Page 51
Story: The Alpha's Mates
Hayden sat forward. So did Shelly. “I talked to the guys about the co-op. They’re in. If Victor can get us the pledges, I think we should do it. Jackson is going to front the money for it.”
“Holy shit.” Raquel glanced up from her computer. “I found something.”
“She’s been at it all morning,” Hayden said.
Shelly and Joy nodded. “Yep, she helped Victor and Tate before you got here, so she is on a roll.”
“True,” Hayden agreed.
“Really?” Bell scooted closer to Raquel. “So, what did you find and how will it help us?”
“Remember when we got the first letter about the house being condemned, and we had so many days to fix it?”
She nodded. How could she forget? “Yes.”
“I think it’s been forged.”
Bell quirked a brow. Had she heard her right? “Come again?”
“Yeah.” Raquel turned her computer around. “These are public records. Each house, apartment, business, or establishment in the city and, more importantly, the county, has inspection checks. It’s kind of like health department for restaurants. Anyway, all you have to do is put in the information for the place and this comes up.” She clicked her touch pad and a list of PDF documents appeared. “When you open each one, it tells you all the good and the bad. It tells you if work has been completed and if not what the fines were assessed at. It also will tell you if there are any trials pending for lack of following through with each citation.”
“So?” Bell peered at the screen, confused by what she saw.
“Well, I pulled up our address in the housing section. There’s absolutely nothing on us.” Raquel went to the search bar and typed in their address once more before hitting enter. “See?”
Yes, she did. NO DOCUMENTS FOUND. “How did this happen?”
Raquel grinned. “I’m glad you asked. I scanned the letter into my computer. You see,”—she returned to typing— “paper has dyes in it. Printers have different ways of printing on a page. Type face. Spacing and letterhead. It means each printer and paper will be unique.”
Bell rubbed her forehead, trying to process what Raquel said. “Go on.”
“They don’t match.”
She perked up. “What?”
“I hacked into the system at the county office, and I got the specs on their paper and alignment. I put them into the letter we received, and they didn’t match.” Again, she showed them the comparisons. “So, I researched printers and who would get into the county office and steal some of their paper and what have you.”
“And?”
“It came from one house. Well, technically two hundred houses and businesses have printers like the one used, but I found it highly suspicious Laney’s sorority is on the list. Not only that, but it looks like her mother works for the county to boot.”
Bell snatched the computer off Raquel’s lap and scrolled through her finding. A whimper escaped her. She’d been duped. She realized her house needed the repairs, and she knew she needed to do it last year; however, Laney and her cattiness distracted her from what needed to be done. And for what? Some fucking pledges? “Did you find anything else out?”
Raquel smirked. “Oh, yeah.” She grabbed the computer and typed away on it. “She’s, and I mean Laney, is a naughty little thing.”
“Naughty how?” Hayden sat forward a bit. After everything she and Nico had been through with the stupid cow, her curiosity didn’t surprise Bell one bit.
“Someone likes the football team.” Raquel placed her computer on the coffee table in front of them and hit play. Laney’s passion-filled cries echoed through the living room, followed by a perfect view of her lying on the locker room bench surrounded by men. Naked and aroused, they touched each other in the most intimate of ways. “Weird how Hill and Winston could try to hurt Victor and Tate with photos like this, but it’s all good fun for Laney and them...”
Her stomach rolled. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “No, I don’t want to see any more of that.” Laney could be a consensual partner in it, but what if? “How do we know she’s a willing participant? You can’t use it for leverage. We have the proof with the stolen letterhead, and the forged document. If Victor comes through with the pledges, we’ll go to Dean Ames with that plan.”
Raquel turned off the video. “You’re right, but tell me it doesn’t feel just a little bit good to see she’s not always so prim and proper.”
It did, and it didn’t. “I can’t. I want to say yes, it does, but it makes me no better than her if I give in to my inner bitch.”
“True, but—”
A knock at the door had Bell glancing up. “I’ll get it.” She stuffed the letter into her pocket and would put it with the rest of their evidence to show the dean. The idea of having to stand before him and explain why they were missing pledges and how Laney had duped them, causing who knows how much harm, sickened her. Heck, she wouldn’t be surprised if Laney didn’t have her hand in more than just the condemned notices. She jumped when another knock sounded. “Hold your horses.” She opened the door and took a step to the side. “Victor?”
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