So I just went to the target where the transaction in question took place.

A manager was called to look into it, and he went into the back office somewhere to look up a detailed transaction on the computer. He came back perplexed, said he'd never seen anything like this happen before.

It clearly showed each line item: 1000, 1000, 500.

It clearly showed that I paid with my AA Amex card.

It clearly showed I was charged $2500.

But then it displayed three consecutive failed authorizations. Whether these failed authorizations were my CC or the redbird, I do not know. Pretty sure it was the CC. It's all super strange. He said he would send the info to "HQ" to look into it further, and that hopefully they'll just go in and credit the redcard account with the appropriate amount -- because after all, it does show my card was charged, but the redcard didn't get the correct credit amount.

Anyway, he said he'll call me monday with an answer. Keep you guys posted.