Noel walked into the reception area and turned his eyes to the ceiling when he saw Izzy and Damien with Jack. He was just thankful that no one had alerted the group of grandma sleuths. He took a deep breath before indicating to them to follow him to an interview room.
Once in the room, Noel motioned for them to sit across from him while he opened the file in front of him.
“I didn’t expect to be here so soon.” Jack’s voice clearly displayed his nervousness.
“Well, it’s all really simple actually,” Noel responded
Jack shook his head in confusion. “What’s really simple?”
“How Eric stole more than $100,000 from your store” was Noel’s monotone response.
Jack leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Explain.”
Noel looked at the file in front of him before beginning his explanation. “Eric set up several accounts with account numbers that were nearly the same as the suppliers.”
“But Eric’s name wasn’t on the accounts,” Damien interrupted.
Noel nodded. “Yeah, sorry. Let me start at the beginning. Eric founded a bunch of companies with names that were barely distinguishable from the store’s biggest suppliers. The bank accounts of these companies are the ones that Eric paid the invoices into. Then, he paid the proper amount of the invoice to the supplier from these accounts. That’s why none of the suppliers said anything. The excess money was wired into Eric’s private account.” Noel shrugged. “It’s a really simple set-up.”
Damien wasn’t convinced. “What about the invoices in our files? They’re all for the wrong amounts.”
“Another easy switch. Eric made changes to the original invoices. Then he destroyed the originals and put the doctored invoices into the files and used those amounts in the finances.”
Jack’s face turned red. “So basically you’re saying this is my fault for not checking up on Eric.” He spoke between gritted teeth. Damien grabbed his hand, but Jack shoved him away.
Noel shook his head. “I didn’t say anything like that at all, Jack. The only thing you’re guilty of is having faith and trust in an employee.”
“How long? How long has this been going on?”
“About ten months,” Noel responded looking at his records for confirmation.
So Eric hadn’t been stealing from him for years and years. That deflated Jack’s anger a bit, but he still didn’t understand. “Why?”
“It’s just like you thought. He’s got a gambling problem. I haven’t been able to check into the loan shark yet, but what we’ve got enough to charge him as it is.”
“When did he start gambling?” Jack was flabbergasted he hadn’t noticed his most valued employee becoming an addict.
“Started about two years ago when his girlfriend broke up with him,” Noel explained.
Jack nodded. He remembered that. Eric had been devastated. He’d asked the girl to marry him. She’d said no and took off. He hadn’t been very sympathetic. The woman was a total bitch, always wanting free stuff from the store. He had no problems giving his workers discounts, but free for a girlfriend of an employee was a bit much. Especially considering how much Eric earned. Eric could afford to give her the best of everything, which he did, but it was never enough.
Jack shook his head at the memories. Crap. He should have paid more attention, but he always kept a bit of distance from Eric, not wanting friendship to interfere with a working relationship. He’d learned that lesson the hard way with Wyatt. Sure, they were able to work together fairly well, but that didn’t stop Wyatt from whining about wanting to re-start their relationship at the most inopportune moments.
“Can I see him?”
Chapter 35
What the fuck do you know about it?
Noel arranged for Jack to see Eric in one of the interrogation rooms. There was no way he was letting Jack and Eric have a conversation that he couldn’t see or hear. There was no expectation of privacy in a police station, unless a suspect was talking to a lawyer, and Noel was hoping to get more useful information from Jack’s talk with Eric.
Jack was shocked to see Eric shackled to the table when he walked into the interrogation room. He and the ladies had been arrested on more occasions than he wanted to remember, but they’d never been shackled. He took a deep breath and sat across from Eric at the simple, metal table. He didn’t have a clue how to start this conversation so he just asked, “Why?”
Eric sneered at him. Jack leaned back in his chair in shock. “Fucking fairy. What the fuck do you know about it?”
