“The assholes drove directly into the traffic gathered around the accident,” Talon groused, shaking his head.
“That didn’t make it easier for you to catch up with them?” Steele said, thrusting his hand through his hair in exasperation. How did these guys keep getting away?
“Sorry, Steele. The police freaked when we rolled up over the hill. One patrolman actually drew his weapon and pointed it at Rock,” Kade growled. “Like we’re the fucking Hell’s Angels.”
Instantly, Steele wheeled around to check out the older member seated at the table. “Rock, you okay?”
“Doc checked me out. My heart’s as steady as a rock,” the weathered biker boasted.
After looking Doc’s way and receiving a nod of confirmation, Steele shook his head. “Some new guy fresh out of a police academy?”
“Three days on the job. Sorry, Steele.”
“I want them off the street before Ivy goes back to work. She’s got one more week left,” Steele announced, looking around the table to meet every member’s gaze.
“And have you deduced why they’re after her, Sherlock?” Talon asked with a smirk.
“No. I’m working on that.”
Talon raised one eyebrow and said nothing.
“Just wait until you find your Little girl, jackass,” Steele suggested.
“Like there’s a Little girl out there who’ll choose him,” Bear chuckled and threw his empty beer can at Talon when he flipped him off.
“Since we’re all here, there are some things we need to discuss.” Steele looked around the table and asked, “Where’s Silver? I asked him to be prepared with a financial report.”
“Not here. I saw him take off with Carlee a while ago.”
Everyone turned to look at Rock. Steele could tell he struggled to control his expression. All the Guardians could interact with each other peacefully. There were some relationships that were cohesive and others not so much. The lack of connection that Silver, their treasurer, had with anyone concerned Steele. Rock had practically adopted his daughter’s friend years ago. Remi and Carlee had hung around the clubhouse since they were small. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Rock didn’t approve of Carlee with Silver.
“Where has Remi been lately?” Bear asked, leaning back in his chair until it groaned ominously from the stress of his bulk.
Rock shook his head. “Busy working at the bar, I guess. I keep holding my breath, waiting to see what guy sporting a ton of black eyeliner she ends up with.”
Kade’s abrupt movement captured Steele’s attention as the Enforcer’s head whipped up to zero in on Rock. “Is she serious about someone?”
The older member shook his head. “Not that I know.”
“If we’re finished discussing the love lives of everyone we know, let’s focus back on Guardian business,” Storm suggested. “I’m setting up patrols around our compound and the bank branch where Ivy works. I don’t like these guys daring to come so close to our territory.”
“They know the roads. It’s someone from this area, but yet they dared to get close to the compound,” Faust spit out in anger.
“Who else thinks they shit their pants when we were ready and waiting for them?” Talon scoffed with a smirk.
“Good point. I’ll set the patrols a fair distance from the compound,” Storm decided. “Meanwhile, Steele, you need to get to the bottom of why these guys are risking everything to get to Ivy.”
“Spanking often convinces a Little to tell the truth,” Talon suggested with a know-it-all grin.
“Like you have any recent experience, wiseass,” Steele growled, before reminding him, “Remember, head injury. She’ll tell me soon. Having them chase us was a wake-up call.”
Steele stared around the table, meeting the gaze of each member. He trusted these men with his life, but Ivy was more important than he was. “I want them stopped any way it takes.”
“Got it, Steele,” Talon answered with a small upward nod.
The jokester of the club’s relentless expression was completely out of character. Glancing around, Steele saw that unyielding determination reflected on everyone’s face. The Shadowridge Guardians protected their town and, especially, their own.
Conducting the rest of the meeting quickly, Steele didn’t waste time in ticking off the items on his list. As Steele followed the other members out of the conference room, he spotted Ivy sitting by the door immediately and headed her way.
“Little girl, I thought you were waiting in our room?” he asked, lifting her out of the wide leather seat and sitting back down with her cuddled on his lap. When she snuggled against his chest instead of scurrying to get away so the others didn’t see her, he knew she was upset.
“What’s up, sweetheart?”
“I grabbed my phone off the charger and went through the emails and messages.” She shivered against him.
He didn’t like how she pressed a hand to her temple. She’d given herself a headache. “You’re not supposed to be on anything electronic, Little girl. I should have locked that phone up.”
Ivy looked at him in horror. “That would have been tragic. They’re making threats.”
“Show me.”
“Can you look?” she asked, handing him the phone without looking at the screen. “They’re in the messages.”
Holding the device behind her so the words wouldn’t be in her view, Steele found a number of messages from the bank president that on the surface seemed cordial as they asked how she was feeling. He frowned at the underlying tone that contradicted his encouragement for her to take as much time off as she needed to heal.
He kept searching for something from anonymous sources. There.
Steele glanced at the time on the phone. Thirty hours would correspond with the end of the following workday. The employees would leave the bank around that time.
“What are these codes?” Steele asked.
Ivy abandoned her struggle to keep the confidential bank information from him. They weren’t going to give up. Steele would need to know everything to help her figure out what to do. “The board set up a system of checks and balances to divide the access to certain accounts and information between the board president, the bank president, and the bank manager. The codes allow me to complete certain processes without approval from someone else.”
“Bottom line—what could someone do if they had all the codes?”
“If they had all the codes? Everything: enter the building outside of regular hours, access the vault, transfer funds, withdraw money, search employee records, wipe away accounting records, and much more. My codes would allow them to do a third of those activities.”
“Was there a reason they divided the access between three people?”
Ivy looked around the room to make sure no one was within hearing range. “Someone moved money from an account that had been inactive for a long period of time with no way to track it. We only knew about that case because an heir approached the bank with statements that showed the discrepancy,” she explained.
“And the records were gone so there was no way to prove what had happened to it,” Steele guessed.
“No. There was also no way to determine if someone had tampered with any other accounts, either. I have my suspicions about who took the money and was collecting data to support an allegation before I take it to the board.”
“Could someone be after your notes?” Steele asked.
“I wouldn’t think so. No one knows about them. And they wouldn’t need the codes for those. For the first time ever, I didn’t follow the bank’s protocol. It’s not protected in the computer system. I disguised the information in a printed file comparing bank usage for different age groups. It’s in my desk.”
“Did anyone know you were playing detective?” He did not like the idea that Ivy could have placed herself directly in the line of danger.
“No. No one. At least I don’t think so.”
“So, they want access into the bank’s electronic system for some reason,” Steele said, trying to pull together the information they knew so it would make sense. “Do they need to be in the bank?”
“It would be easier. Using my computer with the access codes would streamline the process.”
“What access do you have, Little girl?”
“I can’t tell you. I can’t tell anyone. They’re going to hurt someone today,” Ivy said, trying to blink away the tears filling her eyes.
“Little girl, I understand that there is official bank business you can’t share with me. Nothing is worth your life or anyone else’s. Call the two who have the other codes. Set up a meeting for tomorrow morning.”
He watched her thoughts race across her face. Finally, she nodded and reached for her phone. Steele wrapped an arm around her waist to hold Ivy in place when she scooted to slide off his lap.
“I need to talk privately, Steele.”
Reluctantly, he allowed her to move away. He watched her closely as she selected a number from her directory.