“We have all levels of—”
“Everett Jaymes hacked into several of our bank accounts with an outdated cell phone he found on the street.”
That’s impressive. “Found on the street?”
“It’s fifty-fifty he didn’t steal it, but most of these kids have stolen at one time or another in their lives.”
“You want me to teach some punk kid how to be a higher-level hacker so that he can steal more things?” That’s a scary thought.
Maddox laughs. “Something like that. I planned on training him myself. He might have made a good replacement for me one day.”
“We aren’t that old yet.”
“This place isn’t exactly a simple job.”
Wrangling hundreds of street kids while running half a dozen legal businesses, as well as a few that probably aren’t quite that legal, definitely isn’t something you could train in a few months or even a few years. “The kid is that good?”
“Yeah.”
“And he’s probably going to try stealing from me a few times?”
“Oh yeah.” Maddox grins. “Also, he’s just a few years younger than Hope.”
What? “Tell me he’s a troll who hates people and never sees anything but a computer screen.”
Maddox laughs. “A dozen girls around here have thrown themselves at him.”
That could be helpful. “And have any of them caught him?”
“Not for any length of time.”
Can I develop an aneurysm this fast? My head feels like it’s going to explode. “If he flirts with Hope, I’ll kill him.” Maddox’s laugh doesn’t make it any better. “Then I’ll come and kill you.”
“You’re welcome to try.”
“Ethan isn’t the end-all be-all. I’ve been trained by some of the best fighters in the world.” Though I don’t spend as much time training as I should.
“There’s Everett Jaymes now.” Maddox nods towards a kid walking down the other side of the street.
“No, absolutely not. That kid isn’t coming within a mile of my daughter. Find someone else.” Everett Jaymes is a player, and he’s not playing any games with Hope.
Maddox laughs. “Should I send him to your house or the office next Monday?”
“I’ll open a branch in Antarctica for him to train at.” That might be far enough away from my daughter. Probably not. “We need to talk about security.”
“Willow Street is covered. You know that.”
Mentally, I do. There hasn’t been a single instance of violence in this neighborhood in over a decade. “I want to install some cameras.”
“No.”
I could just hack into his.
“Don’t even think about it.”
“How do you know what I’m thinking?”
“Because your daughter is inside a territory not controlled by your family.”
