Disclaimer: I don't own them and I'm not making any money (forgot that last chapter!).

I'm also not a legal expert and everything I know about money laundering I learned from Google.

Previously…

I knew I hadn't done any of the thing's I'd been accused of, but someone wanted to make it look like I had. But who? And why?

—-

Growing up, I'd always wanted to be Wonder Woman. Unfortunately, I didn't see myself acquiring a lasso of truth any time soon, so I decided to settle for channeling my inner Nancy Drew.

Sometime during the night, I'd come up with a plan. It wasn't a solid plan. Actually, it was more like a starting point, but it was better than what I had yesterday so I was going with it.

With my almost-plan in mind, I rolled out of bed and started fighting for my share of bathroom time. When I was finally ready for the day I called my childhood friend, Eddie Gazzara. He'd been my crime fighting companion back in my Wonder Woman days. Unlike me, he'd held on to that dream and grown up to become a police officer. He was currently a beat cop with the TPD, and while not the most exciting job, it was a step towards his goal of lieutenant.

He'd agreed to meet me for lunch and that's how I'd found myself sitting in a back booth of Pino's begging for information.

"Your lawyer should have explained all of this," he said, giving me a concerned look. I was stressed, and I think I was starting to look a little crazy.

"He may have," I said, closing my eyes to block out the pity and worry I saw on my friend's face. "But the day of the arraignment was kind of a blur. He charges by the hour, so I don't want to rack up any more bills unless I have to."

Eddie swore softly and then started to patiently explain the legal process and my rights. My takeaway was that I was entitled to access to the evidence against me and Eddie walked me through how to get it.

I spent the rest of the day on the phone. I would sit on hold, only to be bounced to another extension to sit on hold again. I'm not a patient person and the experience was excruciating, but less than 24 hours later I had a thick manilla folder full of copies of the documents that had led to my arrest.

On the first pass, it didn't look good. Or the second or third.

By my fourth reading, the shock and panic was starting to wear off and I was absorbing the information better. That's when I started seeing things that didn't line up with what I knew I had done or not done.

First, I followed the goods through purchase orders and bills of lading. As expected, it showed that I worked with distributors and purchased the low end goods that E.E. Martin would then sell at bargain prices. The items I purchased also lined up with the quantities received. But, something funny seemed to be happening in between.

The order costs were being adjusted to tens of thousands of dollars over what I knew the orders should have been. I'd heard some of this during the arraignment, but actually seeing it on paper was a bit of a shock. In the last six months alone, millions of dollars had been moved through my accounts.

I studied the documents more closely because I wouldn't have had the authority to clear that kind of money on an order. Flags definitely should have been raised over this because these orders exceeded my approved purchase limits. My boss would have needed to sign off on any orders this large, but I hadn't heard of him being arrested too. Flipping through a few orders though, I saw that the final signatures were all done by the CEO. He had been arrested during the initial sting, so that didn't help me much beyond confirming that he was indeed involved. But, how had I gotten roped into this mess?

I went back to the papers in front of me and eventually realized that the outrageous payments were all made to three different suppliers. I felt little alarms going off in my head, so I dug deeper.

The going was slow, but three weeks later, I was confident that two of the suppliers didn't even exist. The third was associated with a physical warehouse, but I'd bet an entire pineapple upside down cake that there wasn't sensible lingerie inside.

I'd spent two days unsuccessfully attempting to stake it out when my mom dropped a bomb at dinner.

"I got you a job."

"What?" I asked in shock. I hadn't even managed to swallow the mouthful of stuffed shells I'd been chewing.

"Stephanie! Manners!" my mother had reprimanded, just like she had when I'd done the same thing as a child.

I paused and swallowed before taking a drink of my water. When I was finally collected, I was able to speak again.

"What do you mean you got me a job? No one will hire me."

"Beverly Mason's son is a line supervisor at the personal products plant. I was explaining your sad situation to her and she said she would talk to Joshua. Apparently they need people to stuff boxes and aren't worried about your little legal problem."

"Thanks," I stuttered out. I wasn't sure if I actually was thankful, but it was the proper thing to say. And I did desperately need the money even though a job would cut into my investigation time right as I was maybe making progress

Unfortunately, I was feeling like I'd hit the end of what I would be able to do with the resources I had available to me. The other day, I'd been reading online and found out about software for search programs that you could buy. The problem was they weren't cheap. With a job, even a poor paying one, I could buy the software without completely wiping out my savings.

