“True.” She smiled despite herself. Darrell had always watched out for her and had a knack for improving her mood with just idle chatter. “So I’ve been looking over some F and B financial statements—”
“Damn, girl. That’s no light reading.”
“Tell me about it. Something’s off. I know it is, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
“That’s Jerome Parker’s job. SEC has been scouring all those business filings—shit,” he breathed.
“What?”
“Been through this file four times now and can’t find the damn police report from when William Baxter got pulled over for speeding two years ago in Miami.” He took a deep breath. “Sorry. You were saying?”
Shelby giggled. “Actually you were saying how it’s Parker’s job to analyze the financial reports, not mine.”
“Oh, right, right. We were brought in to get info out of Showalter. Jerome and his team have been all over those reports. Hell, the SEC maintains that stuff. They know what they’re looking for. They need us to investigate what they don’t already have access to.”
She groaned. “I know. I just think it wouldn’t hurt if fresh eyes looked at them. Maybe they’d provide a clue for us that the SEC wouldn’t pick up on. I mean, why are you looking for an old ticket of Baxter’s when it doesn’t have anything to do with the firm?”
Darrell harrumphed. “You tell me.”
But she could tell from his tone that he already knew where she was going with this…and that was to prove her point. “Because you’re looking for a clue, just like I am.”
“Yeah. There’s a judge in Miami-Dade that the IRS is investigating for tax evasion. I’m trying to see if there’s a link between him and Baxter. If maybe he paid him off.”
“Exactly. You’re investigating this case just like I am.”
“How did you get so good at this?” he asked, and she could clearly hear the smile in his voice.
“I learned from the best.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere.”
She chuckled. “Just being honest.”
Darrell took a deep breath. “Call Carson. He may have a master’s in system design from M.I.T., but he also majored in business at the undergrad level. He’s a wiz at forensic accounting. If anybody on our team can help you, he can.”
Shelby was glad she wasn’t talking to Darrell in person because she was unable to suppress the twisted face she made at the mention of Carson’s name. The man was a flirt, and she didn’t like walking right into his advances. Carson was harmless, but she didn’t have the energy to put up with him right now. “Okay. Thanks. Good luck fishing out that speeding ticket.”
“Thanks, little bit.”
After disconnecting the call, Shelby stared at the computer screen for several more minutes. If the numbers jumped off the monitor and started doing the Hokey Pokey, it still wouldn’t be any more exciting. Gah. Energetic or not, she’d have to call her other teammate, and if she didn’t do it soon, she’d have to call her hairdresser to fix the bald spots formed by ripping gobs of her hair out. Without giving it much more thought, she grabbed the receiver and hit Carson’s extension.
“Well, hello there, Shelby.” He obviously didn’t care if she had her phone on speaker.
Rather than dragging this out, Shelby quickly ran through her spiel before asking, “So can you look at the reports?”
“What’s in it for me?”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be a dick. Are you going to help me or not?”
“Only because you said dick.”
“One of these days, you’re either going to be up to your eyeballs in sexual harassment suits or missing you balls altogether because you messed with the wrong woman.” She picked up a pencil and tapped it on her desk.
“Give me forty-eight hours, and I’ll let you know what I find,” he said more seriously, and hung up.
She glanced at the clock. It was almost quitting time, but since she was working overtime tonight as a legal streetwalker, she was going to leave now. Taking a calming breath, she stood and gathered her things. She couldn’t let Carson, or anybody else, get into her head. She needed it ready for what was to come.
Right now, she had to focus on making sure she found the perfect thing to wear to make herself presentable to Mason. On her way out, she briefly considered stopping and visiting with Viola, but she was chatting with Rick. Shelby had already brought her team up to speed on tonight, so she had no desire to get into another conversation with her boss. She slipped out of the building and got into her car. The radio blared a sexy song, and she quickly turned it off before merging onto the road. She didn’t need external forces affecting her mood. No, Shelby needed her head in the game.
Yeah, because letting a possible criminal have his way with your body is just fun and games.
Her thoughts trailed back and forth on the drive home. Tonight, Mason was going to tie her up somehow. She didn’t understand the necessity of it since she’d technically been restrained last week, but he was the master here. Literally.
By the time she got home, she’d scolded herself half a dozen times through her wayward thoughts. It didn’t matter why Mason chose the scenes he’d picked out. What mattered was gaining information from him on F and B and determining how guilty he was in tampering with the Culpeper Hedge Fund. She had to focus on her mission.
With renewed energy, she headed straight for the bathroom to shower. When she opened the cabinet to get a towel, she froze at the sight before her.
Massage oils. One thing she’d learned from that previous assignment was some people liked to talk when getting their bodies rubbed down. She smiled as she stared at the bag of FBI issued essential oils.
