“On it.”
“Jay, you find a list of any GWI employee that ever signed for those purchases. See whom they reported to and cross-reference those names with the list of executives with the top access to the systems.”
He nodded.
“I’m going to check on the records on the warehouse itself to see if, like your uncle suggested, there are reports that have fallen through the cracks during the company’s recent restructuring. Also, I am going to research when the warehouse was purchased by GWI and who wrote the check. After lunch, I think the three of us should go to the warehouse.”
“We better stop by a hardware store and get some bolt cutters,” Jay said. “Janice went there and told us the door was chained.”
She remembered what they had said in their uncle’s office.
Several hours later, she’d scanned the company’s records but hadn’t found any missing reports. She checked her inbox and saw an e-mail from Tom.
“What time is it
in Chicago?” As promised, she cc’d Clay and Jay. Tom and Lyle hadn’t found anything yet either.
“It’s two in the afternoon here.” Jay turned to her. “Six hours difference would put it at eight.”
“They worked yesterday and didn’t find anything.” She typed a response. “I’m going to instruct them to visit the warehouse in Chicago before they start anything else.” She pushed her chair back. “And I think we should do the same. I know that this is like looking for a needle in the haystack, but we will find it.”
“And we worked all the way through lunch, sweetheart,” Clay said. “I don’t know about you and Jay, but I’m hungry.”
“We all need a break,” she said. “Let’s pick up something light on the way to the warehouse. I don’t want to ruin my appetite for tonight’s dinner at Becca and Shari’s favorite restaurant.”
They laughed.
Before walking to the elevator, the three of them went to Janice’s office and told her of their progress.
“Where can we get bolt cutters, Janice?” Jay asked her.
“You’ll need them.” She told them the location of a hardware store. “You also might want to take a security officer with you. That warehouse is not located in a very safe district. I took one with me when I checked it out.”
“We’ll be fine,” Clay told her. “Would you like to join us for lunch?”
“I ate over an hour ago, but thank you for the invitation.”
“As soon as we get to the warehouse, I’ll give you a call and let you know what we’ve found.”
Izzy liked Janice, who did seem very trustworthy. But she knew that until they got to the bottom of the issue about the warehouse, every employee of GWI, including Janice, would need to remain on her radar.
As the elevator descended to the ground floor, she recalled how Becca and Shari had acted.
When they walked by their desk, Izzy began humming an old tune, silently changing the words in her mind. Those two bitches made asses of themselves. Asses of themselves. Asses of themselves.
“What’s that song you are humming, sweetheart?” Clay asked her.
“It’s an old tune about wheels on a bus my mother used to sing to me when I was a girl.” She grinned. “I have to admit I was changing the words in my head.”
“Wheels on the bus? I know that song.” Jay looked over his shoulder at the two girls behind the desk. “But I bet I know what you were singing about and it wasn’t about wheels or busses, right?”
“Get out my head.” She burst out laughing as they stepped out onto the street.
The limo was waiting for them. The driver opened the door and they got inside, once again with her sitting between Clay and Jay.
She couldn’t hold back and started to sing the song aloud. “Those two bitches made asses of themselves. Asses of themselves…”
As she continued to sing, Clay and Jay joined in.