“You’re more than welcome,” Ethan responded.
“What was the deposition about?” Blayne asked.
“Simple civil rights case. A senior manager admitted in an email that he didn’t hire a teller because she was too old. The moron wrote, ‘we don’t need any grannies in this place.’ It’s a slam dunk age discrimination case. When the woman came to us and told us that she’d heard through the grapevine that she had been discriminated against, we told her the chances of winning were slim. But when we found the email during discovery, I almost jumped for joy. The manager did not know the bank had forwarded all his emails involving the position and the individual in question. He sat there slack-jawed when I pulled it out this morning. It was kind of fun to watch him squirm.”
“Do you think this will go to trial?” Blayne asked.
“I doubt it. I could already tell the opposing counsel was trying to figure out how high the settlement will have to be to settle out of court. I’m sure I’ll have an offer by the end of business today.”
“Congratulations,” Ethan said.
“Thank you. I can’t stay long. I must get back to my office and let the partners know how it went this morning.” She reached out and grabbed each of their free hands. “I hope you two have a great day.” She gave them each a squeeze and stood.
When she was out of earshot, Blayne turned to Ethan and said, “Wow, she totally just touched you.”
“Yeah, it was weird, wasn’t it?”
“More than you know,” Blayne said. “She’s a total touch-me-not. Either she’s drunk off her power after the deposition this morning, or she likes you.”
“I’m going to hope it’s the latter.”
“I’m sure you’re right. I mean, what’s not to like?” Blayne said with a quick raise of his eyebrows.
Ethan took a sip of his flat white. “Do they have computers in there?”
“Yeah, they have a few public terminals.”
“Cool, I’m going to run in and check my email. I totally forgot to charge my phone last night. It’s back at your place now. I picked up a wall charger and a new cable when I was out this morning—which reminds me… I need to make sure Kira gets her cable back.”
“I’ll let her know she can come by and pick it up if I catch her on her way out.”
Ethan walked back into The Dream Bean.
“Pick your chin up off the ground, lover boy,” Kira said as she approached the table.
“What?” Blayne tried to stammer out.
“Please. You’re talking to me. You have the hots for Ethan.”
Blayne sat up a little taller as Kira sat down again. “I’m neither confirming nor denying I think Ethan’s kinda hot. But it doesn’t matter. I doubt he sees me the same way. Besides, his lover was murdered. Not exactly the best way to start a new relationship.”
“Who needs a relationship? Just take him for a ride or two.”
“Kira!”
She laughed as she rummaged in her purse, pulled out her sunglasses and put them back on. “Hey, you’re both adults. So, if you want to have some adult fun, go for it. It’s about time you did.”
Without waiting for a response, Kira stood up with her coffee and walked away. Once she was out of sight, he remembered he’d forgotten to tell her about the charging cable.
Chapter Twelve
Dr. Hennigan
Dr. Hennigan read the after-action report from Denzili and Richardson. From what she could tell, everything had gone entirely according to plan and protocol. The two had slipped in and slipped out, with no one being remotely aware. She also pulled out the initial analysis from the FAA. Her person inside the National Transportation Safety Board had already forwarded several doctored reports.
After reading, she shot her contact a quick email.
Any way we can blame this on a rogue drone? It would help us kill a couple of problems. We’re looking to introduce federal legislation to tighten restrictions on non-commercial drones. This would give our people some further evidence to point out to push our cause.