And that was how I found myself standing beside a conveyor belt, stuffing ultra absorbent tampons into boxes for hours each day.

It was painfully mind numbing and tested my limited patience every single minute. At least I don't have to wear pantyhose became my mantra because it was the one bright spot I could find. That is until I got my first paycheck on Friday.

It was just enough to pay for a newer, more powerful laptop as well as the programs I needed without dipping into my savings. I was up most of the night, but by Saturday morning, I had everything installed, working, and I felt like I had a decent grasp on how to use it.

I was sleep deprived but happy when I stumbled down the stairs at ten the next morning. A respectable hour considering I'd been at work by seven all week, but my mother had other opinions.

"It's nice of you to finally join us, Stephanie," she said with a pointed look at the clock.

It took every shred of will power I had not to roll my eyes. It was like I'd been transported back fifteen years and I wasn't enjoying the experience. If recollection served, eye rolling would not be appreciated.

"Good morning, Mom. Grandma," I said, ignoring her comment. "Where's Dad?"

"Your father is out with the cab," my mom said.

More likely he was having breakfast with the guys at the lodge, but she preferred not to know that.

I saw the coffee pot was still on and full and I shot my mom a quick smile of thanks. My family is not physically or verbally affectionate, we express our love through food. Or in this case coffee.

I poured myself a cup, adding a healthy dose of cream and sugar before sitting down at the table and savoring my first sip. The caffeine hitting my bloodstream made me a bit more aware of my surroundings and I finally noticed a box of donuts on the table. I grabbed one and let the fat and sugar mingle with the caffeine in my system until I was feeling a bit more human.

"Stephanie, I need you to take your Grandmother to her hair appointment and then she wants to go to a viewing this afternoon."

"Yes, Mom," I said. I cringed inside because I'd wanted to spend the day researching the third supplier, but I knew it would be a waste of breath to argue. I also wasn't oblivious to the fact that I was basically freeloading, so the least I could do is chauffeur my grandmother around for the day.

The visit to the Clip'N'Curl was fairly painless once I convinced all the old ladies that I wasn't actually a hardened criminal and that my life was pretty boring. The trip to the viewing was more illuminating.

Turns out, it was for an old mob enforcer who had been associated with the Romano family most of his career. Grandma had heard that his brother still had all of his hair and his real teeth. She wanted to try her luck checking if his other parts were still in working order and who was I to stop her. I only hoped to have half her spunk at that age.

After we'd arrived, I turned her loose and went on my own hunt for cookies. I was leaning against the wall, nibbling a disappointing oatmeal raisin cookie when I spotted Barry Litzki. He had been an accountant for E.E. Martin and I didn't know him well. But, the fact that he was standing in a corner having a hushed conversation with Toby Romano was setting off alarms in my brain.

Suddenly, I was itching to get home and plug them both into my new search program.

Since I was stuck here until Grandma was ready to go, I took the opportunity to inch closer and see if I could hear what they were talking about.

"The funds sent through Wilstone are clean, but a quarter million is still tied up that was ready to go through Hart's," Toby said. Wilstone and Hart's were two of the suppliers that were being used to launder money. Wilstone was the one that had a physical location. Hart's was one of the completely fake companies. "Is there anything you can do to move it?"

"Fuck. No," Barry said. "The feds took everything I had when they rounded up everyone's records. I'm pretty sure they're monitoring my activity now too. That's why I messaged you that I'd be here. I wanted to meet somewhere in person that wasn't likely to be bugged but wouldn't send up red flags."

"Enzo's going to be pissed. He wants that money available and out of the eyes of the feds. I'd figure something out if I were you."

"I'll see what I can do, but my hands may be tied. I don't even have access to the accounts anymore. Hell, they may have already changed everything since Baldicott took over."

"Well, you should start getting creative or your hands are really going to be tied, if you catch my drift," Toby said before turning and blending into the crowd of mourners.

Shit. This doesn't sound like anything I want to be involved in at all. But, I also don't like the sound of prison. Time to pull up my big girl undies and sort this mess out.

—-

A/N: Still no man in black! I was getting annoyed with him while writing this chapter because he wasn't ready to show up. He'll be here soon, though ;)