7. Kamaya
CHAPTER 7
Kamaya
“I can’t believe you back there,” Max says as soon as we’re securely back in the car. “We nearly got detained and for nothing!”
“For nothing!” I exclaim, clicking my seatbelt into place. “I think our time at CU was not for nothing. Sam and Harry gave us a lot to go on. When we get back to the office, I’m going to see what I can trace based on the text Sam received. And hopefully Harry can forward the original email sent to him.”
“Yeah,” Max says sarcastically. “Because he was so helpful. We can’t depend on him to help, seeing as he hates his mother and the business his family built. Not to mention if he keeps up his current activities, he’ll probably get himself arrested before we can get anything else out of him.”
Why was Max acting like this? Like it was my fault.
“I think we received plenty to go off of. I’m betting it’s Franco who sent that email.”
We reach a stoplight, and Maxwell scrubs a hand over his face as we face forward, watching pedestrians stroll by.
“What is Franco’s motive then?”
“Wrongful termination. It’s perfect. He gets fired and probably knows about the contentious relationship between the Van Zandts, so he decides to get a little revenge on his former employers.”
“Hmmm,” Max says, not responding to my theory. He pulls off as the light turns green, heading back downtown to our office.
“You don’t agree?”
“No, and I don’t think you’re going to like what I have to say.”
“Don’t hold back now,” I say. “What is it? We can tell each other anything.”
“So, during the rehearsal night for the wedding, I overheard Zach on the phone across the hall. And whoever he was talking to, I heard him say ‘everyone is under the impression that FJ was hacked. They have no idea who is behind it.’”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Plus, you don’t even know who he was talking to or what they were talking about.”
“Kamaya, don’t be obtuse. Don’t you think that’s suspicious?”
No, I didn’t. Or at least I wasn’t sure. It didn’t make sense for Zach to be behind all this. He’s the one who came to Brandon for help. Why would Zach bring attention to something he’d supposedly wanted to hide?
“Not necessarily. He trusted us by way of Brandon to track down who was behind the leak. Besides, his entire job hinges on the sales of group subscriptions. Why would he self-sabotage and give it out for free?”
“Kam, I know you like him, but you have to look at the facts. Maybe he came to Brandon to throw us off. Maybe he’s been behind this all along.”
“Zach doesn’t make sense to be the one behind all this. My gut is telling me it’s Franco or, at the very least, he’s involved somehow. If only we could track him down.”
“Well, I think your gut is wrong this time, Kamaya. I’d bet my life on Zach being who we’re looking for,” Max says as we pull into the parking garage across the street from the office.
“I think you may be jealous,” I say. “That’s why you’re determined not to see anyone else as possibly being guilty.”
Max parks and turns to look at me. “Wow, I can’t believe you went there,” he says. “That I would put my job at risk, not to mention my friendship with Brandon, because you think I’m jealous of your little crush?”
I uncross my arms and remove my seatbelt, gathering my things. “I don’t think we need to work together the rest of the day.”
“Fine,” Max says, shaking his head at me.
How did the trip to City University spiral into a disagreement so rapidly?
I slam the passenger door and make my way out of the garage, needing desperately to get away from my friend before I say something I’ll regret.
Max’s suspicion and cynicism towards Zach upset me, and I spent the rest of the afternoon quietly stewing and coming up with a plan of my own. I started with my own culprit list. Maxwell wasn’t the only one who could formulate ideas.
My money was on Franco. His involvement made the most sense to me. Also, was Harry somehow involved? They both had a vendetta and outright hated Cecily and the Financial Journal . Maybe they’d worked together, and Harry just didn’t want to give up his accomplice. Maybe someone else like Jacob was involved? He did seem somewhat cagey when Maxwell and I spoke with him.
Or even flighty Katie Lucas.
Maybe this was all one big conspiracy as a distraction for embezzling or fraud. All these people knew about technology and finances. Who knew what they were privy to and how they might be using this data leak as a front? More and more, my suspect list was growing. None of these people seemed trustworthy and some were definitely not who they appeared to be.
This assignment was getting more complicated instead of being clean-cut like I’d hoped. I loved the challenge, but it was bleeding into and complicating my personal life. The spat with Maxwell on the way over here and the kiss from last night pushed to the forefront of my mind.
I haven’t been kissed like that in a long time. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever been kissed like that before. The way Maxwell grabbed me. The way his full lips fell over mine. My toes are curling while I’m sitting at my desk just thinking of how intense that kiss was.
Makes me wonder what else would be just as intense.
Any lovers I’ve had in the past do not compare to Max kissing me like that. I was practically floating after kissing Maxwell. How I’ve managed to go on after knowing how well my best friend kisses, I don’t know.
I should have known better, but I couldn’t help myself. Maxwell, of course, appears as if nothing has happened. Mr. love ‘em and leave ‘em. As if the earth didn’t just tilt after we shared a kiss. Or maybe for him, it was just another run-of-the-mill kiss. The way Max carries on, it might have just been a typical weeknight for him.