Jack felt like Eric had just slapped him. He’d never heard Eric say a prejudiced word before. How could he have so misjudged him? He refused to be drawn into a fight with Eric. Eric was just lashing out at Jack as an excuse to rid himself of some of his anger at being caught. Jack was the one going home with a hot man to a warm bed tonight. He shrugged as if the words Eric had just spewed at him had no effect. “Obviously I know nothing as you were so generous to point out.”
Eric deflated a bit at Jack’s refusal to enter into a confrontation with him. “I got nothing. I work my fingers to the bone for your fairy store and I got nothing. You come in maybe one, two days a week and go home with all the money.” He shrugged. “I just wanted a little bit of what you had.”
“It’s not like you weren’t being paid well.” Jack felt the need to defend himself.
Eric snorted. “Not well enough.”
Jack nodded in fake sympathy. “Yeah, it must be hard to support a gambling addiction with your salary.” He didn’t try to disguise his distaste. He wasn’t going to learn anything from Eric anyway.
“Fuck you.”
“You already did,” Jack said and stood to leave the room. He knocked on the door until Noel came and opened it for him.
Noel led him into the adjacent room where Damien and Izzy had been watching the confrontation with Jack. “I’m sorry,” Noel murmured. Jack just nodded and walked to Damien, who wrapped him in his arms.
Noel’s phone buzzed and he looked at the message. “Crap,” he cursed as he read the text and then quickly left the room.
From the safety of Damien’s arms, Jack watched Eric being escorted from the interrogation room. “I’m sorry,” Izzy mumbled as she grabbed one of Jack’s hands. “I didn’t notice anything either. What a jackass!”
Jack nodded but didn’t say anything further. They stood staring at the now empty interrogation room. Izzy and Damien were content to wait until Jack got his shit together. Unfortunately, they didn’t get that chance. Shouting alerted them to Wyatt’s presence in the police station.
“Shit,” Jack muttered as the door to the room they were in flew open and Wyatt stomped in. He stopped cold when he saw Jack and Damien cuddled together.
“I fucking knew it! You fucking lied to me!” Wyatt screamed. Noel and Derrick entered the room behind him and Noel closed the door, but Wyatt didn’t even notice them.
“Seriously? I just found out Eric’s been stealing from us and now I find out you’re cheating on me,” Wyatt huffed. Derrick gulped behind him, but he didn’t pay any attention to his boy-toy.
Izzy was done. She was pregnant, tired, and had it up to her neck with Wyatt’s antics. She positioned herself in front of Jack and Damien, crossed her arms over her generous bosom, and glared at Wyatt. “He’s not cheating on you. You. Are. Not. Together. And he didn’t freaking lie to you. They just started seeing each other.” She waved a hand at Derrick. “Unlike you and the boy-toy you bought a freaking apartment for.”
Noel stomped forward and gathered Izzy into his arms. “You need to calm down. It’s not good for the baby.”
Izzy just glared at him and threw him off her. “What’s not good for the baby is having to deal with Wyatt’s shit when Jack has enough to deal with! What’s he doing here anyway?”
Noel’s faced turned a lovely shade of pink. “I had to inform him of the theft. He’s the co-owner of the store after all.”
; Izzy turned on him. “And you couldn’t wait until we left?” Noel started to respond, but Izzy held her hand up palm facing outward to him in a stop gesture. “Do you need him to fill out some forms or something?” she asked in a surprisingly calm voice.
Noel nodded. “Okay,” she said and started directing everyone. “You and you,” she said pointing at Wyatt and then Derrick. “Get out of here. Noel will take you to an interview room where you can do your paperwork.” She looked at Noel, who hurried to grab Wyatt and lead him out of the room. Derrick glanced back at Jack and Damien but didn’t say anything as he turned to follow Wyatt like a puppy dog.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here.” Izzy motioned to Jack and Damien to follow her as she took off.
Chapter 36
My boobs are sore
Jack followed Izzy out of the police station while grasping Damien’s hand. Damien continued to squeeze his hand in support. Once they were in the sunshine, Izzy turned to Jack. “Follow me home,” she said and then walked away before he had a chance to respond. Jack looked to Damien, but he just shrugged.
