Page 34 of The Hunt

“I wanted to ask about those small loans you told me about. My laptop broke today, and I really need to buy a new one.”

“Oh, no,” she said, brows dipping in a sympathetic frown. “Are you sure it’s not fixable? Sometimes all you need to do is turn it off and on again.”

“I wish I could do that, but it’s totally shattered,” I said, shaking my head.

“Oh, damn. Did you drop it?”

I sighed. “No, someone broke into my dorm and smashed it.”

“What?” Nikki looked horrified. “Please tell me you called the cops.”

I nodded. “The university called them for me. They’re doing forensics on the room right now.”

“They don’t expect you to go back and sleep there tonight, do they?” she said, eyes saucer-wide.

“No, they’re actually handling it really well. They’ve organized another temporary dorm for me, and they’ve upped security around the building too.”

“Oh, that’s really good. I’m glad they’re taking it seriously.” Nikki paused and pursed her lips, head slowly shaking. “One of my friends went to Salamence for her degree, and she ended up with a crazy stalker from one of the frats there. The college officials didn’t take her complaints seriously, and when it escalated, guess what? She was asked to leave for causing too much trouble.”

“Ugh, really?”

She nodded somberly. “Sometimes college admins really suck. But I’m glad Hollingsworth is taking your case seriously,” she said. “Anyway, I should really stop yapping about this stuff and explain all our different loans to you, shouldn’t I?”

I smiled. “That would be great.”

She ran through the terms and conditions of the most appropriate loan for me and explained that the center was partnered with a bank that could do instant transfers to any other bank, meaning the money would be in my account the second she authorized the loan.

“Before we get started on the paperwork, do you have any questions?” she asked, tilting her head.

“Only one.” I hesitated. “Sorry if this seems rude, but this place almost seems too good to be true. How is it possible that the interest rates are so low and the repayment terms are so good?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not rude. We get asked that all the time,” she said, casually waving a hand. “Truthfully… this place barely turns a profit. That’s why they have to hire broke students like me to work here.” She paused, lips stretching in a sardonic grin. “Anyway, the owner is a rich philanthropist. He saw how peoplewere being preyed on by other lenders, and he decided to do something about it.”

“Well, it’s a total lifesaver. I’m really glad I bumped into you a few weeks ago.”

Nikki smiled and reached for a black tablet on the other side of her desk. “If you’re happy to proceed, I’ll need you to fill out some information on this. I’ll also need to see some ID.”

“Sure.” I fished my license out of my purse. “Is this enough?”

“Yup, that’s perfect. Thanks.” She took it from me, glancing at her computer screen. “I’ll start on my end of things while you fill that out. Let me know if there’s any issues.”

I quietly filled out everything on the tablet. When I scrolled down to the end of the form, I hesitated and looked up. “I’m not quite sure what to do here. It says it needs a signature, but I can’t do that on a tablet. Do I just type my full name again?”

“Oh! Sorry, I should’ve told you.” Nikki leaned over and pointed to a small, illuminated square on the bottom of the tablet. “If you put your index finger right there, it’ll record a digital signature for you.”

“Oh, right.” I pressed on the square, and a green tick popped up on the screen to let me know I’d successfully signed the form.

“It’s a security thing we had to implement a few years ago,” Nikki explained. “We had a problem with people trying to apply for loans under other people’s names. Fraud, essentially. And it’s very easy to fake someone’s signature, which makes it harder for the investigators to prove anything after the fact. So we still get proper ink signatures on the physical copies of the paperwork, but the fingerprint thing is an added layer of security. Because you can’t fake that, right?”

I nodded. “Right.”

“Here’s your license back.” She pushed it over to me and turned back to her monitor. “Let me just print the physical copies. After you’ve signed them, I’ll authorize the payment.”

“Great. Thanks.”

A printer whirred nearby, and Nikki collated the documents before stapling them and presenting them to me. “You can sign them both on page six,” she said, handing me a pen. “Then you can keep a copy for yourself. We keep the other one here for our records.”

“Uh-huh.” I nodded as I scribbled my signature on the last page of each copy. Then I smiled and handed the pen back. “Done.”

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