“And pleasure,” I smirk.
He rolls his eyes. “Focus, please. This is important.”
Hunter isn’t usually so serious, even when it comes to assignments Dad gives him. It must be bad, or at minimum, a test from the old man. I nod to Hunter and motion for him to continue. He pulls out a manila envelope and shows me the paperwork.
“So? What about Mr. Smith?”
Hunter opens his mouth, but his phone rings. Pulling it to his ear, he nods. “Hey, Lief. Head to Chase’s office. No distractions. No guests.”
A moment later and Lief joins us, locking the door behind him. His face is colder than normal, eyes almost pissed. If I didn’t know better, I’d say we interrupted something. Before I can give him shit, Hunter taps the folder.
Lief nods. “What’s the verdict?”
“What’s the fucking question!” I demand.
Hunter smooths his shirt. “A manila envelope means a choice – a hit or an interview. Mr. Smith got through one interview, but apparently, he hasn’t earned the necessary trust.”
I swallow that knowledge and try to move on right away. I can’t focus on the inescapable proof that my dad orders things like that. Of course, a part of me knew, but knowing that it’s a probability and then knowing it’s an actual thing is … different.
“The verdict?” Lief demands, frustration obvious.
“I’m sorry, did I pull you from something important?” Hunter growls.
“Yes.”
I blink at Lief. I figured he just read or something in his free time. Hunter arches an eyebrow and motions for Lief to share. He doesn’t. I interrupt their pissing contest. “You said no distractions, Hunt. Why this meeting?”
“Because Liefisn’tgoing to be involved in this and I wanted to make that clear. My plan is for you, Chase, to go through his computer and make sure there is no issue, that he can be trusted. Lief’s methods, though successful, may raise questions that lead back to us in ways that would cause issues. If you can hack into his system and verify that he’s clean, everyone is safe, the police stay out of it, and our job is done.”
“You didn’t need me here.” Lief hisses. “That could have been stated over the phone.”
“Considering I’m sure my father saw you walk in, he will be patient and allow Chase to do the job before trying to follow up with you on my decision.”
Lief grumbles something in a language I don’t know, then walks out, slamming the door behind him. Hunter shrugs, “whatever. Can you do this?”
“Yeah.”
“Now?”
“Sure, who needs sleep.” I roll my eyes.
“Not you if we want Mr. Smith alive. If this fails, if you miss something, we’re both fucked. You understand the stakes?”
“You’ve made it inescapably clear, Hunt. Let’s get on with it.”
He nods, adjusts in his chair, and waits for me to do some magic with the computer. Hunter’s smart, but he’s not into computers and I know that. He’d rather read books on history, on physics, on everything he can possibly get his hands on … other than anything relating to coding.
“You’re going to sit here and watch?” I confirm.
He nods, simple and direct. “Let’s go.”
I force myself to ignore him and follow the necessary chains to get to where I need to be. It takes time to hack into his system, but luckily Dad had the foresight to encourage me to establish backdoors into the systems of those we work with. He’s paranoid, but in this case, I guess it’s helpful.
As long as it proves Mr. Smith is innocent.
I get into the accounting information, make sure all of that is there, check his email, check his search history, and go through everything with a fine-tooth comb. It takeshours. Hunter brings me coffee and doesn’t leave my side. In fact, he encourages me, asks questions about certain things I’m checking, and asks if there is any way that we can also check his phone.
“I’d need to actually look at his phone to check anything there, but if he uses the same email to connect them, then the search history should line up to a degree. I’m not seeing anything that would link him to any leak of information.”