Page 30 of Tuck & Roll

“I—” she stopped at the approach of the fire inspector.

“I found the safe you were asking about.”

Reaching out, Tuck took it from him and thanked him for his help. He set it on the ground at his feet.

Fire inspector Ryan extended his hand once more to Kylie. “Ma’am, I’m sorry for your loss. I’ll be in touch if I need anything else from you.”

“Thank you so much for getting the safe for me.” She gave him her number and told him to call if he had any more questions.

“Kylie?” Race prompted her to continue.

“No. I haven’t had time to check out the chief, but I discovered something I thought you might not be aware of on the computer at Bottoms Up. Then the fire happened.” She tossed her hand in the direction of her house. “I planned on calling your first thing this morning, but I’ve been a little preoccupied.”

“Why didn’t you leave a message?” Race’s brow dipped in confusion.

“Because I think you’re going to want to see it firsthand. If we can get my safe open, I’ve got a flash drive with information I think you need to see.”

Everyone’s gaze dropped to the safe at Tuck’s feet.

“I can take the safe on my bike since you’ve got Kylie,” Darren volunteered. “Back to the clubhouse?”

“Yeah. Let’s all meet up and see what she’s found,” Race agreed.

6

It didn’t take long for someone to produce a drill and get the safe open once they got back to the clubhouse. Kylie dug out the flash drive and took the seat behind Race’s desk. She used his computer to pull up the two folders she’d downloaded off Chet’s computer.

“First off, I have to say that Chet guy is super creepy.” The sound of clicking keys filled the room as Kylie’s fingers sped across the keyboard.

Race, Tuck and Dagger came around to her side of the desk and stood on either side of her or behind her. The rest of them, Jackson, Darren, Jed, Tulsa and Trick, all spread out in front of it.

“Why do you say that?” Dagger asked.

“For one, I think he’s having lots of sex in his office.”

“What makes you think that?” Tulsa asked from one of the seats in front of the desk.

“There was a pink sequin bra on the back of the couch and a used condom in the trash,” she responded while clicking the mouse a couple of times.

“Other than the guy giving you the creeps, what’s so wrong with having sex in his office?” Trick stood with his hands shoved in his pockets.

Kylie clicked the mouse once more. “Nothing wrong with it. It’s just a vibe I get from him.” She shrugged a shoulder, her focus on what she was doing on the computer.

“Maybe we should talk to the girls and see if they feel the same way?” Darren’s suggestion was followed by every man’s grunted agreement.

“When I looked through the programs already on the computer, I didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. Everything was doing what it was supposed to be doing. I was checking for possible viruses or weaknesses that could allow a virus to get in. Also, I don’t know if it matters, but your manager at Weed Eaters on the other side of town downloads a LOT of porn. I don’t know how he finds time to work. I know porn probably isn’t that big of a deal to you guys, but if you click on pop ups or the advertisements promising free HD video quality, it allows hackers an opportunity to insert viruses, worms, Trojans or Spyware.”

She looked up when the room grew quiet. Everyone was staring at her and smiling. “What? Did I offend you somehow?”

“No,” Tuck chuckled. “They just think your cute when you get all excited about computer stuff and start rattling on about things we have no clue about.”

“Oh.” She could feel her face flush under their scrutiny. “I thought you might like to know he’s making your system vulnerable. If he just watched it and didn’t download it, I wouldn’t be so concerned.”

“I’ll have a word with him,” Race chuckled.

She went back to what she’d wanted to show Race. “Here it is. I found these two folders on Chet’s computer. One is labeled BOOKS.” She clicked and opened it up. “It’s the bookkeeping records for Bottoms Up. It shows all money coming in, out and inventory, etc. This folder labeled BIKES,” she clicked it open. “This is another set of books he keeps.” She set them up side by side. “If you look here,” she pointed to BOOKS, “and then here,” in BIKES, “you can see they are identical entries except BIKES has an amount that is twenty percent greater.”

“Jackson, come around here,” Race rumbled behind her.

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