PIZZAZZ
PART TWO: A TEST OF FAITH
Chapter Six: Roxy Acts
"God, I don't think I have ever felt so dead tired in my life!"
Roxy dropped down onto the couch, flopping back onto the cushions with
a groan. "Here, there and everywhere - that's been us since this
wretched song was released! Performance this, radio that...I can't
believe I'm actually sitting still right now! Doesn't feel like I've
done that in a millennium!"
"But the song is out and people are buying it, right?" Her companion
frowned, taking a sip of his coffee and then setting it down on the
table. "I mean, it looks like it's a hit - isn't that the case?"
"Sure it is. Don't you read the presses?" Roxy nodded her head. "If it
wasn't for the fact we were selling up a storm I'd have dug my heels in
and
refused to do the half of it, I'm telling you! But the Misfits are back
on
course, Justin! The last two weeks have been manic, but dammit, we're
back
at our best. You'd never know that Pizzazz had even had an operation, I
swear. She's singing just as good as before. Maybe better! And there's
nothing
like performing on stage." She grimaced. "Just when you do five nights
straight
and you're up for some reason at five the next morning, it takes it out
of you."
"Well, I'm glad to hear it's popular." Justin observed levelly. "With
all the work you girls have put in on it, it should be."
Roxy sat upright, eying her brother suspiciously.
"Something's eating you." She observed slowly. "Come on, spit it out.
Something's up, ain't it?"
"It's probably not anything at all." Justin shook his head. "So tell me
- where were you playing last night? It wasn't here in LA - was it?"
"No, Sacramento. And don't change the subject." Roxy pursed her lips.
"I ain't a fool, and I know when something's eating you. I wasn't born
yesterday. Spill. What's the deal?"
Justin sighed.
"Well, I honestly am not sure if I should say anything." He said at
length. "At least, not to you."
Roxy bristled.
"Not to me?" She repeated. "To who then? Your precious Jetta?"
"No, not at all." Justin shook his head. "More Pizzazz, if you want to
know the truth."
Roxy snorted.
"I wouldn't bother yourself." She said derisively. "She might be able
to sing, but sometimes I don't think that girl has a sane idea in her
head. Not since the accident, anyway. She's erratic as hell and if she
listens to
anything anyone tells her it's a miracle. It's all about "the band" at
the
moment." She made exaggerated quote marks in the air. "And she keeps
having
"executive meetings" in the office with Eric after hours at night,
apparently
to do with this or that sponsorship deal. Jetta thinks there's
something
shady going down with him and I'm starting to agree with her. He seems
on
edge and stuff of late, but God knows what it is. He's always a creep,
anyhow."
"Well, it really is Pizzazz who I should discuss this with, much as I
dislike the idea." Justin sighed. "Basically, it's probably just a
logistical
glitch....but I haven't been paid for the last photoshoot I did for you
girls."
"Not?" Roxy's eyebrows shot up. "For real? Money ain't usually a
department Pizzazz messes over, even if she can't add up! How long does
it usually take her to pay you?"
"A week." Justin spread his hands. "It's been two weeks since the shoot
and nothing. It wouldn't bother me, except when I submit my invoice
usually I get someone sending me confirmation and a notification of
when payment
will go into my account. This time I've heard nothing. I did call the
company once - got a lady called Gloria - but she didn't seem to know
who I was or what was going on. It bothered me. It's not like this is
the first job I've done for Misfits Music, after all. I've worked with
the company fairly regularly for more than a year now, and I've never
had this problem before. I know
I'm freelance and not under Misfits Music's express jurisdiction, but
it's
never been an issue."
"Hrm." Roxy narrowed her eyes, considering. "You sure you submitted
your invoice properly? I mean god knows there's so much paper in that
office of Eric's, he might be using it to hold up his desk or somethin'
if he doesn't realise it's your pay demand."
"I did it the way I always do. I took it in and gave it to the woman in
payroll." Justin agreed. "She stamped it, and put it in the pigeonhole
to go up to Eric's office. That's the last anyone at that company seems
to
have seen of it. It's as if it doesn't exist, but I know it does."
"Two weeks ain't so very long, though."
"No, but I owe rent in a week or more and I need the money. Otherwise
I'm in the red." Justin grimaced. "Living in LA ain't cheap, and I
can't
afford to be paid late when rent day is due."
"I see." Roxy looked thoughtful. "You want my opinion?"
"Sure." Justin nodded. "You know the company and the employer better
than me. What do you suggest I do?"
"Leave it with me." Roxy responded. "I'll see what I can find out."
"Shouldn't I tell Pizzazz?"
"No...no." Roxy shook her head. "Kinda dumb, but somehow I don't think
she'd listen. She ain't listening a lot lately. She seems...odd." She
frowned. "Sorta...high on life half the time and then stressed out as
hell the rest of it. Either way she probably wouldn't take a blind bit
of notice, and even if she did, Eric would probably feed her a line and
she'd believe it."
"Do you think, then, that it's more than logistics?" Justin looked
startled. Roxy shrugged.
