Page 62 of The Sea Witch's Son

I’m fumbling my words and tripping over my feet as I head for the door. Tahira watches in amusement while Freya glances between me and Calista, visibly confused.

I give her weak smile, trying my best to ignore the desperation rising up inside me.

What kind of monster is running this town?

Chapter 21

MARLIN

There are inconsistencies within the data.

I study the spreadsheet intently, focusing on the digits manually entered. The scan of the algorithm turned up clear, just as I had predicted, but when I went through the calculations by hand, they did not align with the ones in the spreadsheet.

Someone has been manipulating my numbers.

The thought is amusing as much as it is irritating. To have access to the spreadsheet would mean the person either has hacking abilities far superior to my own, or someone went into the finalized reports and adjusted the output data to better cover their tracks.

Given the sad number of hackers in this town, I think it’s safe to say the second option is the most likely.

“What were you trying to cover up?”

Musing the thought out loud, I pull up the financial datasets from the last six months. If it was skimming, the net revenue would show a significant decline over the weeks prior, but each month shows a steady and consistent turn over.

I start breaking the columns into raw data until I find the shift. The number of purchases linked to our algorithm and the number of shipments listed on the form are slightly off.

So, it’s not money the person is after. It's the drugs.

But why steal the drugs if you’re going to pay the difference?

“And why get so greedy this time around?”

Pulling out a highlighter, I start marking the columns holding the breadcrumbs to our missing shipments. My phone rings just as I’m reaching the halfway point.

“What do you have for me?”

I put my highlighter down with a sigh, “A sample size of each shipment has been taken since the new year. Cash injections were used to counteract the drop in profit.”

“That rules out your little plaything.” Amusement fills Calista’s voice.

“It has to be a middleman who is pocketing side cash from an unknown source.” Ignoring her taunt, I study the numbers again, “It’s the only way to sustain the replenishment of the funds.”

“Can you get me a list of names?”

“You don’t need a list. It’s Hao Yu.”

A pause, then, “You're certain of this?”

“He’s the only one who has access to the shipments before the delivery boys pick them up.” Leaning back in my chair, I toy with the cuff of my sleeve, “What we don’t know is where he’s dropping the samples and the name of the person on the receiving end.”

“Hao Yu is going to be a problem.”

“Gus won’t be able to break him.” I pause, weighing my words carefully, “And given the nature of your methods, I am not sure you would get much further. The twins have been trained to withstand any type of physical torture since they were old enough to walk.”

“That’s what you get when Daddy is a terrorist.” She hums thoughtfully, “I suppose you already have a plan on how to get the answers we need?”

“A trip to the pet store is all it would take.”

“There’s my good boy. Always finding a way to break the impenetrable minds of this filthy town.”

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