Chapter 6 #2
I think that’s pretty straightforward, and if people don’t get it after this, it’s because they can’t read.
Still, a few answers load on the screen even as I’m closing down my systems. As I walk down to the kitchen to beg Sam for something to eat, I can’t keep the smirk off my face as I take out my phone and do the right thing and text Vinny.
Eli:
I’m starting a fire over on Threads. Don’t get offended, I’m just trying to make a point. I still think you’re fun . . . sometimes.
His reply comes while I’m shoveling the last bite of my scrambled eggs with ham into my mouth.
Vinny:
You’re a menace. But I see what you’re doing. I’m going to fan the flames while I can before Si (the *actual* fun police) takes my phone away.
I snort.
Silas is the head of communications of the Las Vegas Pirates, the team Vinny plays for, and he also happens to be Vinny’s best friend since they were in matching cribs. They had a bit of a hiccup for a few years, but they’re better than ever now that they’re official.
I find Austin staring down at his phone in the front living room of the house where he always is, and less than two minutes later we’re headed downtown.
I’m back to checking the comments on my last post, and I can see that people are just laughing and generally confused, so I decide that I’ve done enough for today.
Two messages come in at the same time then.
Lex, letting me know he’s home, and one from Kraken13, asking for a call.
I chat quickly with Lex, and he agrees to catch up later tonight, and then I look up at Austin.
“Gonna make a call,” I tell him. It’s our signal for “please remember you can never ever share what I say with anyone in the whole wide world,” and though his eyes narrow for a moment in the rearview mirror, he nods.
So I call Kraken13 for the first time.
“Hey, Angelwings66,” he says significantly. My handle always sounds weird when people actually say it out loud.
Only Dad, Baron Alton—our lawyer—Lex, a few higher-ups of the FBI and CIA, and Carla, my head programmer, know I’m Angelwings66, and they very rarely say it out loud because of . . . reasons.
Kraken13 obviously doesn’t know I’m also Eli Ellsworth, but I do know his legal name and have already sent him instructions on how to make sure no one else finds out.
“Hey, Kraken.” I don’t bother with the number and I hope he does the same for me.
“So, I know you’re probably going to say no, but I gotta ask. I have no clue what strings Eian had to pull to get you to help me out, but I’m hoping you can come take a look at my setup if you’re in—in the area.”
I smile, finding his way of keeping his location a secret adorable, even though it’s a good practice to have.
“I don’t have anything strictly against going to see you,” I tell him honestly. “But I’m going to need to discuss it with Eian.” And my father, but I’m not gonna tell him that.
“Great. Thanks for even considering it. I just think it’d be more productive than me trying to get a good video for you to check it out.”
I know why he’s saying that, but he doesn’t know I know he’s in a wheelchair, so I simply hum in vague agreement.
“I’ll let you know soon. I gotta get to work now.”
We sign off and then I’m on the move, checking in with Carla and everyone else at ECS, making sure everything’s ready for Rachel’s visit in two hours.
Austin brings us all food at noon, and the day passes relatively uneventfully after.
After a tour and a semi-detailed explanation of my firewall and the way we protect clients’ servers, Rachel understands why we do things the way we do, and she seems impressed with our systems. We decide on scheduling data dumps more often—a compromise we’re both happy with—and after she leaves I let the team know I got a tip about us getting two more big clients.
“I’ll have a meeting with them on Monday, to figure out if they’re a good fit, but I wanted to discuss it with all of you first.”
“You know we’ve got the capacity for twenty clients the size of our current five,” Dario, our engineer, tells me with a careless shrug. Carla, Colin our other programmer, and Franco our sales guy, all nod in agreement.
“And we’ve been very cautious with expanding, but doing it one or two at a time would mean more stable growth,” Stella, our CFO, adds with a calm, competent smile. “We can handle two more clients no problem, Eli, don’t worry.”
“I never thought you guys couldn’t handle it, I promise.”
“We know,” Colin says, and it makes me stupidly happy when he rolls his eyes at me.