"Where I come from, Justin, if it's money in the balance it's worth
checking out right." She said quietly. "It probably is a logistical
screw up, an' all that, but I can stick a fist in Eric's face if need
be and tell him to pay you. That seems to work pretty good...suddenly
all the paperwork goes out the window when I do that, it gets results.
And if it ain't logistics...if it ain't..."
"If it isn't, what is it?" Justin asked. Roxy looked grim.
"It don't really bear thinking about." She said finally. "But it
probably is just a screw up. An intern probably lost the sheet or
something. Leave it with me. I'll find out what's going down."
Justin pursed his lips.
"Well, okay." He said at length. "You're better poised to handle that
kind of an assault than I am - but Roxy, don't get yourself into strife
on my
behalf, okay? If Pizzazz is unpredictable..."
"She doesn't scare me. Never has." Roxy interrupted. "She won't mess
with me if I mean business. Besides, I'm gonna find out what I can
before I take it up with either her or Eric. If it's nothin' to worry
about then it'll
be found and you'll be paid. Don't worry about it. You'll have your
rent
money."
"All right." Justin stretched out more comfortably in his seat. "I
trust you to get it sorted, anyhow." He grinned. "Glad you're on my
side. I don't like Eric, but this is the first time my money hasn't
been there up front and ready."
"Eric doesn't usually handle the money. Not since..." Roxy trailed off,
a dark look entering her brown eyes. "Well, anyhow, Pizzazz keeps a
tight
hand on the purse strings these days. Except her accident meant someone
had
to take the ropes."
"And it wasn't one of you girls." Justin frowned. "I have to admit that
surprised me."
"Eric is head honcho at that place. Stands to reason it should be him."
Roxy shrugged. She stood. "Okay. I'm off. I've got things to do and
your
money issues ain't the least of them."
"Roxy, what did you mean when you said Eric hadn't handled the money
since...? Since what?" Justin looked curious. Roxy shook her head.
"Misfit business." She said abruptly. "None of yours, so don't poke
your nose in. Later, Justin. I've errands to run."
With that she was gone, and Justin got to his feet, moving to the
window.
"She thinks something's up. I can tell she does...but she doesn't want
me to know it." He decided at length. "I wonder. Jetta's had a bee in
her bonnet about Eric and his grasp on the company since Pizzazz's
accident. Now Roxy's acting all cloak and dagger, which really isn't
her way of things at all. I just wish I knew what was going down and
when I was going to get paid. I'd
like to know that I'm going to have a roof over my head come the end of
the
month!"
Roxy, for her part, had slipped into the front seat of her car, putting
it in gear and screeching onto the main road, deep in thought.
"One, Pizzazz has a stupid accident we could all have done without.
Two, Eric gains control of parts of the company. Three..." She
muttered, ignoring the curses of pedestrians as she ran a red light,
taking the turning for Misfits
Music. "Three, Riot's act gets a hell of a lot of publicity all of a
sudden.
Four, Pizzazz gets better, and suddenly we're busy as hell again...and
five,
Justin doesn't get paid. There must be something in all of these things
that
explains why I feel so damn strange about how things are at the moment.
Pizzazz's
accident was a mess, but it was an accident. We know that. Someone had
to
take over the company, and Eric's the one with the diplomas and the
drive
to stop in the office to all hours. The company needed to promote the
Stingers
while we were out of action, but it stopped once Pizzazz got back in
the
driver's seat. And damn right we should be busy. We've been too quiet
for
too long. So...what, then?"
She pulled onto the forecourt, climbing out of her vehicle and banging
the door shut behind her, heading into the building and up the
stairwell towards the finance department.
"Don't usually have to come to this part of the company." She mused,
running her fingers over the gold lettering that read 'Anita White,
Payroll", then pushing the door open. "Oh well. Here goes nothing."
"Miss Pelligrini!" The office's sole occupant glanced up from her desk,
surprise mixed with apprehension in her expression. "What can I do for
you?"
"I want a little chat with you." Roxy dropped down into the seat
opposite, fixing the woman with an uncompromising glare. "My brother
submitted an invoice here two weeks ago and it ain't been seen since.
Noone seems to know it exists. So tell me. You're in charge of those
things. Where is it?"
The woman blanched at the aggression in her companion's tone. All
employees of the music company knew to keep out of Pizzazz's way when
the owner was in a temper, but there was something doubly unnerving
about being sought out
by what was generally considered the hard Misfit.
"Well?" Roxy pressed. "Two weeks is a damn long time, when he's usually
paid and settled in a week. What's the deal?"
"One second, miss." The executive pulled herself together, getting to
her feet and taking a folder down from the shelf. She sat back down,
opening it
in front of her.
"Your brother...the photographer, isn't he?"
"Yes. Justin Pelligrini." Roxy agreed. "You better look this up right.
I'm not amused when it's one of my own who's being screwed by the
system."
"I remember him coming in." Anita flicked over some pages, pausing on
one. "Yes, here we are. Dated and signed, by him and by me. The invoice
was received and stamped and put in Mr Raymond's pigeonhole for
authorisation. That was...exactly two weeks ago."
"Yes?" Roxy pursed her lips. "You can be sure of that?"
