Chapter 417: Stafford Foundation

Saturday, February 11th, Afternoon

It's about two hours until the Clothes Over Bros fashion show. So, Fallon decided to check into the Stafford Foundation today, when no one should be there. Fallon unlocked the inside door. Looking around the dark office, she slowly walked through the darkened open office.

Pausing outside her office, Fallon looked around to be careful. Finally, she opened her office door and stepped inside. On her way to her desk, she dropped her bags a chair and slipped behind the desk.

Fallon booted up her computer and waited. Fallon watched the screen and reached into her pocket for her smartphone as the screen came to life. Fallon smiled and looked at the screen; about eight years ago, the Foundation completely replaced its computer network, new cables, hubs, servers, computers, the works. Fallon, unknown to Tanner, made sure it was one of her companies that did the job.

As the computer came alive, Fallon smiled. Every computer network in her portfolio had a backdoor stealth account that wouldn't show up or be tracked by the security software. It also would grant her access to everything, no matter what security was set at.

Username: James Cornette

Password: Smokeymountain

After entering the special username and password, the screen became blank. Fallon waited until everything cleared, and finally, she checked for any movement in the open office. Once the main screen returned, Fallon navigated through the server; she came to the directory for donations. Once there, Fallon went to the intake sub drive and typed in the keywords Lolita and Nabokov. Waiting for the search, she found the file for the donations. Opening the file, Fallon looked through the documents and found the scanned approval form.

Fallon opened the PDF and looked it over. Slowly, she scrolled down to the name line.

"Hmm," Fallon said.

"Elliott? Why would he sign it? He's not on the Foundation books; it's also notarized," Fallon said and printed it out. After a sigh, she moved to the payout subfolder. Again, Fallon typed the keywords, Lolita and Nabokov, into the search engine.

As the search engine worked, one file came up. Fallon opened it and started to search for the same document. Once she found it and opened the PDF. Scrolling through the form, she stopped at the signature. Her eyebrow went up in shock.

"Elliott, again," Fallon said and printed out the form.

Logging out of the computer and shutting it down, Fallon stood up and went to her printer. Taking the two forms out of the printer, she slipped them into one of her bags. After a moment, Fallon went back behind the desk and closed the window on her smartphone. Looking at one of the files on her desk, she sighed.

Finally, Fallon looked up and saw Tanner Rich standing at her office door. The older man studied Fallon, who wore clothing that would fit in with the audience of the fashion show. Fallon looked Tanner over and noticed that even on the weekend, Tanner dressed as an ordinary business day.

"Fallon, I didn't expect to see you here," Tanner said.

"Well, I do own the Foundation," Fallon said.

"That you do," Tanner said, "But more importantly, why are you here now?"

"Oh! Well, Tanner, I was out, you know, doing my thing," Fallon said and shrugged, "So, since I'm going to fashion week, so, I'm getting changed and grabbing business cards to pass out. Get some celebrity donors, and such not."

"I admire your spirit," Tanner said.

"Yeah?" Fallon asked.

"But this is not a locker room," Tanner said.

"Tanner," Fallon said.

"Yes," Tanner said.

"We've already established that I own the office, right?" Fallon asked.

"Yes," Tanner said.

"There's no one here, right?" Fallon asked.

"Yes, you are correct," Tanner said.

"So, don't worry about it, Tanner," Fallon said.

"Right," Tanner said.

"See, you do agree," Fallon said.

"I didn't say that," Tanner said.

"So, what are you saying?" Fallon asked.

"That you're nothing like your father or grandfather," Tanner said.

"Well, I'm not my father or grandfather; my name is Fallon and not Baldwin," she said.

"You're correct; you're not either Baldwin," Tanner said.

"Exactly, they are my father and grandfather," Fallon said.

"You're not half the patron either of them was," Tanner said.

"Why would you say that, Tanner?" Fallon asked in mock shock.

"Because you're not, you're vapid and show no interest in what we do," Tanner said.

"What do you mean?" Fallon asked, biting her lip.

"You show up, and all you do is have lunch," Tanner said.

"I read everything you give me," Fallon said.

"Do you understand what we put in front of you?" Tanner asked.

"It's we take in money, then send it out to other groups," Fallon said, her mind racing; she had to keep her anger under control and make sure that Tanner doesn't suspect she's anything other than what he thought she was.

"That's a vast oversimplification of what we actually do," Tanner said.

"But that's what we do, Tanner," Fallon said.

"We do have standards; not everyone meets the ridge standards that your great-great-great-great-grandfather Godfrey set down," Tanner said.

"Tanner, you can't be serious using that excuse; neither of us was alive when Godfrey set up the foundation, nor did we ever meet the man," Fallon said.

"We still honor his vision, though," Tanner said.

"Don't bullshit me, Tanner," Fallon said.

"I'm not bullshitting you, Fallon," Tanner said.

"Mhmm," Fallon said.

"Fallon, why would I lie to my patron?" Tanner asked.

"I don't know; why would you lie to me, Tanner?" Fallon asked.

"I wouldn't," Tanner said.

"Alright," Fallon said and nodded; she knew that Tanner was lying right now.

"So, are you headed to this Fashion Week show?" Tanner asked.

Fallon nodded, "Yes, I am," she said and pulled out her smartphone. Fallon moved through the various apps until she found the one she was looking for. Opening the app, she went through it and ordered herself a ride.

"So, how are you getting there?" Tanner asked.

"Don't worry, Tanner, I ordered a right proper limo from the service; I won't be showing up in some UBER," Fallon said.

"Well, at least don't so up drunk," Tanner said.

"I won't get drunk," Fallon said.

"Well, I remember that New Years' Eve G4 trip," Tanner said.

"Tanner, dude, I was just out of college and celebrated my friend getting into medical school," Fallon said.

"I remember you were drunk for two days after that trip," Tanner said.

"Don't remind me," Fallon said, just as the phone made a noise. She looked down at the screen and nodded. "My ride is downstairs."

"Okay," Tanner said.

Fallon grabbed her bags and walked out of her office. Holding her breath, she squeezed past Tanner. After leaving the office, she took the elevator all twelve floors down.

In the elevator car, Fallon leaned back and sighed. Dealing with Tanner was stressful for her. Fallon always felt like she needed to shower after dealing with Tanner. She suspected he was doing this through the Foundation, and now with the federal government involved with their law enforcement.

Fallon had to calm down as her blood was boiling when he mentioned Godfrey. Godfrey Stafford was a classic robber baron, and what he did to make his money was legal in his day. Which Fallon freely admitted didn't make him a good person. On the other hand, his friendship and co-conspirator Andrew Carnegie convinced him about becoming a philanthropist. Godfrey wasn't as committed as Carnegie was.

Fallon found her limo and got into the back seat. After she settled in, they were off.