Chapter 19
HARLOW
"Have you found anything?" I placed plates with olive and tomato focaccia in front of Cass and Archer. Steam still rose off the bread. The smell wafted through the apartment. I'd baked it fresh, restless for something to do. Besides, they needed to eat.
"A few things, but nothing concrete." Cass nodded his thanks and bit into a piece of focaccia. His eyes rolled back in his head as he hummed his approval of the flavors.
"This is so good," he said, his mouth full.
I smiled modestly. "What else did you find?"
"From what I can tell, this guy was an even judgier prick than Forrest," Cass said.
"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Unfortunately, being a judgey prick isn't grounds to kill someone." It was tempting sometimes, but that would make us as bad as them.
"What else have you found?"
"He's been traveling a lot," Cass said. "Mostly to the other side of the country, but he's spent time in Florida."
"Also not a crime," I said. Lying back on a nice beach sounded pretty good right now. Maybe with a cocktail in hand.
The chances were, if we went down there, Boner would insist we go to Disneyland. He'd want to go on every single ride at least twice. Especially the ones that go upside down.
I pictured Jules on a white-knuckle roller coaster and held back a smile. I didn't think that would be his idea of fun. He'd look cute in a pair of Mickey Mouse ears though. They all would.
I tentatively put that on a list of things we could do when all of this was over.
"Depends what he was doing there," Archer pointed out.
"That's true," I agreed. "Any indication he was doing anything…"
I didn't finish that sentence. We all knew what I was referring to.
"If he did, he’s kept it hidden well," Cass said. "He had a couple of public appearances. A movie premiere, an interview on some morning show. That's about it."
He took another bite of focaccia and added, "He also went to a hockey game." His lips twisted in annoyance that someone like Zeus could share a common interest with him.
"Please don't tell me he caught a game puck," I pleaded.
"Doesn't look like it," Cass said. "He was sitting too far back. Up in one of the boxes."
"Of course he was," I said. "Shame he didn't choke on a hot dog."
They both gave me a funny look but I shrugged and gestured for them to continue.
"He returned to New York City the morning of Harlow's fancy dinner," Archer said. "Just in time to put in an appearance."
"I found his address," Cass said. "He lives a few blocks away, in an apartment building. Nowhere fancy by the look of it."
"Keeping a low profile," I guessed.
"That seems to be his shtick," Cass agreed.
"I've looked into his financials and he has more money in the bank than his living situation and travel would suggest. As far as I can tell, he's made some surprisingly shrewd investments.
Things no one knew anything about until, out of nowhere, they were a big deal. "
"Insider trading?" I asked. Now that was illegal.
"That would be my guess, yes," Cass agreed.
"Anything we can prove?" I asked. It wouldn't hurt to have a bit more dirt on him.
"In time, we can," Cass said. "I need to hack into his stock portfolio. See how much he's actually bought. Then look at those companies and how they were situated right before he made his purchases. One might be a coincidence, but it looks like a lot more than that."
"Anything the police are looking into?" I asked.
It was Archer who answered. "As far as I can tell, he's squeaky clean on the outside. Or he's bribed the right people."
"My guess is the second one," I said.
There was no way in this universe or any other, that Zeus was innocent.
No, he knew how to work the system and fuck with people.
He was like a spider, hiding up in the corner, pretending to be busy with his own web, while really spinning people into it.
Tying them up until they couldn't escape, then eating them alive.
The analogy made me shudder. I really didn't like spiders.
"He seems to have some very important friends," Archer added. "Businessmen, politicians, a few movie stars."
"Any transactions between him and them in his bank account?" I asked Cass.
"Archer, can you send me a list of names?" Cass asked. "I'll compare them with deposits and withdrawals." He glanced up at me. "Do you think he's blackmailing them?"
"At this point, nothing would surprise me." I pushed my ponytail back over my shoulder. "How better to get away with shit than to have powerful people in your pocket?"
"I can think of people I'd rather have in my pocket." Cass grinned.
I laughed softly.
"I bet you can," I said. "So can I."
"If you keep talking about pockets, you're going to distract me," Archer deadpanned.
"Too late for me, I'm already distracted." Cass wiggled his eyebrows, but turned back to his laptop as a message from Archer popped up. He leaned over his keyboard and went to work.
After a few minutes, he shook his head. "I'm not finding anything that connects the names Archer sent me to him. Either all the transactions are under fake names, or he's not blackmailing them financially."
"Or at all." I conceded that was a possibility.
"That too," Cass agreed. "Give me a few minutes to work on the stock market angle."
I pulled out a chair and sat near enough to watch them both work, but far enough to give them space. I'd distracted them enough. I didn't need to distract them any further. As much as I'd like to be distracted, this was important.
Eventually, Cass said, "There's five, possibly six transactions within the last twelve months that look suspicious as fuck.
