Page 23 of Drunk In Love
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.