Page 17 of Bonking the Billionaire

I asked, “How long have we known each other?”

“You really did get hit in the head or something, didn’t you?” he asked. “We met yesterday, for like two minutes, at the start of your training with Laramy.”

“Sure,” I said. “Of course.”

We stopped in front of a small janitorial closet, and he gave me a little shove inside.

“Don’t make me fire you, all right? You’re the third to take the position in the last month, and it’s a real hassle to deal with. I don’t want to have to find someone else.”

I had to bite my cheek so I didn’t break out into a grin. This was utterly amusing.

He grabbed a black and yellow vest and slapped me in the chest with it. “And stop looking at me. I swear that expression could curdle milk from a mile away.”

With that, he left.

An expression that could curdle milk…what was that supposed to mean?

I slipped on the vest, which came with a name tag already clipped to the front.

Tristan.

Wherever the real Tristan was today, I was thankful he wasn’t here.

I grabbed a mop to go with my vest, then headed out into the halls. No one gave me a second look. I was invisible.

I took the elevator to the top floor, walked right past the glass entrance of a packed meeting room, and back to what appeared to be the largest office. The wordsChief Operating Officer Chad Sledgewere encrusted to the glass door. If ever there were a name that belonged to an eighties movie high school bully, it was Chad Sledge.

I sat behind the desk, and jiggled the mouse. The screen prompted me to enter a passcode.

The most common codes tended to be personally important dates, private information shared publicly on social media. I reached for my phone to do a quick search, but found my pocket empty.

Right, I’d left my phone in the glove box of my car.

I quickly checked the drawers then under the keyboard. A small slip of paper was taped to the underside of the keyboard.Bingo.

One-one-one-one-one-one.

No one could be stupid enough to use that as a passcode, could they? I tried it. The computer unlocked.

Apparently Chad Sledge was that stupid. Worse, he’d been concerned enough that he might forget the world’s worst password that he’d written it down. And this tool was COO.

I popped my troll flash drive into the computer, and downloaded the entire contents. As files flicked across the screen, I caught bits and pieces, enough to paint a less than flattering picture.

Using a private browser tab, I shot a quick email to my assistant Elsie.

Subject: Urgent: Expenditure Suspension

Elsie,

Effective immediately, institute a full spending freeze across all Carrington Media holdings. Compliance is mandatory. No exceptions.

Sincerely,

Oscar

Voicesfrom the office grew louder. The meeting had to be over, and whoever owned this office would be here soon.

I watched the bar slowly grow as duplicated files filled the flash drive.

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