Count This Cowboy In (11 page)

"
I'm fine, honest.  What is it with you two?" she snapped.

Trevor looked confused until Consuela said,
"I told Miss Sam she looks pale.  I was concerned."

"
You do look pale.  What's going on, Sam?"

"
Trevor, I need to talk to you.  Can we go in the office so I can show you something?"

"
Yes, of course." 

Sam noticed that even though she had assured him she was fine, he took her hand and helped her up, holding onto her arm as they went to his office.  She was beginning to really like this protective thing.  It made her feel safe.

When they went into the office Sam took control.  She went to the couch, where she had a stack of papers printed off, ready to show Trevor.  He sat down, looking at all the work she'd obviously been doing, wondering what this was all about. 

"
Look at these monthly statements.  I've got them all up to date now and this is from the current month so far, up through the last three months that your mother was doing the books."

His eyebrows drew together as he asked,
"Why so far back?"

"
Look at them and see if you see anything.  Start with hers and go forward."

He sat down and started looking at them, slowly moving from one to the next.  When he got done he looked deflated. 
"The ranch is making a little less every month."  He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.  "I don't know what I'm doing wrong.  As far as I can think, I'm doing everything pretty much the way we always did."  Looking up, he asked, "Do these show you anything I'm doing wrong?"

"
Yes, actually, but it's not really anything you're doing wrong.  Look at two things.  Again, start with the last three your mom did and look at the amount going out for the feed supply store for the supplements you feed your cattle and horses.  Also look at the bank charges."

Again he looked at her quizzically, but picked the papers up again.  As he slowly shuffled through them again, Sam could tell he was getting upset.  He finished and looked up to her to ask,
"What's going on?  I don't understand this."

"
I didn't, either.  It looks like you're spending more and more on supplements, but I checked the other records and you're not increasing the herd other than naturally, through births.  You haven't bought any cattle or horses lately."

"
No, we're working on our own breeding program."

"
And that's a slow but steady growth, not enough to warrant that rise in supplements."

"
So what happened; why has it continually gone up?  You don't suppose the cost has gone up that much, has it?"

"
That's what I wanted to check on this afternoon.  I called the feed store and talked to them.  I told them I was new to the area and wanted to check on prices.  I asked if they fluctuated much and they assured me the prices had not changed more than two percent in the last twelve months.  So I went back to the computer and dug deeper.  I looked until I found the individual invoices.  They were very difficult to find, buried very deep in the records."

"
Why?"

"
Because your mom and dad had it set up so that the bills from the feed store were sent via fax to the bank, who paid them the same day using funds from a line of credit.  In essence, that way the feed store got paid the same day their product was delivered and the bank lent the ranch the money to pay them.  They were transferred automatically to the feed store's account.  In exchange, the feed store gave the ranch a five percent discount for same day payment.  Your mom then paid off the line of credit every month.  The bank only charged two and a half percent on that money, only from the day it was transferred to the day your mom paid it off.  The bank agreed to do it that cheap in exchange for the ranch's business.  All their banking was done with this one bank."

Trevor had been listening carefully. 
"Some of that I knew, some is news to me.  I knew the invoices for the supplements and any feed we buy were paid by the bank through a line of credit, but I didn't know the numbers behind it.  So the ranch actually made a small amount of money from that and Mom only had to pay one bill monthly?"

"
Right.  It was a very good arrangement for the ranch."  She paused, but then charged forward.  "The problem is that after your mom died, it sure looks to me like the feed store took advantage of the fact that your mom was no longer doing the books."

"
How so?"

"
They started adding things onto their bills, like a delivery fee, a service fee; things that weren't all that terribly much, but when added to each invoice it started to add up.  A $50 delivery fee for fourteen deliveries a month is a quick $700."

"
I thought delivery was included in the price."

"
It was when your mom was paying the bills."

"
And Carol didn't know anything about the workings of the ranch, so she just paid it."

"
That's my guess.  And you can't blame her.  A delivery charge isn't something outlandish on its own.  I think they did that to see if anyone was paying attention like your mom did.  Once they saw they were getting away with that, the prices started going up, as did the fees."

Trevor was visibly upset. 
"So that explains why the ranch is making less than it used to."

"
Right.  The feed store, on the other hand, is probably doing rather well."

"
And I guess the bank didn't question it, as long as we kept paying them?  They assumed everything was all right?"

"
Well, not exactly.  That's the other thing.  About the same time the invoices from the feed store started increasing, so did the fees the bank was charging.  The two and a half percent turned to three percent, then three and a half.  If you notice on the last one, it's up to nine percent."

Trevor jumped up and started pacing.  Sam got up and rubbed his arm. 
"Trevor, I'm sorry to have to tell you all this, but I wanted you to know as soon as I was sure of it."

"
Don't be sorry, Sam.  It's not your fault it happened.  I owe a huge debt of gratitude for finding it.  At least now we can stop it."

"
And the ranch will be showing more of a profit again."

Trevor nodded his head.  He grinned as he said,
"I should be able to give you a raise then."

