Page 24 of Drunk In Love
“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.”
CHAPTER 8
Maxwell
Almost a week had passed since the incident at City University and the brief conversation with Charles Dennis. Kamaya was spinning her wheels, looking at whatever tech stuff she normally used, and I was doing my best to help her with research. Each night I spent in her apartment, we talked mostly about work until we were too tired to stay up any longer. Work now seemed to be the safest topic, and I sat at her dining table while she sat on the sofa. We did not need any repeats of the kiss.
My area of expertise was getting out there on the streets. On the ground and in on the action. With my background as a protection agent and bounty hunter, I was not used to all this desk stuff. That was definitely more her thing, but Brandon asked me to partner with her, and with Kamaya being my girl, I couldn’t say no. Although the time spent in the office was certainly new for me. I wanted to be like Bree and Westin, out on the streets with more freedom. I could feel we were getting closer to solving the case, but something was missing. Or someone.
A restlessness envelops me, and I desperately want to shake it off. Too much was happening at once—the incident at City University and my increasing feelings towards Kamaya. I felt anxious for this assignment to end.
Brandon was due back soon from his honeymoon, and thus far we did not have a narrow list of suspects to present to him, Cecily, or Zach. How could I broach that I thought his longtime friend was possibly behind this credentials leak and was a mole for his own company? Brandon was my friend, and I did not want to create an awkward situation for him until I had concrete evidence. All I had was my gut feeling that Zach was shady and that single one-sided overheard conversation. That wasn’t enough to approach Brandon with, and certainly not the authorities or Cecily van Zandt.
If I said anything too early, I would be vilified, and we couldn’t have that now. Not when we were slowly getting closer to the truth.
All we had was circumstantial evidence and not much else. Even with Harry’s confession of being the one supplying the subscription log in to other students, it would all be his word against ours. His only “crime” was the equivalent of sharing a Netflix password. Wrong, but not enough to serve prison time according to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Harry clearly had no qualms about the password sharing. After the incident at the college, I googled his current name. Tons of hits came up in the search for Harry Cooper and his End Elitism crusade—chaining himself to the bike lock area to protest rising tuition rate at the school, going on hunger strike to demonstrate the starving kids in America and passing out in class, and his most recent stunt was a protest in front of the student union.
Harry wasn’t at the top of my list, but he was certainly a person we needed to keep an eye on. Why did he hate his mother so much, and why did she hide the fact that she even had a son? Something wasn’t right about the Van Zandt family.