Chapter 14 #3
“Try the wayback machine,” Enzo suggested. “If he was employed there a year ago, look at the site from back then.”
Seven turned to beam at him. “Good idea.”
Enzo’s heart did a complicated tap dance behind his ribs. “I have my moments.”
He leaned back in his chair, staring at Seven’s narrow shoulders, his hands falling to his hips, unable to stop himself from holding him in place so he could grind up against him, letting him feel how hard he was.
Seven—the little tease—made a show of circling his hips as he pretended to readjust himself in the seat.
Enzo hissed as something between pleasure and pain shot through him, leaning forward to bite Seven again in retaliation.
“Ow,” Seven yelped, pinching Enzo’s thigh viciously. “Find something useful to do.”
“I was trying to,” Enzo muttered, pulling his cell phone from his pocket and toggling to WhatsApp.
He found the number he was looking for, then hit the button on his cell phone, keeping it on speaker.
Seven glowered at him as the sound of ringing split the otherwise quiet office.
Enzo pressed at the lines between his brows.
“Keep making that face and you’re gonna have wrinkles before you’re thirty. ”
Seven stuck his tongue out just as Lucky said, “What?”
Enzo let himself ponder what might happen if he put Lucky and Drucilla in a room together, just once. Neither of them had a shred of humor or personality.
“I need a favor.”
Lucky snorted. “Does this have to do with your boyfriend’s mother?
Ma already called me last night. I’ll tell you what I told her.
They claim they have a thumb drive with proof on it.
That they found it on her person at the time of her arrest, so there’s no doubt who it belongs to.
But even without the thumb drive, they had plenty of evidence.
I’ll shoot you a copy of the probable cause affidavit and the arrest warrant if you want, but it’s above board. ”
Enzo could feel Seven stiffen in his arms. He gave his waist a squeeze as he said, “You know what I’m gonna ask for next, right?”
“You want me to get my hands on that thumb drive,” he said.
It wasn’t a question. This wasn’t the first time Enzo had done an end run around the law. It wasn’t even the first time this month. But every time he asked his brother for a favor, he acted as if that wasn’t his whole reason for being a cop in the first place.
“They only arrested her yesterday. It’s gonna take weeks for discovery. There’s no way they’ve had time to get the drive to forensics yet. We might be able to get the jump on them, find something they haven’t,” Enzo said.
“If I can get my hands on this drive, then what? You want me to clone it?” Lucky asked.
“No. Don’t touch anything. Replace it with a dummy drive, then get it to the twins so they can clone it. Then you swap them back,” Enzo explained.
“Oh, is that all?” Lucky said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Enzo couldn’t afford to have Lucky clone the drive and risk corrupting any metadata that could lead to someone else. He wasn’t exactly inept with technology, but he wasn’t as qualified as the twins, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
“You want me to steal evidence?” Lucky said, lowering his voice to a dramatic stage whisper.
“Why are you acting so scandalized?” Enzo countered. “It’s hardly the first time.”
“Yeah, but it’s one thing to steal evidence when it’s our family. Now, we’re…broadening the circle? That’s when things start to get messy.”
“Seven is family. So is his mother. If there’s anything on that drive that will exonerate Neith, we’ll need it in pristine condition. I’m not risking you fucking up the digital footprint.”
“Your faith in me is heartwarming,” Lucky muttered.
“Look, some people handle things with delicacy. Others with brute force. Both have their uses, but for this, I need surgical precision, not your ham-handed overkill.”
Enzo could practically hear Lucky rolling his eyes as he said, “Yeah, yeah. It might take a day or two.”
“Just get it done as quick as you can without getting caught,” Enzo said, shifting Seven’s weight so he was leaning heavily against him.
“Stop barking orders at me,” Lucky grunted.
“Should I call Ma?” Enzo asked.
“No,” Lucky replied grumpily.
Enzo scoffed. “That’s what I thought.”
Once they disconnected, Seven turned to look at him anxiously. “You’re giving the drive to the twins? Aren’t they in high school?”
Enzo grinned. “They might look like punks, but they use their powers for good instead of evil. You want the best? That’s them.”
“Really?” Seven said again, dubious. “I’ve never seen either of them without a phone in their hands, usually playing video games.”
Enzo dug his fingers into Seven’s side until he gave another involuntary giggle. “What have you got against video games? You have a guild with an entire backstory…complete with a digital boyfriend.”
“You really aren’t gonna let that go, are you?” Seven taunted. “I’m just saying, aren’t they a little young to be doing forensic accounting?”
“How old were you the first time Jericho asked you to take someone out?” Enzo countered, threading their fingers together.
“He never asked us to do it. It just sort of…happened that way.”
“How old?” Enzo asked again, more gently this time.
“Seventeen.”
“The twins aren’t that much younger. Think about it. Every member of my family has a career that, in some way, serves the family. Even the twins. Hell, especially the twins. They started bankrupting corrupt corporations as a hobby before they were in their teens.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Seven asked.
“I doubt it’s more dangerous than dropping bodies like you and your friends.
Besides, it’s only dangerous if you’re not careful.
The twins have got a whole underground set-up—server racks in their bedroom, a VPN chain that runs through four continents, a botnet of hacked vending machines in Taiwan… ”
Seven’s eyes bulged. “You’re joking.”
“I’m not. You want to know who set your mother up? The twins will find out. This is the shit they do for fun.”
Seven sagged against him. “So, we just wait for the twins to solve this mystery for us?”
“Of course not. We’re going to follow up on your lead and look into anyone who had a grudge against your mom. We’ll have a better idea of who may have set her up once I interview her.”
Seven gave him one last anxious look before he returned to tracking down his mother’s possibly vengeful ex-employee. Once his attention was back on the monitor, Enzo texted Ansel and Elios, letting them know he had evidence incoming. They responded with a thumbs up.
Enzo took one last peek at Seven to make sure he wasn’t paying attention before he shot the next text.
Enzo
I need a big favor.
Ansel
Bigger than us handling stolen evidence?
Enzo
I need you to go shopping for me.
Elios
What do we look like, your personal stylists? No.
Enzo
Not clothes. Electronics. I’ll give you the black card and let you buy whatever you want as long as you get me what I need. It’s nerd stuff. You’ll love it.
Ansel
Anything we want?
Enzo
As long as you get me what I ask for, yeah. But it has to be today and it has to be set up before I get home from work.
Elios
Anything else, your majesty?
Enzo
Yeah, say nothing to nobody. This is top secret.
Ansel
For access to your black card? Our lips are
Enzo locked his phone and set it face down, once more draping himself around Seven, peeking over his shoulder.
Seven gave him a curious look. “All good?”
Enzo kissed just behind his ear. “Yeah, baby. All good.”