Page 96 of So Steady

“I don’t think you want us to call the cops, man.” Tabby’s voice could have cut steel.

“Why?”

“Because after Paula left, I had a brainwave. I went into Dad’s office and looked over Nix’s spreadsheets.”

“And?”

“Nix guessed we’d lost around fifty thousand in the past eighteen months, but she couldn’t see where the money had gone. All our supplies are invoiced, all our client payments checked out. She was starting to think Dad took the money.”

“He didn’t.”

Tabby gave him an icy smile. “Glad we agree.”

“So, what did you find?” he asked. He knew he should sit back, let her talk in her own time, but the sooner she got it out, the sooner he could prove he had nothing to do with whatever she’d decided he was guilty of.

“I found that you’re the person who’s been stealing from us.”

“How?”

Bad idea, asking a question. He should have just said no, but he was so fucking confused. Sam and Tabby looked at him like he’d crawled out a drain.

Tabby gestured to the cash register. “You’ve been taking cash out of the till, then fiddling with your hours on Backbooks so the daily totals add up.”

Noah’s heart contracted. How could she think that? He barely knew how to use Backbooks—the online client roster, at the best of times. “I haven’t.”

“No? Then why does Backbooks show you’ve been logging in at the end of the day and reducing your hours?”

“Why the fuck would I do that?”

“I already told you,” Tabby snarled. “You’ve been taking cash out of the fucking till. If you didn’t bump off a couple hours, we’d notice there was a few hundred missing.”

“How would that work? Backbooks doesn’t handle the money, I’d just be making myself look like shit!”

“No, because you figured out Backbooks data doesn’t affect the payroll system. You must have been pissed when Nicole updated the software and fucked up your little system. Is that why you fucked her when you said you wouldn’t? To figure out if she was onto you?”

Noah’s head was swimming. “I’ve never stolen a fuckin’ cent from this place! And youwantedme to hook up with Nicole.”

“What?”

Tabby ignored Sam. “That was before I knew you were a fucking bikie. How do you not see how guilty you look? Paula says you owe money; we’ve been missing money. You don’t want to fuck Nicole, she puts in a new pay system that undercuts your scam and suddenly you’re trying to isolate her. Take her interstate without any of us knowing about it.”

“That’s not…that’s a fuckin’ coincidence!”

Tabby laughed, a high, slightly hysterical laugh. “Well, isn’t that a coincidence! I thought it was fucking dodgy that you didn’t have social media, but I thought, ‘Oh, well, Dad trusts him, Sam trusts him, he probably isn’t a dodgy cunt.’ And this whole time you’ve been lying to us. Stealing from us.”

“I haven’t!”

“You haven’t been lying to us?”

“No,” he said and realised that was a lie.

“You don’t even see what a shitbag you are. Get the fuck out of here before I sic the cops on you.”

Noah felt like he was wearing a mask. That neither Sam nor Tabby could see him anymore. He stepped forward, wanting them to see him, and Sam wrapped a protective arm over her sister’s shoulder. Dragged her backward. His stomach dropped. She was scared of him. Sam, his old friend, the closest thing he had to a sister, was wearing the ‘don’t frighten the bikie’ look. “Sammy, you know me. You know I wouldn’t—”

“Please go.”

“But—”

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