That stunned Olivia into silence. She accepted the glass of water that Candace put in front of her and took a sip, clearly not sure what was happening.
“I would say it’s pretty clear this has something to do with Brenda,” Jen said.
Cindy gave Jonas big eyes.
“Wow,” Thomas said. “Is it?”
“It is,” Myra confirmed. “It would be way too much of a coincidence that the FBI started investigating the truck stop shortly after we upset Brenda. Cindy, is it all right if I share with everyone what you learned from your parents?”
Cindy just nodded, stunned. Jonas wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulled her in close. She took a deep breath, letting his heat warm her through.
“Okay, please remember that this is all pack business and should not be discussed outside of the pack without serious thought. And it’s hearsay at this point. We’re not convicting anyone, or even accusing anyone, at least not to any authority…yet. We’re just gathering info and updating the pack so we’re all aware there’s a security concern.”
She looked around the table until everyone nodded their understanding again.
“Before we get any further, Olivia, do you think Tasha should be here for this conversation? I didn’t want to make that decision for you, but she’s nearly an adult, very mature and responsible, so I’m completely on board with including her if you think it’s appropriate.”
Olivia took in a long breath. “I’ve done absolutely nothing illegal, and she’ll know that, so while it might be upsetting for her, I think it would be best if she were included.”
Bill was at the end of the table closest to the door, so he stood up. “I’ll ask her to come in.”
Olivia looked at Myra. “You believe me.”
“Of course we do.”
“After the mess with Mesa, it would have been easy for you to assume…” She shook her head. “Others might not have taken the time to think it through.”
Myra didn’t hesitate in her reply. “We didn’t need any time to think it through. You’re one of ours. It hasn’t been years, but we’ve all gotten to know each other these last weeks, and yes, I suppose at some point we needed to hear you say it, but there was no doubt in my mind. Our mind,” she said, nodding towards Adam.
Olivia didn’t have time to respond before Tasha came rushing in. Joe got out of his seat so that Tasha could sit next to her mother.
“Tasha, it will only take a second to bring you up to speed. As you noticed, we didn’t talk for very long before your mother decided you were old enough to be included in the conversation. It’s going to be a little bit scary, but I want you to know straight off, nothing bad is going to happen. The pack totally has this, we just need to get the details figured out. All right?”
Tasha looked concerned, glanced at her mother, swallowed hard. “All right, Myra, I understand.”
“Okay, our friend John Rodriguez, a werewolf who has sources highly placed in the FBI where he used to work, as well as being connected to the National Council, has let us know that there’s the possibility of an FBI investigation of the truck stop your mom is working at. We, of course, know your mom is not involved in illegal activities, and, well, we haven’t really talked about this part yet, but we think someone is intentionally trying to cause trouble with the pack. Unfortunately, that places your mom at the center of it, but I don’t think she’s the target specifically. The pack is.”
She took a big breath. “The good news is, we found out early and can take steps to shut this down.”
“That’s…that’s not good for Mom,” Tasha said, hesitantly.
“It does suck for your mom, but we’re going to see that it’s fixed. If she loses her job or, more likely it seems to me, the truck stop goes under, we’ll be sure she finds something else as soon as possible. We are all in this together. One hundred percent. That part is not in question.”
Tasha’s eyes filled, but she didn’t cry as everyone at the table offered their agreements.
Thomas, on Tasha’s other side, put his arm around her, sharing the space with Olivia, giving Tasha extra pack comfort.
Adam cleared his throat, and Cindy was pretty sure his eyes were wet, too. “You’re all caught up now, Tasha, except knowing that we suspect Brenda has something to do with this. And we’ve all already agreed that this is not something we’ll be talking about outside of the pack right now. I need you to promise that you’ll only talk about this with your mom and us. We want to be very careful before we accuse someone who’s innocent, right?”
Tasha frowned, but nodded.
“Right, so that’s where we were. What we discovered recently was that Brenda, who is an insurance agent, convinced Cindy’s parents to go in on a quote-unquote investment and lost them a ton of money. Then she managed to convince them that it was their fault they’d lost the money, but she would loan them more money for a different investment that was sure to not only recoup their losses, but set them up for life.”
“Seriously?” Bill asked. “People still fall for that load of crap?”
Cindy sighed audibly. “And I swear, they aren’t the best parents, but I wouldn’t call them dumb.”
“To be fair,” Jonas added, “she is their fourth. It’s normal to have a lot of trust and faith in your hierarchy. And she’s been their fourth for a lot of years.”
