Page 12 of Our Tricks

The program was good, but that also meant it wasn’t incredibly fast. Yet about ten minutes into the program, it alerted me that it found something and was asking if I wanted to continue or not. Reading the details, my brows shot up at what it showed me. Whoever used this copied my code exactly, and I always leave myself a backdoor into my programs. Knowing exactly what was needed next, I got to work.

The old code flowed out of my fingers and, in the next moment, the whole space changed. Everything that had been solid turned translucent, showing all the offices and meeting areas that should have been there to begin with.

“That’s some super cool shit,” Ghost said with a laugh. “Like what the hell, man?”

I pulled the cable free from the panel, knowing all the doors were unlocked now. “Want to go see what dirty secrets Diego might be holding in his desk?”

“Fuck yeah.” Then he was off down the hall.

While he did that, I headed for the server room, and when I pressed the door, it slid to the side. It was like I was in the future or something. None of this was making sense. What the fuck did a smuggler need all this security for? Was Diego getting into something that Marco might not have been aware of? Time to dive in and find out, I guess.

Chapter 5

Dax

The first two interviews were boring as fuck, and I knew right away they had no clue what the hell Diego was really up to. The third man to enter the room had me sitting up and ignoring the game of hangman that Cam was playing on his phone. I couldn’t put my finger on why this guy seemed to catch my attention, but he did.

Nothing about him seemed odd. He was middle-age, dressed in business casual, and his hair was styled in a traditional tighter on the sides swept back on the top. Everything about him screamed normal. Maybe that’s what was so telling, he didn’t allow himself to draw attention in any way to the point his suit was a medium shade of gray that seemed to blend in with the monochromatic setting of the interview room.

Tommaso had two of his men we’d met when planning things at his house asking the questions. It seems they were going off a predetermined list, and while they were good questions, they didn’t really draw out the answers Tommaso was looking for. When the man sat down, they started with the basics.

“Can you please tell us your name, position, and how long you’ve been with the company?” Charles asked.

“Certainly,” the man said with a kind smile and a nod of his head. “My name is Ken Scott. I’ve worked for the De León Corporation for ten years. I started as an entry-level employee and worked my way up to management two years ago. Mainly, I work with the shipping department on the customer service side of things. If there’s any trouble, they reach out to us and are directed to my people. Because we work with many international companies, we have people on call twenty-four-seven. I only work during the day, but on the rare occasion, I’ve been called in for something at odd hours.”

Charles just nodded and continued with the rest of the questions, not at all concerned with what just happened. “Too much,” I muttered.

“What was that, little demon?” Void asked, looking up from the YouTube video he was watching.

Narrowing my eyes, I watched the man work through the questions without even fidgeting once. “He’s too perfect. No one would be able to sit that calmly while they’re being questioned by someone who just took over the company. Not to mention he gave away far too much information. People who are afraid of what’s going on would just answer what was asked for fear of giving something away.”

Cam got to his feet with a predatory grace as he was now fully focused on the man being questioned. “You’re right, beautiful, there’s something just wrong about him. Everything feels fake like he’s acting out a role but with a brilliant performance.”

“I’m going in there. Those two have no idea they’re getting played,” I announced and headed for the door, but a hand shot out and pulled me back onto Void’s lap.

“Little demon, if you think you’re going in there without us, I’d think again,” Void warned.

Wriggling, I sat up and looked at him. “If we all go in there, it will make it obvious we know something’s off. On the other hand, if it’s just me, he’ll think I’m an additional interviewer. Both of you can see me through the window, and I doubt it’s bulletproof.”

Both my guys stared at me, but finally, Void relented and allowed me to get up. “Let’s not forget I’m also fully armed to deal with whatever might go down.”

“Beautiful, please don’t go for the usual piss-the-man-off-until-he-cracks method. I think he’s going to be a tough nut to crack, and it might take a little more honey than spice,” Cam advised.

I nodded, letting him know I heard him then left the room. On a table set up outside the interview room, there was a clipboard with forms and a pen next to it. Grabbing it, I flipped the papers over so it looked like plain white sheets for me to take notes on. Taking a deep breath, I yanked open the door and rushed in, then paused.

“Shit, was I that late you already started?” I asked, frantically searching around for a chair.

Heading for the spare hidden in the corner, I grabbed it, dragged it over to the table, and plonked down next to Daniel. I set down the clipboard, pulled the cap off my pen, and poised myself to be able to write.

“So incredibly sorry to be running behind. Would you mind telling me your name?” I asked the man across from me.

“Kent Scott, and—”

“I’m sorry, did you say Ken or Kent? I swear my brain was left behind in my bed when I got up this morning.” I chuckled as I caught the slip.

“Ken, my first name is Ken,” he said, his tone sounding mildly irritated.

“Perfect, thank you, we are still working on finding the employee files. Seems this place isn’t as organized as we had hoped. When were you hired? This will give us a place to start looking once we find the files,” I rambled then gave him a bright smile.