“And he’s somehow used the info from that breach to embezzle money?”
Malone winced. “Yes. So after the malware, he used a SQL injection to—”
“I’m going to stop you right there,” I said. “You can go through all your computer jargon, and it will sound like Farsi to me, so to sum up: He hacked his own company and has been benefiting ever since, so they called you in again.”
“That’s the long and the short of it,” Malone had to admit. “I’ve tracked down two shell companies, countless fraudulent invoices, deliberate misconfigurations—”
“English, Malone. English.”
“My cousin did a bunch of shady shit, but I have to connect all the dots and then show my work.”
“Better.”
“Good. Am I still getting laid tonight?”
“Absolutely. I’m sure you can explain all that to me later tonight in a technical way, and it will be like sweet nothings. For now, though, I’m just trying to get a clear picture of what Blake did.”
“That’s the problem. Even worse,someonedistracted me, so I hadn’t taken a picture of my wall in a few days. I’ve got to redo some of the work I’d already done.”
“Sorry not sorry?”
“One of my hard drives didn’t back up to the cloud, either. It’s a mess. Definitely more complicated than usual, which makes me think he’s not working alone. He has to have someone else on the inside who’s helping him, because while he may not be stupid, he also isn’t that bright. For example, I would’ve skipped the haircut if I were him.”
“That’s because you’re not a raging narcissist.”
“True.”
A car jumped in front of him. He neither cursed nor gestured nor questioned their parentage. I was impressed. Had I been driving, I would’ve called that person everything but a child of God. In multiple languages.
“Well, fifty dollars still says he shows up tonight,” I said.
“I think you’re wrong there, Stark. He wouldn’t dare.”
“He would. In fact, he will,” I said.
“Fine. I’ll take that bet,” Malone said.
“Now, tell me about the ex. I take my obligations seriously, too.”
He groaned. “Must I?”
“I gotta know who I’m figuratively punching.”
“Fine. When I came to Atlanta to look into the data breach, I met Grandpa’s personal assistant.”
“Why do I think this story isn’t going to end well?”
“Because you’re a smart woman. When I met Selena, I was sure she was the one. We dated long distance for a couple of years, with a lot of flying between Atlanta and California, and I’d proposed. I had even researched opening a branch of my company in Atlanta so we could live here. Then she dumped me.”
“So she isnota smart woman.”
“I don’t know about that,” he said with a chuckle as we inched through traffic.
“And she’s the one who was so hateful about your eyes.”
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “She also said I lacked ambition, was a poor dresser, and was an out-of-shape slob.”
“And you want me to smile in her face rather than smack her?”
