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numbers in the SCOLE files, I believed she knew what she was doing. “You sure? I mean, you seemed so certain Chad was embezzling.”
    Janie looked over her shoulder at me. “I’m sure it’s all correct in the books, but I don’t know if the money that’s supposed to be in the bank account actually is. Chad can write down anything he wants in the books. But is the money shown in the books really in the bank? No one ever questions Chad, you know.”
    Two things struck me at once. First, she was right—the money could be missing from the actual account. I hadn’t thought of that. But the last comment struck me deeper. No one ever questions Chad.
    Including Janie? Was Janie scared? Is that why she had come to me? Was Janie telling me the whole truth? Gabe had told me once that clients tended to only tell us what they think we needed to know. I’d learned the hard way that secrets can be dangerous. I sure didn’t know anything about getting bank records. “Uh, Janie do you know if anyone else is on the account? Maybe someone we can trust?”
    She shook her head, her gaze on the computer screen. “No, I think it’s just Chad.”
    â€œBut that’s—”
    She turned her head, looking over her shoulder at me. “No one questions him, Sam. He’s the hero coach.”
    Jeez. “Okay, let me talk to Gabe. He might know a way to find out how much money is in the bank account.” I didn’t know what else to do. And Gabe had warned me to report to him. I wasn’t about to try messing with a bank.
    Grandpa broke in, “I could find out for you.”
    â€œNo!” I said immediately. Grandpa belonged to a group called the Multinational Magic Makers, or the Triple M for short. They were a worldwide network of magicians, and through them, Grandpa often got access to inaccessible places.
    Bent over the keys, he typed with amazing speed. Years of magic had kept his fingers limber. “I bet I can get in there within a few minutes.”
    â€œGrandpa! That’s probably like a federal offense! The Secret Service once raided a school for making counterfeit money! Do you want to go to prison?”
    He laughed. “No prison could hold me, Sammy! I can escape from anywhere.”
    God, Gabe would kill me. I was supposed to be conducting this investigation under his direction. Not breaking into bank records via the Internet.
    â€œGot it!” Grandpa said. “All I need now is the account number.”
    Janie pointed to the account number she’d written down on the pad of paper and Grandpa typed it in.
    We all waited, leaning forward to watch the screen. The account popped open.
    â€œWell lookie here,” Grandpa said.
    We all stared at the balance for the SCOLE account.
    Janie grabbed the calculator and did the math. Then she looked up at me. “There’s sixteen thousand dollars missing!”

3
    D ang, I was getting pretty good at this PI stuff. “Janie, I think we have him.” We had proof that sixteen thousand dollars was missing from the SCOLE account, and Chad was the only one with access to that account.
    Janie kept staring at the computer. She shook her head. “He was sure no one would check. Sure that he’d get away with it.”
    I looked down at her. Janie had reason to be bitter. While we had both been soccer moms, the difference between us was that Janie truly liked what she was doing. She enjoyed the organizing behind the scenes.
    I hid there from a bad marriage. Somehow I thought I could make up to my sons for a dad that was never around by being a supermom.
    Once I faced up to reality, I had fled the soccer-mom life without a look back. But for Janie, having that life ripped away from her had really hurt her. I knew how much of the real work Janie did behind the scenes, and when she was thrown out of soccer, Chad had simply found others to do the work and still make him look good. Then he