Page 44 of Vicious

“Make the call, but do it so we all hear.”

Taking my phone out of my back pocket, I placed it on the table and dialed Sypher’s number. The kid picked up on the first ring. “About time you called.”

“Sypher, you are on speaker. I need you to locate some people for me.”

“Already did. The two cops are Owen Slander and Thomas Miller. The lady is Vanessa White, the sister to Margo White. Slander and Miller are not police officers. In fact, they are so far removed from law enforcement that they should be living in an eight-by-eight cell for the rest of their lives. They are bad news Vicious, really bad news. Thomas Miller is a criminal rapist. He has warrants out on him in three states. This Slander fucker is a registered pedophile. Likes them young, real young.”

“He’s right,” Detective Montoya said, walking over. “Both men are on the department’s most wanted list. We’d been looking for them for five months, which is when we got word they were in the city. This is bad, Montana. If those two assholes have those girls, finding them alive will be a miracle. I need to call my Chief. He’s going to want to have the task force scouring the city.”

Montana nodded as Montoya quickly left.

“Tell me about Vanessa White, kid,” Montana demanded.

“Vanessa White is the younger sister to Margo White, the owner and CEO of White Gems. The White sisters grew up in Manhattan but had a falling out when Margo inherited sole ownership of the company. They only reconnected a few months ago when Margo reached out. What I found interesting is that White Gems is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service for back taxes. Six months ago, the IRS filed an injunction prohibiting the company from filing Chapter Thirteen. The IRS isn’t messing around with this company. They want their money and they know that company funds are being shipped offshore to several Cayman Accounts. On the outside, the company looks to be thriving, but when I dug into the books, it’s barely making payroll. Someone is bleeding the company dry.”

“If Davina was really going to cancel the contract with Duchene International, that would be the last nail in the White Gems coffin. The company wouldn’t survive without that contract,” Mercy stated.

Montana nodded. “Which means that bitch has everything to lose if Van Otto Lapidary gets the contract.”

“Yes, sir,” Sypher muttered.

“Mercy, send the information about the men to Malice and Payne. If they can’t find those fucks, no one can.”

“Um,” Sypher cautiously said, “I already did that, Mr. Montana.”

I grinned as Montana slowly sat up, placing his hands on the table. “You did what, kid?”

“Sent the information to their phones. I can update all your phones. The security on them is out of date.”

Montana looked at me as I smiled, shrugging my shoulders. “Told you the kid was good.”

“He’s a pain in the ass!”

“Yeah, but a valuable pain in the ass. The kid’s been messing with computers and shit since before he could walk. He’s already been headhunted by the NSA, CIA and Interpol but the kid refused and is now attending MIT. He’s as solid as they come, Montana.”

“Mr. Montana, I can send Pippen the program to update everything. Pippen was my sponsor when I first started school. He’s a cool dude.”

“Jesus Christ,” Montana moaned, hanging his head. “Mercy, call Pippen and tell him to get his ass over here. As for you, you little shit, If I ever hear that you hacked into any of our shit again, I will personally come to MIT and kick your ass all over campus. Am I clear?”

Sypher loudly gulped. “Yes, sir.”

“Is there anything else you have to say before I hang up on you?”

“Uh,” Sypher hem hawed, then said. “Can you get a message to Ms. Remi for me? Tell her I wiped the server at the compound. No one will ever know what she did. I also transferred all the club’s personal files to your personal laptop at the clubhouse, Mr. Montana.”

Montana’s head snapped to mine as I whistled lowly.

“Holy fuck,” Mercy gasped, “Who the fuck is this kid?”

“My name is Danny Franks, but everyone calls me Sypher.”

I grinned. “Sypher. I think it’s best that you concentrate on school for the time being. Maybe give Montana some time to cool off before he jumps on the next flight. Okay?”

“Yeah. Sure, Vicious. Gotta run anyway. My Engineering Professor is being a douche. He doesn’t like me because I keep correcting him. Bastard gave me a 99 on my last test. So, I reprogramed his car to playFreak Meby Silk every time he hits the brakes.”

Hiding my laughter, I said goodbye and hung up the call.

“I’m gonna kill that kid. I know it,” Montana muttered.

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