I was the one ruminating on what was just a kiss!
Well, if he can ignore it, so can I. Two can play that game. I am not going to let it throw me off on this case. Maxwell stands up from his desk and briefly locks eyes with mine before heading towards the conference room area and shutting the door. I watch him pull out his phone and begin talking to someone, gesticulating with his hands while the phone is on speaker.
I spin back in my chair and look at my desk. If he is going to ignore me, I am content to ignore him for the rest of the afternoon.
I pull up Accurint on my laptop and begin looking into Harry Cooper. Nothing about the Van Zandt family shows up in my search. Now it makes sense that when I search for Cecily, there’s no mention of a child that comes up. It was as if they completely divorced each other from the other’s existence. How sad for mother and son. The most recent hit on my search is from earlier today. A local news site caught pictures of Harry Cooper leading the protests.
“I’ll be out of office the rest of the day,” Westin says over his shoulder. As he approaches the glass door to exit, I notice Cecily approaching to come in. Westin lets her in, and she barges through, not sparing him a glance.
“I know Brandon is out for a few more days. Who is in charge here?” she asks.
“That would be me,” Maxwell says, standing behind my chair now and pocketing his phone.
Westin hesitates by the door. I wave Westin off and mouth We’ve got this .
“I can’t believe this! Zachary assured me we could trust you to get this taken care of swiftly. Next thing I see is you’re on the evening news with that degenerate son of mine in an apparent campus protest?”
Max moves from behind my desk, his hands up in surrender. “I can assure you, Cecily?—”
She narrows her eyes at him for using her first name.
“Pardon, Mrs. Van Zandt. I can assure you that Kamaya and I are working tirelessly on getting this resolved.”
“Well, you’d better. I just want to wash my hands of all of this. The last thing I need is this getting out to FJ ’s competitors.”
“I promise that won’t be an issue.”
“You can’t promise that. If Charles Dennis gets wind of any of this, he’ll use it to trash my name.”
“Charles Dennis?” I ask. Another person I hadn’t heard of until today.
Cecily sighs before answering, as if this conversation is a chore. “He’s the head of Investments Daily and the bane of my existence. Investments Daily thinks they’re in competition with Financial Journal , but I’ve seen their sales report, and I can assure you they’re not. In fact, you should look into Charles Dennis. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was behind all this.”
I exchange a glance with Maxwell. Charles Dennis was a new entry onto our lists.
“Don’t worry. We’ll look into,” I say.
Cecily’s gaze meets mine as she purses her lips, seeming unimpressed by the both of us. “I will be checking in when Brandon returns,” she says and pivots out of the office as swiftly as she’d come in.
“Soooo, are you still mad at me?” Maxwell asks, looking sheepish. He’s standing by the edge of my desk, hands clasped behind his back.
“That depends,” I say, clicking through database searches.
“On?”
“On…the peace offering,” I say.
Maxwell smiles, making that singular dimple appear. It’s one of his best features. Though I should not be focusing on that right now.
“How about we go downstairs to the corner where the Mr. Softee truck is parked?”
I raise a brow at him. “And?”
“And…my treat,” he responds.
“Perfect,” I say, smiling back at him. “I’m getting the biggest cone they have.”
Max rolls his eyes at me. “Of course you are,” he says. “C’mon before I change my mind.”
We exit the building. It’s a ridiculously blistering hot day. The usual crowd of people are walking around at this hour in midtown. The office is very close to Herald Square, where the famed Macy’s building is located, and that means many food trucks and a lot of activity in our vicinity. Maxwell walks alongside me as we line up for the ice cream truck.
“Can I get two chocolate vanilla soft-serve cones?” Maxwell orders for us.
“How do you know what I want?” I ask.
“Of course I know what you want. Who knows you better than me?” Maxwell says, not even looking up at me as he digs into his back pocket for his wallet.
I’m stunned silent for a moment at his casual utterance of Who knows you better than me? Maxwell did know me, even down to the minute detail of which ice cream I was going to order. There’s comfort in having someone know you so well, especially someone who pays attention to the little things.
“Here you go,” Maxwell says, handing me my cone.
We walk away from the truck and start to make our way down the block in a slightly less crowded area. After spending hours in the office, it’s good to stretch our legs.
“So, now that you’re not giving me the silent treatment, what do you think is going on with this assignment?”
I scoff. “I was not giving you the silent treatment. You’re the one who was upset with me earlier.”
“I distinctly remember you walking away from me. If anyone was upset, it was you,” Maxwell says, then takes another lick of his soft-serve cone.
I’m momentarily distracted by the action of watching his full lips devour the cool treat. It’s been way too long if I’m getting turned on by watching a man eat ice cream.
“Agree to disagree,” I say. When our eyes meet, we both laugh at how ridiculous we are both being to argue over who’s madder.
“Truce?” Maxwell says, his free hand open and palm up.
“Truce,” I say, clasping his hand. It’s a silly ritual created one night after many glasses of wine and laughs. In our moments of disagreement, it always brings us back.
