Ride With Me (Paige and Jace) novel Chapter 267

CHAPTER 153-2

“How much?” Owen asked:

“Enough to matter, but not enough to be obvious.” Ethan said.

Owen studied the figures for several minutes, and then he opened the folder he had brought with him.

“I pulled the records from the last eighteen months.” Ethan added.

“You did that already?” Owen asked.

“I had a feeling we were going to need them.” Ethan said as he spread several pages across the table.

“There are irregularities here.” Ethan said as I looked down.

“More missing money?” I said.

“Small amounts. These are different.” Owen said as Ethan leaned closer.

“How?” Ethan asked and Owen pointed toward the dates.

“The earlier discrepancies were connected to old invoices and account changes, but these transactions are cleaner.” Owen said.

“Cleaner?” Ethan said.

“They look legitimate.” Owen said as I stared at him.

“That doesn’t make sense.” I said.

“It does if the person responsible knows how the business works.” Owen said and Ethan nodded slowly.

“Someone is making the transactions look like ordinary operating expenses.” Ethan said.

“Which means they understand our books.” I said and Owen looked at me.

“Or they have access to someone who does.” Owen said.

That possibility bothered me more than I wanted to admit.

An outsider could steal money, but an outsider who understood our financial structure would have to spend time learning how everything worked.

That meant someone had been watching. Maybe for months. Maybe longer and I rubbed a hand over my jaw.

“Can we trace where the money went?” I asked.

“We’re working on it.” Owen said as he opened another file.

“The receiving company doesn’t appear suspicious on the surface.” He added.

“What does it do?” I asked.

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“Consulting.” He said and I almost laughed.

“Of course it does.” I said and Mason leaned back.

“Does the company-actually exist?” Mason asked.

“Yes.” Owen said.

“Employees?” Mason asked.

“Several.” Owen said.

“Physical office?” Mason asked.

“Registered address.” Owen said.

“That sounds legitimate.” Mason said.

“It is legitimate. Which is why this is complicated.” Owen said as Ethan looked at him.

“But you don’t think the company is behind it.” Ethan said.

“No.” Owen said.

“Why?” Ethan asked.

Cham

“Because the receiving company has no obvious connection to the Iron Vipers.” Owen said as I walked back to the table.

“Then someone is using a legitimate company as a middle point.” I said and Owen nodded.

“That is my concern.” Owen said.

The room fell quiet and I looked at the transaction history again, and suddenly the old warehouse investigation came back to me.

My father’s name. Uncle Will’s journals. Mr. Black. The missing money.

Someone had been stealing from legitimate businesses years ago, and now someone was doing something remarkably similar again.

The connection was becoming impossible to ignore.

“This isn’t just about the club.” I said as Ethan looked at me.

“What are you thinking?” Ethan asked.

“I think someone has been working toward something for a long time.” I said and Mason frowned.

“And you think it connects to the warehouse?” Mason asked.

“I don’t know yet.” I said.

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