of information. But, yes, they would. They can't also say no to me since my name is on every inch of everything regardingHearts and Paws.”

“Good to hear.”

A message popped up on her computer from her sister. She pulled it open and frowned. If she wasn't so pissed off at the moment, she would have laughed at how comical the situation was or how it all fell into place. “I think we're onto something and you were right. My sister is lying out of her ass.”

“Oh?” Timothy joined her and read the note Maisie left her.

The auction didn't do so well. No one bid on the lots you provided. I will send an updated budget forecast shortly. ~M

“You've gotta be shitting me. We need to call Dave. Now.” He slipped his phone out of his pocket. In the next second, he had it to his ear. “Mr. Youngblood, please. Yes, tell him it's an emergency, it's Mr. Yakimoto.” He placed the phone on the desk and hit the speaker button.

“Timothy, what's the word?” Dave said when he answered the phone.

“I've got you on speaker and I'm here with Scarlett.”

“Hey Scar, is Tim treating you well? He's not being too much of a pervert, is he?”

She bit back a laugh. “Not really.”

“Something's wrong,” Dave said. “I can hear it in your voice.”

“The deposits from last night didn't come in,” Timothy said, keeping his voice pitched low.

“Son of a bitch,” Dave sighed. “We have all the information. How could she lie?”

Scarlett snorted. “Why wouldn't she. She doesn't believe I was there last night, so why would she have to worry about whether or not I knew about the auction's earnings? Besides, not like I go out to the enclosures to check on the cats. I'd be the last to know if they were gone.”

“True,” Dave said.

“I'm sure she's working on some kind of plausible reason they were moved as well,” Scarlett added.