KICK IT | JENLISA

75

Lisa

"I'm not a numbers person." I mumbled to Jackson. "But, fuck, if my donors are being ripped off..."

I swallowed the rest of that sentence. Sickness rolled in my stomach, and I swayed on my feet. My hand palmed the wall behind me, but my resolve hardened.

If it's true, then I have to make it right.

My hand was on my phone faster than the time I needed to read her note again. I handed Jackson the notebook and called Mina.

She answered in a dry voice, "Please tell me that you weren't arrested."

"No!" I snapped. "I need you to dig into something. Under the radar."

Static from her huff crackled in my ear. "I don't do background or paternity tests."

"Not that!" I rubbed the pressure mounting in my forehead. "I... suspect someone is bleeding my charity donations."

"Fuck, really!? I assumed Nancy's messages were false allegations." Rustled paper sounds followed her sigh.

"Which ones?"

Good question. Excellent question. No fucking clue.

Jackson and I frowned at Jennie's percentages. His lips twitched over the abbreviations, which furrowed his eyebrows, but he showed no signs of surprise. "All of them?"

"All!?" she squeaked. "Lisa, that's five charities. I'll need tax specialists..."

"Bring in whoever the fuck you need!" I cut in as my voice heightened. My blood rushed so fast, the sides of my neck pulsed. This couldn't be happening. "Keep it quiet until you confirm what I'm worried about."

"Never a dull moment with you, Lisa." Another sigh crackled in my ear. "Give me a couple of days. If there's shit, then we'll dig it up."

Her words didn't instil me with confidence. Instead, my stomach rolled with nausea. "This was why she was fired." I said and pointed to her notebook. "Wasn't it, Jackson?"

"Makes sense." he mumbled.

Two months of silence pricked at my frustration, "Did you know? How!? Didn't you ask her? She's your sister!"

"No, but if you haven't noticed..." He pointed at the shut door. "Not the easiest person to open up."

How could she think I'd be mad at her for telling me?

As my eyes shifted to the door, Jackson stepped in front of it. "Give her space while we figure this shit out."

The more Jackson and I deciphered Jennie's notes, my chest pulled tighter. By the time he sent pictures of every page to Mina, my eyes bulged from memorising those number without a fucking clue what they meant. Adrenaline spiked in my veins as I paced. Dryness coated my tongue as air wheezed out my pursed lips. My nails scratched a hole in my jaw. How could this happen? Two months ago, YG Accounting kissed my ass. How could people I hired and trusted work behind my back?

I wanted to wrap one of my clubs around someone's neck or turn them into street meat under my truck. But I didn't have a fucking clue who was responsible.

"Jennie." Her name stopped my steps. "She knows who did it."

Jackson's footsteps trailed mine through a home I should've been more familiar with. It mirrored him - modest, decluttered, and low-maintenance. Through a galley kitchen, I passed wedding pictures wedged and a framed, triangular American flag hung in the living room.

Outside a closed hallway door, Jackson's palm rested on my shoulder. "Lisa, I should..."

"Make sure she doesn't get blamed." At the muffled sobs behind the door, I nudged it open. "That's what you should do."

Jennie's room was an empty shell with no personality, which faded under my tunnel vision to where she curled up on the tiniest bed. Her elbows crossed her chest and fingers pinched her shoulders. Beneath her shirt, the bumps in her spine and ribs rounded and contracted with her raspy breaths.

The bed, smaller than mine as a kid, groaned as I sat with my knees wedged in my chest. My hand met her shaking shoulder. "Jennie."

I leaned over her, dipping the bed down with my hand braced near her head. She rolled back and two red, swollen eyes blinked up at me from under clumped lashes. Random strands of her hair sprawled in a black halo around her head.

"I'm sorry." she whispered. "I should've told you, but I didn't..."

"I know." I slipped my hands behind her shoulders and lifted her up. The bed dipped under my ass and my left cheek hung off, but I pulled her to my side.

She sagged into me with a shuddered exhale. "What about your PR? Shouldn't you be..." her voice muffled warmth into my chest.

"It's under control, thanks to you telling me." My palm around her cheek, I held her ear to my heart to silence her protest and heaved a sigh. "And I'm exactly where I need to be."