By the time they arrived at Izzy’s house, the gang was all there. Jack nearly turned his car around. Only Damien’s hand on his thigh, grounding him, kept him from flying off the handle. But he couldn’t, wouldn’t, get out of the car. Damien jumped out and approached Izzy, who quickly moved to the driver’s door and opened it.
“I’m sorry Jack,” she grabbed his shoulder and squeezed. “Noel will kill me if I’m alone after that confrontation. He's beyond protective of this baby. He’s probably freaking out about my blood pressure right now.”
Jack sighed and shook his head. Leave it to Izzy to find a way to get her way by making him feel guilty. The woman was a master manipulator and she wasn’t even a mother yet. He heaved himself out of the car and followed Izzy and Damien into her house.
Izzy wasn’t pulling any punches today though. She walked to the living room where the knitting ladies were gathered and whistled for their attention. “Listen up,” she began as five sets of eyes looked at her in surprise. “We’ve had a hell of a morning. I’m tired, my boobs are sore, my ankles are swollen, and I’ve lost any patience I had to begin with.”
Jack and Damien crept past the mad woman and sat on a loveseat in a corner of the room to watch the show. “Jack’s going to catch everyone up on what’s going on. It’s gonna be quick and painless. Then, I’m going to go take a nap before my husband comes home and goes all protective Alpha on my ass.” She nodded to Jack before she sat in a stuffed armchair and put her feet up with a loud sigh.
Jack shook his head at her antics, but he couldn’t complain. The knitters were uncharacteristically quiet as they waited for him to tell his story. “Eric’s been arrested.” Gasps, shouts of glee, and clapping accompanied his announcement. He actually smiled. These ladies were batshit crazy, but he loved them. “We gave Noel the evidence that Damien and Rose collected the other day and Noel did his thing. He got a search warrant for the bank records and verified everything we thought within two days.” He shrugged as if that was all there was to the story.
“But how did it all work?” Rose asked.
“Apparently Eric set up a bunch of companies with names similar to our suppliers and then managed to get bank account numbers that nearly matched the supplier accounts.” When he said it like that, Jack understood why Noel thought it was so simple.
“What about the invoices?” Rose remained curious.
“He doctored the originals, put the fakes into the filing system, and threw away the originals.”
Rose thought about this for a moment before she spoke again. “So he paid the inflated amounts from the fake invoices into his accounts. I assume he then paid the proper amount from his account into the supplier account?” Jack nodded. “And the excess went to another account – also owned by Eric?”
“Damn,” Betty swore and everyone quickly turned to her in surprise. “How did we not figure this out sooner?” She talked as if they had just puzzled the entire mystery together themselves instead of Noel at the police station doing his job. Jack chuckled and shook his head.
“Well,” Rosemary spoke up. “It’s over now and we can move on to more important things.” She looked pointedly at Izzy, who was leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed.
“Yes,” Martha agreed but she wasn’t looking at Izzy. She was looking back and forth from Jack to Damien. “Much more important things.”
Izzy, who could apparently see with her eyes closed, answered Martha. “Oh yeah, Jack and Damien are together and Wyatt’s an asshole.”
Everyone looked in surprise when Ally responded. “Yeah well, we knew Wyatt was a jerk.” Ally was the only one of the group that had actually met Wyatt when he was dating Jack. Apparently she never liked him. Izzy grunted and nodded. Huh. Looks like Ally wasn’t the only one who never liked Wyatt.
Jack leaned back to cuddle with Damien in the loveseat while the ladies gathered their things. They really were going to listen to Izzy and not give anyone a hard time. He started to stand to kiss them good-bye, but Betty was having none of that. “Sit down, young man. You need a rest nearly as much as the pregnant one over there.”
Jack laughed, but he knew better than to contradict Betty. He watched as the women all kissed Izzy before letting themselves out. “Go take your nap, crazy girl,” he yelled from the comfort of the loveseat.
“I’m good here,” Izzy mumbled and promptly fell asleep.
