“He grinds my gears.”
“Of course he does,” I said. “What he’s doing isn’t fair. It’s not just. It’s not right.”
“Heis mean,” Malone said. “When you were trying to tell me how mean you are? I kept thinking of him—”
“The other day we sewed together all the holes in all the briefs of a man who’d been cheating on his wife,” I said.
“He. Had. It. Coming.”
“I set up a website called www.yourkidsgotrobbed.com and then called in a favor from an old client to advertise on an electronic billboard that a certain school board member awarded no-bid contracts to family members for expensive but shoddy school equipment.”
“Investigative journalism. A public service, really.”
“I may or may not have planted six little noisemakers that sound like crickets in someone’s apartment last week. They go off intermittently.”
“Stark!”
“I can’t be tamed, Malone.”
“Fine. Justtryto use your powers for good. Please?”
“Aye, aye, Cap.”
“I’m not Captain America.”
“No, but you are a strong contender for ‘America’s ass.’ It’s a fine ass, and don’t think I haven’t noticed.”
He gave me a crooked grin. “Are you trying to get laid again, you insatiable minx?”
“Maybe,” I said. “Wanna sleep over tonight?”
“Yes.” He stood abruptly and tossed me over his shoulder. As we made our way toward the bedroom, BB gave me a look of pure disgust before curling up in a circle with her face toward the couch cushions.
Chapter 33
At two in the morning, a time when I often had epiphanies, it occurred to me that I knew exactly where Blake was and how he’d gained access to parts of the company he shouldn’t have had access to.
Somewhere in the midst of his jargon, Malone had mentioned an accomplice.
I might not have known what SQL injections or the Dorminy Meta-Model were, but Malone had, in his own way, given me a very important piece of the puzzle, a piece he was overlooking because, despite all evidence to the contrary, he seemed to believe people were better than they actually were.
Put past and present together, and I was willing to bet Blake had stolen yet another one of Malone’s girlfriends. As the administrative assistant of Lucius Malone, Selena probably had access to anything and everything Blake would need to siphon funds from the business.
What a no-brainer for Blake. One, Selena was a very beautiful woman. Two, she had access to the information he needed. Three—the sweetest part of all for him—she’d been Malone’s girlfriend.
I ran through my memories of the gala. At no point had I seen Blake and Selena together. Sure, it was a large gathering, but there had been one point where he had seen her and intentionally walked in another direction. I’d thought nothing of it at the time, but what better cover than pretending you don’t like each other or don’t know each other?
I slid out of bed and scrambled for my phone, but I had forgotten to add the Land Rover’s license plate to the notes section of my app once I traveled the short distance between Salon Blaise and Trader Joe’s. I’d been high on the victory of serving those papers and focused on white-cheddar goodness. I closed my eyes and willed my brain to play the opening bars of “So Fresh, So Clean.”
Along with the tune came the information I sought: XBC2453 and then some tteok bok ki.
Thank you, Big Boi and André 3000!
Also, I was out of my favorite spicy Korean stir-fried rice cakes and the white-cheddar corn puffs once again, so I needed to go back to Trader Joe’s.
Focus, Stella!
I tiptoed from the bedroom and into the living room. BB meowed at me, and I held a finger to my lips to shush her. I grabbed my laptop, but she squeezed under my arm and into my lap, so I was holding the laptop away from my body.
