Page 60 of Very Special Forces

"Ofsorts. A special friend, apparently."

Solomonfrowned. "Special friend?"

"Specialspecialfriend."

"Ahh."

"Apartfrom him behaving like an ass a couple times, I'm not sure I canprove he's a bad guy. Julia hasn't said anything to anyone abouthim so far as I know but my gut senses something is wrong. I needto get closer to him."

"Giventhe temper you mentioned, be careful. He looked like he wanted topunch me when he walked into me at the salon."

"Iwill," I promised and I meant it. I didn't even cross my fingerswhich only showed how serious I was. Something popped into my head."Bryce gave me his business card and said he could set me up with ajob. I'm going to see if he's serious."

"Youwant to go undercover?"

"No, butit would be a good way to get some time with him without making himsuspicious."

"Call meif you need backup."

"For apotential temping job?"

"Youwere temping when we first met," Solomon reminded me. "Youdefinitely needed backup then."

"Isolved that case," I replied smartly, "but I'm glad you still havemy back."

"Always," said Solomon. "Where can I drop you?"

"Theoffice as planned. I want to do some research first; then I'll tryand get a meeting with Bryce."

Once atthe office, we went our separate ways, Solomon disappearingupstairs to address a pressing issue with the risk management team,who looked after threats behind the general private investigations,and me to my desk.

I wantedto look into both Bryce and Julia so I set about accessingdatabases and plugging in the information I already knew. While Iwaited for the results to return, I poured a coffee and relaxed inmy chair to think about the tank.

I hopedHarris and Kafsky would track down Sergeant McTavett soon;otherwise I would have to go back to my task of scouting outlocations where a tank could be hidden. Realistically there wasn'tenough time or manpower to conduct a stakeout of one location;never mind several but I wanted to help. They had been terrific tome during our boot camp days and even kinder when Lily pressed forinformation. They were my friends and they were in serious trouble.If I couldn't find the missing tank, Harris would be forced to tellhis superiors what had happened and then they would all be on thehook.

So farit looked like Simmons was being set up but I couldn't rule out himloaning his uniform to someone while feigning sick for an alibi. Hecould lose his job either way and so could my buddies. I had noidea how far punishment would go but given the millions of dollarsat stake, I could only imagine it would be bad.

Mylaptop pinged and I sat up straighter to look at the data returned.Bryce had a reasonable balance at his bank account although theonly housing payment was rent rather than a mortgage, which seemedunusual for someone of his age with his salary. Of course it waspossible he didn't believe in servicing a debt like that but as Idug through his finances, I found there was no record of any assetsat all. However, there was a great deal of restaurants, bars, tripsand shopping. His savings were low and there were two credit cardsalmost maxed out and a loan payment to a car company. Bryce was aman who liked to live the good life.

Julia'sfinancial records showed a different state of affairs. She had amortgage on an apartment that she bought several years ago. Hersavings account was healthy, she had a very small balance on hercredit card, and she stuck to a budget for her entertainmentspending. Nothing wild or splashy when it came to eating out,clothes, or daily spending although there had been an upwards curvein spending on restaurants and bars in the last six months. Therewere a couple of purchases towards the wedding, including the cakefor the engagement party and the bill to Lily's bar, but no bigticket items yet. There were also no deposits into her account fromBryce towards the party costs but I had to concede he could havegiven her cash or she could have paid without expectation of hiscontribution.

I turnedback to Bryce's finances, combing through them carefully but Icouldn't find anything that said cash withdrawals or alluded toweddings. It took me a while to find the line for the purchase ofJulia's flashy engagement ring but it was there, albeit less than Iexpected.

Whencomparing the two, their financial styles were drasticallydifferent. Bryce drew the higher salary but blew most of it whileJulia lived well within her means and siphoned off a portion forsavings as soon as she was paid. To me, that said Bryce had littleor no thought for the future whereas Julia did.

Thatpushed another very cynical question into my head. How was Brycegoing to pay for the wedding when he lived paycheck to paycheck,and how attractive were Julia's assets to a man who had none? Hedidn't have to put anything into the marriage to leave with half ofher carefully saved assets and dump her with half his accrued debt.That didn't seem fair to me.

I tookanother look through their finances but there weren't any lawyerpayments, which suggested there wasn't a pre-nup in effect. Nor wasthere anything to suggest any family members were helping withfunds towards the wedding.

When mycell phone rang, I dragged my gaze away from the laptop screen."Hi, Lily."

"I havesome very important news," said Lily.

"Really?"

"Itcould be. That guy you're investigating? Bryce? His buddies justcame into the bar for lunch. They haven't ordered yet but if youhurry, you can get here and be their waitress."

"Do Ihave to wear a uniform again?"

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