She laughed. 
"I hardly need a raise after working here for three weeks."

"
You've earned it, Sam.  We have to decide what we're going to do now."

She looked down a moment before saying,
"Unfortunately, Trevor, there's one more thing I need to tell you."

With eyes wide, he said,
"You're kidding.  What else?"

"
Well, if you look at the bank statements for the last few months, it sure looks to me like the bank has paid one or two invoices twice."

"
How could they do that?"

"
They put it under a different date, but paid it again."  She handed him more documents and said, "Or that's what it looks like to me.  You look.  Maybe I missed something."

He sat down and studied the documents himself for about ten minutes, asking a few questions, which Sam answered.  When he
'd finished he said, "It looks that way to me, too."

"
Something about that just didn't sit well with me, so I got to checking."

"
It certainly doesn't sit well with me, either.  Are the feed store and bank working together?"

"
Well, what bothered me is the bank's part.  It's a large bank and I can't see them risking so much for maybe a couple thousand dollars a month.  So my next phone call was to the bank.  They're not showing any of these charges."

"
What do you mean?"

"
I called and talked to a teller.  I asked about a charge to the line of credit.  She looked it up and found the amount, but said it was only charged once.  I didn't want to let on to anything, so I played dumb and told her I was sorry, I had looked at it wrong.  I told her my copy of the statement was smeared and asked if she could give me the account number.  One number was different on the account number she gave me.  She asked if I wanted to talk to the lady in charge of our account and I quickly told her, no, don't bother her.  I said I forgot her name and she gave it to me.  I thanked her and said everything was fine now, I'd just read it wrong."

"
Good thinking, Sam."

"
As it turns out, yes, it was.  Our account manager's name is Shirley Henderson."

Trevor stopped pacing. 
"Henderson.  Henderson."  He turned and looked at her.  "Like Henderson's Feed Store?"

"
Exactly.  I did some checking on the Internet and Shirley Henderson is married to Gary Henderson, who owns and operates Henderson's Feed Store."

"
Wow."  Trevor sat down on the couch, looking drained.  "So what do we do now?"

"
I say we go to the sheriff.  I don't know of anything else I can do.  I wonder about the bank records.  I have a feeling Shirley's skimming this money off and keeping it somehow and the bank doesn't know anything about it.  I went back and checked the bank account number and it changed about three months after your parents died.  It's just one number that's different, so I'm sure Carol never noticed." 

Trevor said,
"The sheriff's office can go in and check the bank records and see if the bank knew anything about it or if it was all Shirley Henderson."

"
And they can confirm what Henderson's Feed Store has been doing."

"
I think you've pretty much done most of the work for them.  Once we give them all these records they can verify them and arrest the Hendersons."

"
Are you ready for that?"

Trevor shrugged. 
"Not really, but on the other hand, I'm ready for them to quit taking my money.  I don't know if I'll get any of it back or not, but if they just stop taking any more it will help."

"
Definitely."  They talked a few more minutes.  He thanked her profusely and then called the sheriff.  The sheriff and one of his deputies came out soon thereafter and talked to both Trevor and Sam.  They took statements and left, along with all the evidence Sam had printed for them.

After they left
, Consuela came into the office and found the two of them sitting on the couch, looking exhausted.  "I don't know all the details of what happened, but I heard the gist of it.  Mr. Trevor, you and Miss Sam look all done in.  Come and eat some supper before you fall asleep."

Sam said,
"I'm not very hungry.  I think I'll just go home and go to bed."

"
No, you won't, either, young lady."

Sam looked at Trevor, confused. 
"What?"

He gentled his stern voice a bit and said,
"Sam, you've had a long day today and you ate very little at lunch.  I want you to come in and eat something before you go to bed."

"
But I'm really not hungry, just tired."

"
Consuela, go on out and get it ready for us, please.  We'll be out in a minute or so."  Consuela gave Sam a sorrowful look and nodded as she went out, closing the door behind her.

As soon as Consuela left, Sam said, "Trevor, really, I'm not hungry, just tired.  And how do you know I didn't eat much for lunch?"

"
Because I was watching you push your food around on your plate.  That's why I came in to talk to you before I went back out to work.  Now come on, let's go eat."

"
But Trevor, I don't want to eat. I'm really tired."

"
I know, Darlin'.  Listen to me just a minute and listen to what I have to say before you argue.  Then if you still feel compelled to argue, we will, okay?"

Once again, Sam was surprised. 
"Okay, that's fair."

"
You'll find I try to be fair, Sam."  He reached over and picked up her hand and held it while he said, "Darlin', I'm worried about you getting sick.  I know you've been under a lot of stress while you've been working on this.  At lunch today you ate next to nothing.  I watched you closely and I'm not even sure you realized you weren't eating anything.  You were that worked up.  That's the reason I had to talk to you before I left after lunch.  If you hadn't told me you wanted to talk this evening I wouldn't have left without talking more.  I knew something was wrong and I knew you were under a lot of stress because of it."

"
I guess I was kind of worked up about it.  But I didn't know I didn't eat much lunch."