"Yes, miss. Once they're signed off, they go straight to Mr Raymond. He
asked us to make it that way."
"Oh, he did, huh?" Roxy was silent for a moment, then, "Hey, before
Pizzazz got smashed up in that accident, where did the slips go then?"
"Why, to Miss Gabor's office direct." Anita responded. "She signed most
of them out herself. See?"
She pushed the folder forward, and Roxy squinted at the scrawled text.
"I don't got my glasses on me." She admitted at length. "Can't make it
out."
"Here." Anita pointed. "Each month she'd check the folder over and sign
them out. Only since her accident Mr Raymond's done it. Look. He signed
out
the month just gone last night. It's all authorised and it's cleared
our
department. It must be a glitch at the bank."
"At the bank?" Roxy considered. "Okay. Before I go, I don't suppose you
know the sort code number of the bank account that deals with these
things?"
"Miss Pelligrini, that's classified information. Only Mr Raymond and
Miss Gabor are privy to it." Anita shook her head. "I told you. I just
sign them in and send them up. Once they're cleared and signed out,
then payment should be transferred directly into the employee's
account. It works that way with your own."
Roxy's eyes glinted thoughtfully.
"Then you have some kinda file here, with employee bank account
information in?" She asked. Anita stared.
"Yes, Miss, but I can't show that to you. It's private!"
"Listen to me, chump." Roxy reached across the desk, sweeping the
folder aside and banging her fist down, making the woman jump. "I'm a
Misfit. It's not a good idea to say no to me when I ask you for
something. What do you suppose your Miss Gabor would say if I trotted
down to her office and told her you wouldn't give me that information,
huh? She'd have your job!"
Anita paled again.
"I didn't realise it was for Miss Gabor." She faltered, fiddling with
the lock of the desk and pulling open a drawer. Hesitantly she pulled
out a black file, pushing it across the wooden unit. "I...I didn't mean
any disrespect."
"Well, I'll make a deal with you." Roxy glanced at the folder, then
slipped it into her bag. "I won't tell her about this, if you don't
mention to Mr Raymond that I was here today. All right?"
"Yes Miss Pelligrini."
"Good girl." Roxy allowed her companion a slight smile. She stood.
"Then I'll go. You've, uh, been most helpful."
Before the executive could respond, she had pushed open the door,
stepping into the corridor, then pausing.
"My instincts were right." She muttered. "Something is going down here.
Something big. If Justin's slip was signed in and authorised, then it
must've
got to Eric's office. And if the information about sort codes and stuff
are
things only Pizzazz and Eric know...well, Pizzazz ain't yet messed my
brother
over with money. So that leaves ol' tightwad himself, and I wouldn't
put
it past him. But this is big. I have to be sure."
"Are you talking to yourself?" A voice came from behind her, and she
turned, startled, to see Stormer watching her in consternation. "Is
something wrong, Roxy? You look troubled."
"You have perfect timing." Roxy grabbed her friend by the arm, pulling
her down the corridor towards the stairwell. "Listen, I need you to go
over something with me, and then we're taking a little trip to the
bank. Okay?"
"The bank?" Stormer stared. "Do you want to go shopping or something?
Only I have to finish this harmony, and..."
"You can take a breather. This is important." Roxy interrupted. "I'll
explain on the way. I have a folder for you to look at...and I want you
to ask some questions for me."
"But why can't you do it?"
"Firstly, I can't read enough of this without my glasses to make sense
of it all." Roxy said ruefully. "Secondly, you're much better at all
that nice talk crap that I can't be bothered with."
Stormer sighed, shrugging her shoulders.
"All right." She said, resignedly. "What is this folder?"
"It's from payroll. It has all the employee bank account information in
it." Roxy explained, as they reached her car. Stormer stopped dead.
"Roxy, that's private information!" She exclaimed.
"Yeah, well, I ain't gonna abuse it." Roxy snapped. "Listen. Justin
ain't been paid and I want to know why. His invoice got through payroll
and as far
as Eric's office, where it disappeared into oblivion. I just got a
hunch...but I need you to check it out for me."
"So we're going to the bank...why exactly?"
"Because I wanna know just whose account these passed invoices are
going into...and if Justin is the only one being scammed." Roxy said
grimly. "Because I got a feeling I know the answer...I just can't prove
it without your help."
Stormer's expression became serious.
"You think Eric's up to his old tricks?" She asked. Roxy nodded.
"Something like that." She agreed. "And Pizzazz ain't picked up on it
yet."
"Have you told Jetta? Surely Justin's interests are hers, too?"
"Not yet. We'll see what we find out at the bank before I think about
involving bignose." Roxy responded. "Come on. I promised Justin to sort
it out for him
and get him paid before his rent was due. We haven't the time to sit
around
yakking about it, so get in and let's go!"
~*^*~PIZZAZZ'S CHRONICLE~*^*~
Part Two:
A Test Of Faith
Chapter One: Back In The Spotlight
Chapter Two: Eric's Deal
Chapter Three: Siren
Chapter Four: The Morning After
Chapter Five: Schemes
Chapter Six: Roxy Acts
Chapter Seven: Cracks