“Oh, and I still think that Harry or Franco is who we need to focus our attention on. It makes the most sense for them to be behind all this. Not to mention that they both have motive to be angry at FJ . Also, this Charles Dennis.”
“I know you don’t think it’s Zach, but he’s still at the top of my suspect list,” Maxwell says, pausing before taking a bite of his sugar cone. “I also agree about Harry Cooper. Something is just not right with that boy. He definitely has a lot of anger towards his mother and the rest of his wealthy family. Another person that came to mind is Jacob. He seemed very reluctant about helping us.”
“He’s also another person of interest. I mean he knows plenty about technology and computers, and he also seems distrustful of anyone he’s working around. Something is not right with that office.”
“Can you say toxic work environment? Based on Katie’s and Jacob’s behavior, Franco is our next best bet for getting someone to talk to us about what exactly goes on at FJ . It seems like current employees are too scared, maybe even threatened, to talk about what’s going on. A former employee may not have the same fear and would speak with us. That is, of course, if we can track him down.”
“I agree. We have to work on tracking down Franco and keeping an eye on Harry. We should also see about this Investments Daily . I’m not sure how I’m going to do it, but I need to narrow down some evidence on who is behind this.”
“You’re the tech whiz kid. If there’s anyone who can figure it out, it’s you,” Maxwell says.
“I hope so,” I say. We’re now at a point in this investigation where I’m starting to doubt myself.
After our break from the office, we return back to our work desks when Max lets me know he’s been looking into Charles Dennis.
“I googled him and have been checking out Investments Daily . So Investments Daily started a few years after Financial Journal . Not nearly as widely known. Seems like the two publications are mostly in competition for local businesses. Financial Journal seems to have a much larger global reach.”
“Competition could be a motive. Maybe this Charles Dennis found a way to try and eliminate the competition?” I suggest.
Maxwell shrugs. “Very much a possibility. That was Cecily’s suggestion. Maybe this Dennis guy has made threats to her in the past.”
“She’s such a kind and gracious person. Who would want to do that?” I say sarcastically.
Maxwell laughs at that. “There’s a number listed for the office. Maybe we can set up a time to speak with someone there about their group subscriptions since they offer the same services as Financial Journal .”
I look at the time. It’s just after six, so some businesses may be closed or winding down. “Doesn’t hurt to try. Call now and see what happens,” I suggest.
Maxwell dials the number to the Investments Daily offices and puts the call on speaker, moving closer to my desk so I’m better able to hear what is going on.
After several rings, someone finally answers the call and in a bright voice. After Maxwell advises of his name and where he is calling from, they let him know that they will put him through to Mr. Dennis’s office.
“Maybe we’ll get a voicemail,” I say before another voice picks up the call.
After going through the same spiel again, this time the assistant to Charles Dennis advises, “Let me see if he’s available.”
I didn’t expect the head of the company to take our call, especially at this hour. Max and I wait for about ten minutes from when the assistant picked up.
I’d almost given up until I hear their voice again. “Looks like Mr. Dennis had a cancellation, so he’s available for a few moments. Hold please.”
When Charles comes on, his rough voice sounds open and friendly until Maxwell mentions Cecily’s name. Then his demeanor changes.
“Did she put you up to this? Unbelievable that Cecily thinks I’d sabotage her irrelevant publication. Sounds like something she would do.”
“We’re not accusing you of anything,” I interject. “We just thought that since your company also has similar business model of group subscriptions, we wanted to know if you’d seen or were told of anything nefarious going on.”
There is a beat of silence before we hear a deep sigh. “No, I’m certain that nothing of the sort is going on with Investments Daily . I’ve known Cecily van Zandt long before she took over for her late husband’s publication. She’s not at all who she appears to be. You’ll be much better leaving this alone.”
“When you say—” Maxwell begins to speak but is cut off by the other man.
“Talking about Cecily has taken up enough of my time. I only took this call to advise you not to do any kind of business with that woman or any of her minions.”
“Please don’t hesitate to call us back at this number if there’s anything you think can help,” I add.
“Yeah, yeah, sure,” he says before hanging up.
Max and I stare at the phone for a few seconds before either dares to speak. “Honestly, that could have been worse. I’m surprised he took our call.”
“He’s not exactly going to be much help moving forward,” Max says. “Do you think he was being truthful about his company’s group subscriptions? If he wasn’t, there could be something else much larger than just a simple hacker behind this. Maybe even targeting other companies,” Max says.
“At this point, we have more questions than answers, and I’m not certain where to go from here.”
“Can’t give up now, Kam. I feel like we’re getting closer, even if it’s by taking baby steps.”
“Look at you being optimistic,” I tease Max. “Wonders never cease.”
He laughs at that. “Yeah, well, don’t get used to it. I think we should get out of here for the day. My eyes are straining to read anything else on my laptop.”
I didn’t want to leave just yet, but I was tired like Max said and would probably do well with a goodnight’s sleep before trying to attempt anything else for the day.
“You’re right. I don’t think there’s much else that can be done today. We’ll start fresh in the morning.”