Page 50 of Wildcard's Wager

“Did someone search in here?” Viper asks.

“Yeah, me,” Chill says with a shrug. “I was looking for the contact information for the temp agency. Couldn’t find it and got frustrated.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but why did they put you in charge of HR?” I ask her.

The three of them laugh. “I know, right? I told Puma he was making a mistake, but since I fired the last bitch, he told me I had to do the job until we hired a replacement. Pretty sure he regrets it, but he won’t give in. So believe me when I say that I’m grateful Wildcard has talked you into taking the job.”

“Why did you fire the temp?”

“She snapped at me,” Chill says. I just stare at her without blinking. “What? I came in here to talk to her about something and she snapped my head off. She’s lucky I only fired her.”

“Okay, let me see what I can find.” I say, taking the seat behind the desk. The others spread out around the room.

“This fake Max guy…” Viper starts, and Max groans.

“Can we come up with a different name?”

Viper chuckles. “Brigit will find his name. But I was thinking. If he looks so much like Max, is it possible dear old dad left us another surprise gift?”

“You think he might be your brother?” I ask.

Viper shrugs. “Maybe. We just discovered that we have a little sister. Half-sister. Maybe we have an older half-brother?”

“Angel is your half-sister, right?”

“She is. We found out when we ran a DNA test. Avery noticed how much Angel looked like she could be our daughter.” Both she and Max shudder at the thought, making me laugh.

They entertain me with the story of how Viper learned Max was her long-lost twin and the chaos that followed when their dad showed up at the clubhouse to claim Angel.

Viper tells me about her father’s murder and how someone tried to frame Viper. How Rafe broke rules to protect her. That makes me feel better about trusting him. I’m clicking through the HR records looking for a photo of anyone who looks like Max. I start several weeks back since that’s when Bianca said he first showed up. Doesn’t take me long to locate him.

“Got him,” I say. “Walt Turner. He started working here three months back.”

The three of them shift to stand behind him.

“Damn, he could be your twin, Max,” Chill says.

I hear a punch and Chill’s chuckle. “I’m his twin. He can only have one.”

“Who’s his manager?” Chill asks.

“Pamela Clark.”

“That fucking bitch. I bet she’s in on it, whatever the fuck this is. She’s the temp who started when Liz went on maternity leave. She put him in the system three days after she started. Do we have an address?”

I read off the address and Chill swears. “That’s the address of the hotel. Well, damn.”

“Looks like I have access to payroll. Maybe we can learn more.”

I click through to the payroll program and find that his paycheck is automatically deposited every two weeks to a local bank. So no help there.

“At least we have a picture. Send that to me and I’ll forward it to the guys. They can share it with security. I’ll also send his information to Spark. Maybe he can find him.”

“What if he isn’t working alone?” Viper asks. “Security should have caught this guy harassing the women.”

While they discuss this thought, I follow up on a different hunch and type in Pamela Clark’s name. I’m not surprised when she pops up. I click through to the payroll section and see she’s been receiving a paycheck deposited into the same bank as Walt. In fact… “Pamela’s listed as an employee and she’s been earning a paycheck. Even after you fired her. It’s not only going into the same bank as Walt, but into the same account. If she came from a temp agency, wouldn’t you be paying them?”

“Yes, god dammit. That bitch. Show me.” Chill comes back around the desk and nods. “Yep, that’s her. Her timesheet shows she checks in daily. Someone is clocking her in. Let’s see…” She clicks a few keys and then nods. “Walt keys in at the same time. He might clock her in, too. He usually clocks in at 3:00. We’re coming up on that soon.”

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