“He’s… little. I might break him or something,” I tried.
“Saint, I’ve seen you defend yourself in hand-to-hand combat while holding a toddler. Are you really trying to tell me you can’t teach a grown man self-defense without hurting him?”
“That was different,” I said, remembering the case he referred to. “That kid was robust.”
“He was a hoss. But he was still a three-year-old. Way more vulnerable than your geek.”
“He’s not my geek,” I said. God, did I really sound as childish as I thought I did? Yes. Yes, I did.
Lanny laughed again. “I don’t have anyone else stupid enough to get benched, so you’re on deck for this, Saint. Figure it out. I have faith in you. Surely you can teach this guy some moves without fucking him. Plus, he has a girlfriend, so I don’t think he’d be interested in what you have to offer anyway.”
My stomach knotted at the mention of a girlfriend. “You sure?” I asked. “I mean, not that it matters…” Lanny laughed some more and gave me a look that smacked of amused pity.
Was this where I was supposed to admit to having sexual relations with the client?
“Yeah,” Lanny said, looking down at some of the work on his desk. “Katrina Duvall. I’ve met her out with him before at a black-tie thing. Gorgeous woman. She’s an anchor for one of the local TV stations.”
He had to mention the woman was gorgeous. Either way, it didn’t matter. They weren’t an item, and Augie was a client. Why couldn’t I get that through my head for god’s sake?
Lanny looked back up at me from the paperwork in front of him. “What are you still doing here? Conference room, Rex is waiting for you. Go.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “Fine.”
“Try not to seduce the client, Saint,” he called after me with a chuckle. “Although, to be honest, I’m more worried about your feelings getting hurt from his rejection than him firing us for inappropriate touching. He’s a bit out of your league, don’t you think?”
I shot him the bird over my shoulder as I walked out.
When I got to the conference room, I was surprised to see a young woman at the table I didn’t recognize. She was so young, she looked like she might even still be in high school.
I greeted Rex and lifted a brow in the newcomer’s direction.
“Oh!” Rex said. “This is Skipper. She’s our new hacker.”
Skipper’s nostrils flared. “Jesus, Rex. Way to just put it out there. Why don’t you call the cops next or the FBI?”
“Hi, Skipper, I’m Saint,” I said, holding out my hand to shake.
“Oh, I don’t touch people. Sorry.”
She went back to tapping on a laptop that seemed more stickers and decals than megabytes of data. I glanced back at Rex. Where did you find her? I mouthed.
I wasn’t sure, but I thought maybe he replied, Darth Wem.
Whatever that meant.
“Have a seat,” Rex said out loud. “How much do you know about the Stiel Foundation in terms of where it puts its money?”
“Conservative efforts. Things like Second Amendment defense, anti-abortion campaigns, homes for unwed mothers, veteran rehab efforts, and research for policy change.” I listed off the ones I remembered from my short research.
“Right. As well as some great community projects like food banks, job assistance, and low-income housing. And in most cases, it’s all very aboveboard. We haven’t seen evidence of any of these beneficiary groups involved in any kind of violence or threat of violence. Obviously, you never know. There could be things we don’t see, but for the most part, all of the organizations check out. Except this one oddball beneficiary that seems to be a shell for something hinky.”
“What do you mean? What is it?”
This time it was Skipper who spoke up. “CSP, which stands for Community Surge Properties, is a registered nonprofit that seems to provide residential housing for low-income families. But when we dug deeper into its actual real estate holdings, we discovered the properties it owns only appear as low-income housing on paper. In reality, they are a combination of high-value development projects and historically important properties. Somehow, the people who run this organization are managing to get around the historic property renovation regulations by having these properties redesignated from historically protected to community beneficial. I don’t understand the intricacies of the zoning and shit yet, but it’s certainly raising a crap ton of red flags.”
Rex looked excited. “Yeah, and then you add the fact that these assholes could be collecting the low-income housing tax credit on top of having nonprofit status already. And they’re selling these units for top dollar.”
My brain had already made the connection between the fact that both the hinky non-profit CSP and the primary Stiel family business involved real estate investment. Did the Stiels know this was what their money was going toward, or did they think CSP was actually building low-income housing?