Page 20 of Stone Cold Savage

“Perk of the job.” Ransom teased. “Actually, they don’t need me. This is all on the up and up, Dev.”

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this.” She shook her head, “I’m supposed to uphold the law, and here we are, sitting around the table, breaking it left and right. You all might land in a jail cell before the bad guy gets ya.”

“Not a chance,” Coy said. “He’s right. We have… legal authority.”

“Who the hell are you?” Devyn asked. “That’s a lot of authority.”

“Someone with a lot of responsibility… and authority,” Coy said, looking over Rip’s shoulder. “We logged in yet?”

“Almost. Killion is getting us in. Something about back doors and trojan horses.” Rip replied. “I never understand the geek talk. Just know what to do once he gets me in.”

Coy turned to Charlotte, “You’re sure you want to do this? It’s not too late to back out. I assure you that you will not feel any consequences, either way, but if your conscience…”

Charlotte put her hands up, “Stop right there. I believe in good character and a strong moral compass, and this fits that bill. I’m happy to help y’all out. Delilah was a good one, and I want to help bring justice in her name.”

“Fair enough,” Coy said.

“We appreciate this, darlin’,” Nash went on. “I know the decision wasn’t made lightly. Hacking into your companies servers and hunting down medical records and bills for our Mama… well, there isn’t thanks enough.”

“Listen. Somethin’ was bothering her for quite a while, and the more I’ve learned here in the past several days, the more I have to think we’re about to unbury whatever that was. I would hate to think she wasn’t resting in peace.” Charlotte continued, “She deserves peace, and not all of these questions about her final days looming over her legacy.”

“How are you that nice?” Devyn asked. “I really don’t get it.”

“Kindness goes a long way, sugar.” Charlotte winked, “And I really dislike assholes, and I’m starting to think there were quite a few haunting her as much as they’re haunting you all.”

Devyn looked to Dillon, “Did she just say asshole? I swear I just heard sugar dumplin’ buns over there say asshole.”

Dillon nodded, “She did indeed, and somehow even that word sounded sweet coming out of her mouth.”

“I think I like her,” Devyn whispered.

Dillon snickered, “I think we all do.”

“Here you go,” Rip said, turning the laptop in Charlotte’s direction, “Does that look familiar?”

Charlotte nodded and rubbed her hands together mischievously, “That’s our system, alright. Why is this so thrilling when I know it’s so bad?”

“Because being bad is fun, sweetheart.” Nash winked. “How long does she have?”

“Not long.” Rip said, “Get it all and get out as quick as you can. If we’re getting too close to a problem, I’ll get a heads up.”

“I’ll grab the itemized billing statements, payment receipts, and insurance transactions first,” Charlotte said as she went to work on the computer. “Then, I’ll grab her medical records, though I do advise that maybe you just stick those away unless you absolutely need to know something.”

“I appreciate your concern for our Mama’s privacy, but I think she would understand why we were doing this. Besides, we already know she had cancer.” Coy shared.

“I understand that, but I mean… it might be hard to read. The doctor notes. Radiology reports. It’s all very detailed and presents a very specific… timeline, if you will.” Charlotte said as delicately as possible.

“Like a roadmap to her decline and ultimate death,” Nash muttered under his breath.

“You can hold your loved ones’ hand through the entire thing and think you’ve lived it with them… until you read those documents. I don’t know why, but it’s…”

“I can only imagine.” Devyn cut her off, sensing the emotion building in Charlotte’s voice. “You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”

Charlotte nodded, her eyes never leaving the screen, “I do. My sweet Mama had a similar battle. And even with my experience, those records were rough. Like reliving it all over again. I don’t particularly advise it.”

“You’re up,” Coy said, sharing a computer with Nash. “This should get you into Mama’s account you were paying on with the information you used to make those deposits on the loan.”

“How?” Nash said as if the computer was foreign to him. “Don’t I need her social security number or a password?”

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