“To what? Pay for my summer home in the Hamptons? I’m sure the pay is sufficient to keep up my RV.”
“Enough shop talk. Great, he’s hired. Alright, go and arrest that guy – Mercer or another – and throw the book at him.” Ric glared at God like his command was about to be followed.
“Didn’t I already tell you I’ll handle this?” God gritted through a tightly clenched jaw. “We can’t just go and arrest someone. Most of the information he got was obtained illegally. We’ll need—”
“Then why bother doing it? Y’all flew this guy here just so he could show off and get a ton of inadmissible evidence!” Ric fired off, his big arms flailing with each word he yelled.
Free was next to Tech as soon as Ric started up, inching behind him and Steele.
“Hey! If you got all the answers, then you go get him!” God snapped again. “Otherwise, stop trying to tell me how to do my job. One more insult to me or my team and it’s over! I don’t work this way!”
“No. No, please. He’s just scared.” Blair stepped in between Ric and God. Pres had dropped back into his chair, looking dejected. “God, Day, we’re going to do it your way. No more outbursts or demands. Right, Bear… Right?” Blair snapped at his partner, making the fury in his face melt to sorrow.
God didn’t wait for an apology from Ric; instead, he turned to Syn. “How long before Ro gets here?”
Syn checked his phone. “Maybe another fifteen minutes.”
“Okay. Ruxs, y’all go get this guy. We’ll have about an hour to make him talk before he lawyers up and we gotta let him go. All we have legally is that he was at the café at the time the address was hacked. It’s not enough. We need him to talk. Bring him in, show him who you guys really are. Maybe he’d rather take his chances in jail than ever see you three again.”
“We’d love to.” Ruxs clapped his hands together.
Tech watched them go. He was supposed to be shadowing, but right now, he needed to be here with Free and get him started on paperwork. Tech turned to his friend when the commotion had cooled down. His light caramel skin looked ashen and his eyes darted back and forth between God and Ric. “Are you sure about me being here, Techy?”
“I’m sure. You’re safe here. I swear it.” Tech smiled at his friend, excited to be with him, to have the great honor of working with one of the greatest hackers in the world. What Free had just done in a matter of minutes was nothing short of amazing.
Day walked up to Free and lightly tapped him on his shoulder and pulled out his raggedy cell phone with the cracked screen. “Hey, do you think you can fix this? And for some reason, it keeps dropping calls, too.”
“Jesus, lieutenant.” Tech looked at Day like he’d lost his mind. Asking Free to do that was like asking the President to get you out of a parking ticket.
Free just smiled and took the phone from Day, looking it over. “Sure. When my home arrives I’ll get it straight for you.”
Day pumped his fist like he’d just won the lottery.
“Really, Leo?” God stared at him.
“They wanted a one-hundred-dollar deductible to give me a new one.” Day looked at everyone like it all made perfect sense.
Day
Day and Pres were sitting outside talking privately while they waited for the Enforcers to come back. Day had reassured his best friend many times over that everything was going to work out. He could imagine how frightened he was. Day had been under the gun more times than he liked to remember, and it never got any less terrifying when you felt your life might end at any second.
“Where’s Ric?” Day asked, scanning the parking lot.
“He walked up the block with Blair.” Pres kicked at colorful leaves and twigs while they walked around the side of the building, dust and grime covering his expensive shoes, but he didn’t look like he cared. Day guessed shoes were pretty trivial right now. “I’m really sorry about how he’s been behaving and arguing with you guys.”
“Pres, the guy walked into a room and found a man pointing a gun at the men he loved. If he had been five seconds later, he’d be completely alone right now… planning a funeral. I think we can cut him some slack. I personally wanna kiss him. He saved you, Pres. I don’t blame him at all for wanting results.”
“You won’t blame him, but God probably won’t take much more. I mean, you guys are getting married in days. I’m sure he doesn’t want the added pressure.”
“This doesn’t stop anything. God will have this wrapped up in a day or two, tops. My gut is telling me it’s your business partner, too. Tech and his friend are still digging into his financial records. I’m really sorry if it comes down to arresting him, Pres.”