Loverboy (The Company #2) - Sarina Bowen Page 0,48

his clock. So I keep betting.

We roll the dice to see who starts, and Max comes out on top. Of course he does. “Talk to me,” he says while rolling for his first move.

“I spent all night thinking about the break-in, and I still don’t understand it.”

“Same, same,” Max says, collecting his dice. “All we know about our perp is that he likes to use bakery WiFi for all his propaganda needs. Was Posy’s modem knocked out last night?”

“The computer was trashed, but the modem was only unplugged. I plugged it back in this morning. It’s fully functional right now.”

“Hmm. That’s a lot of hassle for just unplugging a modem. Although the connection log was destroyed, right? That might have been the goal.”

I’m not convinced. “They didn’t take the hard drive from the machine. If you really wanted to cover your tracks, you’d grab it.”

Max doesn’t say anything for a while, and I can’t tell if he’s thinking about the break-in or just concentrating on humiliating me at backgammon. “Maybe the break-in is unrelated,” he finally says.

“It’s certainly possible. Maybe even probable. And I’ve been hoping to poke holes in your grand conspiracy all week. The problem is that the break-in makes no sense on any level. There was nothing of value to steal. The vandal didn’t spend much time looking through her files, either. It was a straight-up toss and run job.”

“Does Posy have enemies?”

I snort. “Posy doesn’t make enemies. She makes pie.”

“Disgruntled former employee?” he tries.

“Maybe.” I shrug. “She got hit with a workers comp claim that she said was bogus. She and her sister were freaking out about it yesterday. But she hasn’t even had a chance to respond to that.”

“Then we’re missing something,” Max says. “We began this adventure thinking that Posy’s Pie Shop had nothing more to do with the crimes than a convenient WiFi connection. And maybe that’s still true. But now you’re going to have to dig into the business to be sure.”

I look down to see that Max has rolled another double. Fucking backgammon. He always wins. Even the waiter who's brought us our cheddar crackers winces.

This game might cost me two hundred bucks. We'll settle up later, of course, since the Harkness Club doesn't permit gambling. Or even phones. It's a haven from technology in the middle of the city. And the members of this joint pay tens of thousands of dollars a year to strip themselves of their phones in this room.

Rich men are weird. I realize I’m one of them now. But I don’t have to act like it.

I bite into a cracker. It’s salty and cheesy perfection. Posy would like these, I think. I should tell her about them.

But no, I can’t. Because baristas don’t lunch at the Harkness Club. It’s out of character with the role I’m playing at the pie shop.

The truth is I’m bone tired of lying to Posy. My line of work requires lying. It doesn’t usually bother me, because I’m working hard to keep bad guys away from good guys. And I’m telling small lies in search of greater truths.

I lost my room key.

The manager sent me to ask you a few questions.

I’m here to fix your computer.

This time it’s different. I knew Posy before my days as an operative, so she has a reasonable expectation of hearing the truth from me. I feel closer to her than I expected to. And lying to her feels like a violation.

Installing those cameras in her shop this morning made me feel squicky. And now I’m going to do a deep dive into her private life, too? Although I can’t really see an alternative.

“Posy is recently divorced,” I tell Max. “Her ex might have a grudge, although I don’t see how. He walked away with a nice settlement.”

Max glances up at me. “I thought they didn’t have children?”

“They don’t.”

My friend makes a face. “No able-bodied man should ask his ex-wife to support him.”

“Preach. He has a younger girlfriend, too. She looks familiar, but I can’t put my finger on it.”

“Really? You’re so good with faces.”

“I know. She reminds me of someone, but I’m not sure who.”

“Add her to the list,” Max says. “I’ll handle their finances. You look into everyone’s past.”

“Sure. With regard to finances, I’d always assumed that Posy was very well funded. Her daddy made a wad selling the family restaurant to a private equity firm. But now I’m not so sure about her bottom line. She’s probably real estate rich but cash poor.