Companies that were basically nothing up until the day after he invested in them.
Then boom, their stocks soared. One is an insurance company.
A couple of tech companies. One was barely more than a start-up.
And now it's worth billions. Damn, I wish I invested in it.
" He grimaced. "I'd be worth a shit ton right now. "
The stock market was risky for a reason, unless you had inside information. Personally, I stayed away from risks like that. I was conservative with my money at the best of times; I preferred to invest in myself.
Cass grinned. "He just made a healthy donation to a shelter downtown. That should keep them open for the next decade or so." He looked pleased with himself.
"I love that for him," I said with a smile. "Can he trace that back to us?"
"If he has someone working for him who's really good," Cass said.
"Can you make it traceable?" I asked. "I want him to know we're onto him."
"If he gets angry, he'll make a mistake," Archer said.
I propped my elbows on the table and rested my chin on my hands. "Exactly. We start fucking with him. He's going to want to fuck back sooner. Now we know who he is, it'll be easier to deal with him."
I'd expected him to come after us, but so far there was no sign he had. Either he was unaware of us, or he was biding his time. Either way, it'd be his last mistake.
Cass adjusted his glasses and stared down at his screen. For the longest time he sat like that before he smiled and tapped at his keyboard.
"He just made another large transaction. His purchases will be delivered to his apartment later today." He turned the screen toward me.
I squinted then, started to laugh. "You didn't?" I asked, a hand over my mouth.
"Better believe I did." Cass was laughing too.
"What?" Archer peered over. He blinked a couple of times, then surprised me by barking a laugh.
"I bow down to you," he said to Cass, "That's fucking epic. I wish I thought of it."
"Thanks bro." Cass turned his laptop back around and tapped at the screen. He was still smiling, amused by what he'd done and pleased with the praise from an unexpected source. He'd actually made Archer laugh.
"I think we know what we need to do this afternoon, gentlemen," I said. "We need to be there when that delivery arrives."
Cass' eyes widened. "Can we?"
"How could we not?" I asked. I couldn't wait to see the look on Zeus's face when that delivery arrived. To say he'd be pissed was an understatement. He'd learn not to fuck with us.
When we fucked back, it was expensive and hilarious.
"What are we up to over here, boys and girls?" Boner stepped through the front door and over to the table. He placed one hand on the back of my chair, and one on Cass’. "Did you miss us? What fun have you been having without us?"
I'd missed him. It was quiet around here without the Englishman. More than that, though, I didn't like him and Jules being away from the apartment and out of my sight.
"This." Cass nodded toward the screen.
Boner leaned down and started to laugh. "That's the best thing I've seen all day, after Harlow's pussy and Cass' cock. Not to disparage Archer’s and Jules’ cocks, those are magnificent too.
But this—" He gestured toward the laptop with a wave of his hand.
"This is evil genius level. I'm glad you're on our side, Cass. "
He leaned over to give Cass a kiss on the cheek.
"Me too," Cass mumbled as his face turned pink. Blushing from all the lavish praise he deserved. He was smart and, like Archer, I wouldn't have thought of it either. No, this took a very special kind of intelligence. Evil genius wasn't too far off.
"Did you get everything?" I asked, looking up at Boner.
He and Jules had headed out to grab a few supplies.
Jules because he was getting stir crazy, and Boner because he claimed to enjoy Jules' company.
Jules had looked like he wanted to go with anyone else, but he'd grudgingly let Boner tag along.
Possibly knowing Boner would have followed him the minute he stepped out the door anyway.
It was better to pick your fights. Jules did exactly that, knowing he'd lost this one already.
"Everything and then some," Boner said.
"Barely," Jules said. He was crouched beside the door, sorting through the bags they'd brought back with them. "Boner narrowly missed having his cock and balls sliced off."
"What happened?" I gaped at them. Had they gotten into some kind of trouble while out shopping?
"He was being annoying," Jules said. "That was what I threatened him with if he didn't stop."
"Jules is a toothless tiger," Boner whisper-shouted. "He makes threats, but he never carries them out."
"I'll make an exception," Jules said darkly.
"He really does love me," Boner said. He picked up what was left of Cass' focaccia and popped it into his mouth. "That's good. You shouldn't leave food lying around like that, Cass. Someone might eat it."
Cass smirked up at him.
Boner grinned, unapologetic as always.
"It's not too late for me to carry out my threat," Jules said.
"You're not going to do that to me," Boner said. "Besides, we're close to dealing with this dickhead. You need me."
"For now," Jules called out as he headed into the bathroom.
Boner just grinned. "Wait till you see what we got. You're going to love it."
"I'm sure we will," I said.
This afternoon was going to be interesting, to say the least. As long as no one got their genitals sliced off.
No one except Zeus, of course.