Jack and Damien remained cuddled on the sofa whispering to each other until Noel arrived several hours later. Izzy was still sleeping. Noel shook his head at her before gathering her into his arms to take her to bed. “Thanks, guys,” he yelled softly.
“Anytime, Noel. Anytime.”
Chapter 37
Another one bites the dust
Jack wasn’t surprised when Izzy called to tell him to get his butt over to her house on Saturday. The gray-haired knitting detectives, who now fancied themselves private investigators and were apparently seriously considering getting licensed, wanted to have a party to celebrate solving their latest mystery. Jack asked Damien to come with him, but Damien said he was busy. He would try to come by later though.
Jack was surprised by the number of cars flooding Izzy’s driveway and street when he arrived for the party. There weren’t just the old lady boat-mobiles but several cars he didn’t recognize lining the street and filling the driveway. He shrugged. He wouldn’t be surprised if the senior sleuths invited everyone they knew to celebrate their latest ‘accomplishment’. Poor Noel never got any recognition for his work as an actual detective in solving any of the crimes the ladies got their fingers into.
Damien’s car parked closest to Izzy’s garage caused Jack a bit of confusion but then again Damien and Izzy were becoming fast friends. After the fiasco at the station, Izzy had decided Damien was the one for Jack and thus they were destined to be great friends. Jack shook his head at Izzy’s complete 180 with regard to Damien. He couldn’t even imagine what Noel was going through with Izzy and her pregnancy hormones.
The house was quiet as he approached. He looked around in confusion. He knew that the knitting crew couldn’t be quiet to save their lives or prevent a trip to jail for that matter. Maybe everyone was in the backyard?
He still knocked on the door as his previous experiences of walking in uninvited still haunted his dreams and he couldn’t forget Noel’s nympho comment. When no one answered, he tried the door. It was unlocked and so he walked in, shut the door behind him and headed for the kitchen.
“Surprise!” Jack felt his heart stop. He slammed a fist into his chest to get it going again.
“What the hell?” He looked around at all his friends gathered in the living room in confusion until he noticed the banners and balloons decorated with ‘Happy Birthday’.
“It’s not my birthday yet.” He shook his head as Izzy walked to him. She laughed before reaching over to give him a hug.
“
I know it’s next week, but I figured if the party was early, you wouldn’t expect it.”
“Damn woman, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” he complained but smiled as he returned her hug.
Damien came walking over next. Jack raised an eyebrow at him and he blushed. “I suppose you had something to do with this,” Jack accused. Damien shrugged and reached up to give Jack a quick kiss. Jack was having none of that. He smashed his mouth down on Damien’s lips and didn’t give up until they both were gagging for breath and wishing for a bedroom or any hard surface for that matter.
It was a good turnout. Every one of the knitting crew was there, of course. As were all the employees of Fabulous, Darling except Wyatt, who Jack hadn’t spoken to since their shouting match at the police station. Wyatt tended to blow hot and cold. He’d calm down soon enough. Jack was actually happy for the break, especially since he and Damien were working their butts off to take over Eric’s responsibilities and maybe also blowing off some steam in some very unbusinesslike ways.
He was surprised to see Tommy and Brad among the party-goers although he shouldn’t be surprised at Tommy’s appearance as most of the ladies’ fellow churchgoers were around. When he saw Martha trying to push Tommy toward Brad, the reason they were there clicked. Poor Tommy really needed to come clean about his sexuality with the knitting posse. Otherwise, they’d dog him until he fled the state.
Jack stared at Tommy from his perch on the sofa. Tommy hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off Dee for the entire party. Dee wasn’t unaffected. She kept blushing and throwing glances at Tommy. As he watched, the elderly cupid, otherwise known as Martha, marched up to Tommy and quietly spoke to him. Tommy shook his head in fear, but Martha kept talking. Finally, Jack saw Tommy gulp before nodding and moving toward Dee. Dee smiled as Tommy approached her and he stumbled. Jack shook his head. Another one bites the dust.
The Gray-Haired Knitting Detective Series: (Books 1 - 3) Page 29
