“You can now. You just had to understand it.” He nodded, thinking that while he did have a great deal more information he’d not had before, there was still a great deal he had to learn. “Would you go with me? I have a feeling I’m going to need to be bailed out of jail if this goes wrong again.”
“I thought you’d need me. So I had Adeline close up the office today. There weren’t any appointments that were emergencies, but she said she’d be there if any came in.” He stood up, pulling her from the couch too. “Let’s get this done so we can head over to Shep’s home. I’ll be glad when we have some quiet time for just the two of us.”
“I will too, but I’d not expect that anytime too soon.” Rodney didn’t. That was the thing about having such a powerful person in your life, he’d discovered—there was always something going on that needed attention. “I’m ready. Tell Harris we’ll meet her there.”
He found himself outside the office of the agency. When Rebel giggled, he pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. This travel thing was nice, but it was a little taxing on the mind. Going into the place, he was surprised to find not just Harris there but also Shep.
“We just showed up here.” Shep shook his head as he continued. “I don’t know what happened, but if you two did it, I’d like a little warning next time. What if I had been in the shower or something?”
“I would have known.” Would he too? It bore thinking about. Taking Rebel’s hand into his, they went to the elevator. “This will go much faster if you don’t mind me taking over. I have a way about me that will make sure that a lot of people get their money from these bastards.”
They were all in agreement that she could be in charge. Shep said so long as he wasn’t covered in that goop from the other day, he was fine about a lot of things. Rebel didn’t answer him, and Rodney thought that was funny too. It would do Shep some good to be slimed by a ghost. He needed some loosening up.
The men were all seated and waiting for them, which he thought was particularly strange as they hadn’t scheduled a time to be there. As soon as they were seated, the man, Mr. Crumble, started telling them that the check had been cashed and things were out of his hands.
“How many times have you done this before me sister?” Rodney watched the man struggle with answering her. “I’m thinking not only do you have a good accounting of it, but right to the penny on how much you’ve scammed from them.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The other man, his name was Saulnier, looked at Crumble. “What is the matter with you? Tell them we’re not going to pay them any more money.”
“Five hundred and twelve times.” It hurt the man to say that, Rodney realized. He was still fighting whatever Rebel was doing to them. “It’s been extremely profitable to us, and we’re going to keep right on doing it.”
Smiling at him, Rebel shook her head. “No. I’m afraid that doesn’t work for me. Not to mention all the other people you’ve taken advantage of. I tell you what you’re going to do. I want you to call your offshore accounts manager and have them wire the money directly to Harris Marshall. She’ll make sure all the money is returned to the rightful owners.” Harris said she could do that. “What are you doing just sitting here? Get up off your asses and do what I told you.”
Rodney was impressed. Shep, he thought, was afraid of Rebel and her new magic. But the two men did what she’d told them to do after getting the information from Harris as to where to send the money.
“That’s very good of the two of you. Now, I know that you both have quite a bit of money in your bank. That will need to be given to her as well.” Crumble asked what they were supposed to live on. “I don’t really give a shit if you live or die right now. Billions of dollars have been taken from good families, and you knew just what you were doing when you did it. Empty your accounts now by writing a check made out to whomever Harris says. Then we’ll talk about the little toy collection that you have.”
It took them only an hour to get things gathered up before they were finished with the things that needed to be resold—three boats, several cars, as well as ten homes all over the world that they’d purchased with the money that didn’t belong to them.
He did worry at one point when the men’s noses started to bleed. But as soon as he checked to see if their minds were stressed, he found that they were plotting to not just kill Rebel for what she was making them do but to continue doing what they were doing now. He wasn’t going to shed a single tear for them. They’d hurt a great many families depending on the money from the policy their loved one had taken out with their company.
The money totaled more than he thought it would have. Of course, they’d had
