“We have new information from a source within Fieldstein and Baxter,” Rick announced in the impromptu meeting scheduled late Friday afternoon.
Shelby was too nervous to focus on facts that were peripheral to the night’s upcoming events. She’d entered Mason’s phone number into her cell a hundred different times since she’d met him with the intention of canceling their plans. No way could she do that. She’d be in serious trouble if she did anything to jeopardize this assignment. She was a nervous wreck who knew the score. She had to find a way to remain focused on her task and work her mark for information…somehow. One step at a time. If she concentrated on the immediate responsibility of the night, then maybe she’d be able to get through it. This was, after all, her mission.
And her job was important, even if she was picked for this assignment because of her looks. She had to be successful, so next time she’d be chosen because of her track record, not her bra size. Shelby had a lot to prove if she wanted to come out from under the protective shadow of her mentor, Darrell, and make a name for herself.
“Who’s the source?” Darrell asked as he folded his arms and stared at their boss. “I hope the SEC isn’t running around shouting to all the employees of F and B that they’re looking for info. Kinda makes our job to help not necessary, don’t cha think?”
Carson chuckled. “Yeah, not to mention flashing neon signs for the executives. If they get wind of this investigation, they’d lock themselves up tighter than a hooker with a poor man.”
“You’re such a sleaze,” Viola said.
“Tighter than Fort Knox. Is that better?” he asked with a wink.
“Too little too late.” Viola rolled her eyes at Carson. The man never missed an opportunity to flirt. “Anyway, his name is Carl O’Brian. He called his contact with the SEC to discuss some discrepancies he’d found within a hedge fund. He couldn’t get the returns paid out to calculate based on the figures they were reporting. Since F and B is flagged in the computer, the contact reported this to our liaison, Jerome Parker, who then spent the last couple of days running the numbers. He couldn’t make heads or tails on just how F and B reached the reported amounts either. Jerome called with the info a couple of hours ago.”
“Viola then told me, which is why I called this meeting.” Rick looked at Shelby, and she forced her knee to stop bouncing erratically under the table. “According to O’Brian, Mason has been assigned to work on the fund.”
Shelby swallowed. “So Mason just went from someone who might know something to someone who does know something.” Her heart pounded at this turn of events. She’d have to be extra careful. If it had been confirmed he was in on the crime, then being alone with him would make her extremely vulnerable. Under normal circumstances, she’d have major backup, but they already knew she couldn’t wear a wire, and it wasn’t open to the public tonight, which meant there would be no eyes inside the place besides hers.
“I think that’s still iffy,” Rick said, dragging Shelby out of her thoughts. “We only know he has a link to a fund that could be fraudulent. He might not even realize he knows anything yet.”
It seemed too convenient to Shelby, though. She got the vibe he was very methodical, as if nothing got past him.
“What’s the fund?” Carson asked as he clasped his hands on top of the table.
“It’s the Culpeper Hedge Fund, named for founding member Edward Baxter’s mother-in-law, Margaret Culpeper.”
“That’s one of the firm’s elite funds. Mrs. Culpeper spent the last years of her life giving all kinds of money to charities. Society loved her, and F and B has been offering that fund in her honor for decades,” Darrell said. “Always giving a percent of profits to her favorite charities.”
“Correct. So the damage could go way back. When O’Brian made contact with Mason, our new mark was vague enough not to answer any questions outright while managing to sound as if O’Brian’s concerns were overstated. According to O’Brian, Mason wasn’t even fazed by the conflicts he’d found.”
“He must be in on it,” Carson said, sitting up. “He’s trying to sweep the con under the rug.”
Shelby agreed, but she kept her mouth shut. She knew that look in their boss’s eyes. He wasn’t going to make any assumptions. He would want concrete proof one way or the other before making an assessment. Normally, she’d concur with going that route, but normally, her ass wasn’t the one on the line. An ass that might end up naked tonight.
“It’s still too early to jump to that conclusion, Carson,” Rick said, just as Shelby had predicted. Then he turned toward her. “But you’re right. Before, Mason was just a possible way to get information since he was recently promoted, but now he’s a link to busting this case wide open. We need to know what he knows. If he’s innocent, we need to secure his help quickly. If he’s guilty, we need to gather as much evidence on him and F and B as we can just as fast. There’s going to be a lag time between the info you get and when we can analyze it. You’ll have to make judgment calls as you learn things from him. Be smart about it.”
As if there wasn’t enough pressure already.
Shelby couldn’t afford to be nervous about this anymore. She needed to pull up her big-girl panties and do her job. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t used to being in a testosterone-ridden room. She’d heard dirty jokes going up at her dad’s car shop before she even understood them. She worked in a male-heavy career. Hell, her last assignment was working at the Bang Shift garage with mercenaries who had no clue why she’d really been put there. She could do this. She
