Page 113 of Trapped with the Billionaire

Gary used a finger to wipe condensation off the side of this drink. “She’s not the type, I guess.”

I didn’t have anything to add to that.

Katie broke the silence. “Our usual fee is five percent of the amount traced, and an additional five on any amount recovered.” She looked at Nick, who didn’t add anything to that.

“What about the friends-and-family discount?” I asked.

“You’re not family, college boy,” Nick shot back. “And friend is stretching it.”

“How about four and four?” Katie offered.

“Five and five if Beast here can finish the red sauce in less than a minute, and three and three if he can’t.” I held my hand across the table to shake on it with Nick.

He took my hand in a vise-like grip. “Like takin’ candy from a baby with you college boys.”

I lifted my wrist to look at my watch. “Go.”

He scooped the red sauce on a chip and started chewing. He picked up the dish and brought it to his lips to drink it down, but stopped as his eyes bugged out. He put the dish down and grabbed for his drink.

Gary choked back a laugh.

“Fuck, that’s hot,” Nick gasped after finishing his drink and grabbing for his wife’s. “We should have arm-wrestled for it.”

Katie laughed and pointed at the writing on the paper lining the tray. “You should have read this first.” It was the same warning I’d missed my first time here.

After finishing off Katie’s drink and dabbing at the sweat on his forehead, Nick was back to business. “We’ll need access to the system and the books.”

“Gary here will arrange whatever you need.”

Gary handed over his card.

They spent the rest of lunch asking Gary about our accounting and computer systems.

As I listened to the conversation, I came out of it with a new appreciation for my finance guy. He looked young, but he’d had detailed answers to everything they asked.

“And who do we give our results to?” Katie asked.

“Me,” I told her.

“We’ll get right on it,” Nick said as he stood and grabbed his tray. Nodding toward me he added, “I’ll get you for this, college boy.”

Katie slapped his shoulder. “It was your damned fault.”

“Good to see you too, Network Knight.”

After bussing our trays and getting out of earshot, Gary asked. “Network Knight?”

“Don’t let appearances fool you. That guy is a first-class hacker, and he teaches computer science on the side at UCLA. He presents papers on system vulnerabilities every year.”

“Hmm,” was all he said.

“The fact that we’ve hired them is strictly between the two of us. Nobody else is to be in the loop, and I meannobody.”

We still had no clue who the real culprit was, and I wasn’t taking any chances with loose lips.

Gary nodded. “You can count on me, Mr. B.”

Chapter 29

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