Eyes on the Unseen Prize

  Chapter 10

  A Snake in the Garden

  Little else was on her mind than their upcoming wedding. How exciting! Piper cuddled next to Nick in his family room on a soft leather couch as they watched a sports show. The announcers were debating a game penalty when Piper started to shiver. Nick rarely turned the heat on in the house, despite the fact it was sixty degrees Fahrenheit outside and possibly even colder inside. She pulled a throw blanket over herself to warm up.

  The house phone rang and Nick got up to answer it. His little dog Chipper jumped off of the couch opposite them and trotted behind him, wildly wagging her long tail. Her little body wiggled and danced in such a funny way that Piper cracked up while watching her. The dog’s happiness was contagious and Piper pondered the purpose of a dog.

  Such a lovable being. Everyone should have a dog.

  “Nick, it’s no accident that dog spelled backwards is god, as those amazing little companions are definitely gifts from God.”

  Nick shook his head in agreement, but didn’t say anything. He clenched his fist as he paced back and forth across the wood floors with the phone to his ear.

  “You’ve got to be kidding. $36,000. Missing?”

  “What?” Piper gasped. “Who’s on the line?”

  “It’s Allison from the Collins’ Home. $36,000 is missing from their donor account, the home’s intake account for our on-line contributions. They think it was theft.”

  “What? Theft?” Piper tried to make sense of it all and found herself repeating the word theft several times. To think someone would steal $36,000 from a children’s foster home. What a disgusting individual.

  “Allison, we’ll be right over.” Nick slammed the phone on the kitchen counter.

  “What happened?”

  “Allison was balancing the pledges against the deposits when she noticed one of the balances was way off. Over a period of four days a few weeks ago, some thief made four $9,000 withdrawals from their account. He or she probably kept it under $10,000 to fly under the daily radar.”

  “Didn’t Chase say he installed security walls to prevent cyber-crimes?”

  “Yeah. He did. But he did that after these withdrawals, according to Allison. She thinks the withdrawals may have stopped because Chase reset all of the passwords and set up firewalls.”

  “Do you think Chase has something to do with this?”

  “No. I think he may have saved them from additional withdrawals.”

  She thought of his expensive new cars and his gambling habit. It was too coincidental. Would he do something like that? Would he steal from a children’s home? That would be tragic. What a slap in the face for Cherie’s parents.

  When they pulled into the parking lot of the home, Piper noticed Chase’s Porsche was parked in the back of the lot. Maybe he was helping Allison figure things out. Or maybe, just maybe, he was the culprit. Maybe he was there to steal more money or to try to cover his tracks. Piper’s mind was racing.

  “Chase is here,” she said.

  “I see that.”

  “Nick,” she said as she grabbed his hand. “Do you think he stole the money? He gambles, you know. Gambles a lot. Maybe he needed the money to pay a gambling debt. And they just bought those new cars.”

  “Oh, Piper. I’ve known Chase for a long time. I don’t think he would do something like this. Plus, he stopped the thief from making more withdrawals.”

  “I hope you’re right, for Cherie’s sake.”