Page 91 of Don't Say a Word

“On a small scale, it’s easy to make disappear. A good auditor—like my husband—could find it if he had access to all the books and receipts, but a good scammer can falsify books. On a large scale? Quarterly records would be off, the bookkeeper would notice large discrepancies and likely trigger an audit. So if it was a mom-and-pop shop and they were in on it, easy to cook the books and get away with something like you’re suggesting. But a chain like the Cactus Stop? Nearly impossible.”

“But if it was just one employee, it would be considered small scale?”

“Small if he was having maybe six to ten of these transactions a week.”

“So not a dozen or more a day.”

“That would create a paper trail at inventory time. In the short term? A sneaky employee could destroy the goods he pretended to sell, and could probably get away with it for a while. But in my experience, people get greedy. They want more, like the mother and daughter Medicaid scammers. And remember, if they’re using an EBT card, the employee isn’t going to get the money—that goes to the store. So I don’t know what his motive would be. Selling drugs for cash behind the counter? That definitely happens a lot more than you might think, and DEB would take lead in that investigation.”

“That helps,” I said.

“Are you going to share more?”

“I promise, if I learn more, I’ll share.”

“Fair enough,” Jessie said and drained her beer. “Thanks for the beer. I should get going. It was nice to meet you.”

“You too,” I said and watched her walk out.

I was starving so ordered a plate of Irish sliders. While I ate and finished my beer, I considered what might be happening at the Cactus Stop.

EBT transactions went to the store. So either I was wrong about the scam and nothing was going on at the Cactus Stop, or the staff was selling drugs for cash, or whoever ran the business end of the Cactus Stop was involved.

Elijah must have thoughtsomethingillegal was happening, or why else would he sit outside the store for hours at night taking pictures of people coming and going?

Maybe he was trying to identify the specific person involved, but didn’t know where he should focus his attention.

I was at a loss, but I couldn’t ignore the photos or what Elijah had been doing in the weeks before he died.

Ramos should be very interested if there was any sort of EBT fraud going on in one of his Cactus Stop locations. But I didn’t have proof, and I wouldn’t go to him without solid evidence. Still, he was in a better position than me to find answers.

I called Tess. If anyone could dig up dirt on Cactus Stop employees, it was my sister.

But reaching out to Ramos before I had proof? I needed to sleep on that.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Margo Angelhart

Scotty brought over a half pint of Guinness for me.

“You know me so well.” I wasn’t quite ready to leave as I mulled through all the information I’d learned.

“I’d stay and chat, but it’s getting busy,” he said. “D-backs might clinch playoffs tonight.”

I noticed every seat in the bar was occupied, and most of the tables, chairs turned to the large screen where the pregame show played.

“That’d be awesome,” I said. I wasn’t as into sports watching as Jack and Luisa—I liked to play, not observe—but I did enjoy going to baseball games. It was relaxing and fun and you could chat with friends and family. Unlike fast-paced basketball where your brother would punch you in the arm if you talked too much. “I’ll free up the table in a few.”

“Take your time,” he said and went back to the bar.

The background chatting and voices of sports announcers didn’t bother me. It was actually comforting, reminding me of the two years I’d worked here while building my business, and the people I’d gotten to know, some of whom I’d been able to helpin a small way. It was a nice neighborhood pub on the south side of Sunnyslope.

I drained my beer and was about to leave when my phone vibrated. It was Josie. I owed her a lot of groveling for outing her nickname.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite cousin,” I said cheerfully.

“If you think flattery is going to save you from my wrath, you are sorely mistaken.”