I don’t know how far ECS will get in the future, but I hope we never lose this family feel that has the employee who’s technically at the bottom of the chain giving the CEO attitude.
“You’re busy with the development of the everyday firewall,” he continues. “We’ve got things covered here.” He nods once.
I look at Stella, who is more CEO than me these days since I’ve been working so hard on developing something the general public can use which we’re hoping to launch in two years.
“If you need more people, you know we can hire more, right?”
She waves that off.
“I’ve been discussing that with everyone. Believe me, we’re more than happy to work in smaller numbers, and if anyone starts to get overwhelmed, we’ll get them the support they need.”
“Good.” I nod once then smile at all of them. “You can all reach me if you need anything. I need to get back home now.”
The art of never saying too much and never having to give excuses is something Lyla taught me, surprisingly enough, and since I can’t tell anyone shit about anything else going on in my life, I stand to take my leave with only a few nods in answer.
But as soon as I take one step, an idea slams into me.
“Hey, would you guys like to have an office holiday party next month?”
Austin informs me Dad is at his office, not at home, so we head there instead. He’s finishing up a meeting with the new head of ENN when I make it up to the top floor, so I walk in ready to kill thirty minutes.
First, by scanning the office for bugs, and when there’s nothing pinging on the radar, I decide it’s time to bite the bullet and call Eian—gulp—Dempsey.
“Who is this?” I flinch at the deadly tone, and hurry to answer.
“It’s Eli.” Only silence, so I clarify further. “Ellsworth? I told you I had your number. I’ve been chatting with S—your guy,” I quickly course-correct.
There’s another long second of silence and then a short, amused snort.
“Great save,” he says, and the sarcasm comes through annoyingly clearly.
“Whatever,” I mumble. It’s fine, Eian knows I have a lot of information, he can’t be really surprised by this.
“In any case, Seamus called me earlier and asked if I could go check out his setup and maybe give him some advice. I have no idea where exactly he is, but since he’s part of your family and since none of your other .
. . employees are supposed to know I know you, I wanted to ask what you want me to do about it.
I’m just waiting now for my dad and I’m gonna ask him the same. ”
He hums thoughtfully, but takes his time answering.
“Look, I can make sure no one sees you come in and out, but you check with your father first. Just know that if you decide to come, you’ll be inside my home.”
“Oh,” I answer, a bit stupidly, I know. “Can I bring my bodyguard?” If he says no, then I know Dad’s never going to let me go no matter how bad he feels for how Eian’s boyfriend lost his job.
“Yeah, if he’s not easily spooked, then it should be fine, but I’m going to be there with you the whole time.” I don’t miss the warning tone at the end there, and I can’t say I blame him.
“Of course. I’ll talk to Dad and let you know.”
Five minutes later Dad strolls in, and after a brief conversation about our days—one where I avoid any mention of me using social media again, though I’m sure he’ll find out soon enough—I tell him about my calls with the men of the Irish mafia.
“You know Austin better than me,” Dad says, with a calm I didn’t expect from him. “Do you think he can keep his shit together while you’re in the same room with Eian for who knows how long?”
I don’t know exactly why I’m so surprised Dad’s leaving this more or less up to me, but I shouldn’t be. Despite some stupid happenings during my heartbroken teenage years, he’s been trusting my judgement for a while now, and regularly lets me make choices for myself.
“I’ll think about it on our way home,” I say at last, and stand to give him a quick hug. “See you there later.”
“I’ve just got one more meeting then I’m right behind you.”
I meet Austin just outside Dad’s office and follow him silently to the private elevator.
I consider him—tall and strong, the way he’s always been since Dad hired him about five years back. He’s come to be the person who probably knows the most about me, except maybe Lex.
I keep thinking about everything I know about him, how he’s reacted to other shocking news in the past, and I wait until the car’s safely parked in front of the house and there’s no danger of me startling him so much we get into an accident.
“Hey, Austin, how would you feel about going to Eian Dempsey’s house?”