Page 35 of S.O.S. Perk

“Acquaintance,” Higgins qualified. “But yeah. Someone’s been taking money from a bunch of people we know.”

“And their parents,” Keiff put in. “Rumor has it, someone with mad computer skills is hacking into accounts somehow and draining their asses.”

Perk affected a worried look. “Has it happened to any of you?”

Higgins laughed. “Nah. We’re all g. We’re not mainstream or boujee enough, and we don’t have enough money to get hit. It’s mostly the bitchy Gucci girls and guys driving whips who are being taken. Them and their rich fams,” he snickered.

“So it’s all good?” Perk probed. “It’s only people who can afford to lose some cash? Nobody else is having any trouble?”

“Well,” Sanders’ face soured. “Itwasokay, I guess. It wasn’t hurting anybody too much until someone decided to mouth off to the principal and the po.”

“What do you mean?” Perk asked, hoping he looked suitable confused.

“You didn’t hear?” Thorpe said, sitting forward.

“Hear what?” Perk countered, still feigning ignorance. “I haven’t heard shit.”

“There’s this girl, Kaelyn. She’s kind of brat. People are saying she found out some stuff about the missing dough, and feeling all righteous, she went to the admin. Now she’s missing.”

“No shit,” Perk responded, hoping that expression was still part of the Gen Z vocabulary. “Does anyone know what happened?”

Thorpe looked at Higgins, and Higgins shook his head. “NGL, a bunch of us have our suspicions, but we don’t want our asses disappearing, so we’re keeping our mouths shut.”

Perk nodded his head as if he understood their reluctance, but this was good news. They knew something.

By the end of the night, with a little coercion, this groupwouldbe trusting him with what they suspected.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Sloane had known that Perk was going to be at some kid’s house tonight, but she hadn’t thought his investigation would come to fruition so quickly.

Director Baskins hadn’t given any details over the phone, other than he’d heard from Perk. The boss had called for an immediate emergency meeting at the FBI offices to go over not only what Perk had found as boots on the ground, but what Sarge and Smalley had simultaneously dug up.

It meant cancelling her date with Melissa, but her friend would understand. This wasn’t the first time work had interfered with their getting together, nor would it be the last. Sloane made the call quickly, and other than a little pout-posturing, Melissa let her off the hook.

It was a good thing, too. Sloane had a lot on her mind.

Working with two others on the team who were assigned to this case, Sloane had, previous to leaving the office earlier, connected some dots between the theft victims, and had given that intelligence to Baskins. Hopefully their findings would tie into the rest of the evidence Baskins had collected, and what Perk would reveal.

She yanked off her towel after showering, slipping quickly into jeans and a pullover sweater before grabbing her badge and weapon, to dash out the door.

Getting into her vehicle, her eyes flicked to the clock. The drive was normally twenty minutes. This time of night, she’d make it in fourteen.

When Sloane eventually walked into the conference room just after eleven PM, she noted Baskins, Smalley, Tertia, Perk,Del, and Sarge already in attendance, along with the two agents who’d been digging with her today.

Sloane’s eyes immediately fixed on Perk, and a flutter of…something reverberated in her chest. It was a disturbing, breathless kind of feeling, and she didn’t know whether she liked it or not. It was almost like a low voltage, electric charge, and it was all Perk’s fault. How dare he look more gorgeous every time she saw him?

His blue eyes—equally as mind-blowing as the rest of the Perk-package—twinkled up at her as if he knew what she was thinking. She could tell he was sending all kinds of covert vibes, letting her know that the next time they met there’d be no audience, and they could explore what was happening between them.

Dammit.Concentrating on the meeting tonight was going to be difficult.

“Close the door behind you, Sloane,” Baskins directed brusquely for privacy.

There were other teams in the building still hard at work. The Bureau never slept.

Sloane did as she was asked, then slipped quietly into a seat next to Agent Tertia.

“Yourboy did good,” Tertia whispered to Sloane. “We should have this case wrapped up in no time.”

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