Page 44 of Wrecked With You

“I’ve worked for Dailey for a couple of years, and I’ve learned stuff. It’s not a legitimate business. And I know that Federal agents have been sniffing around, and I’ve heard words like RICO and money laundering and conspiracy and stuff like that.”

“Okay. Go on.”

She shakes her head. “That’s not me. I don’t want to be part of that. But if I try to get out…” She trails off, biting her lip. “I—I told Mr. Dailey that I wanted to quit to go back to business school. And Mr. Dailey said that I should work for him while I’m getting my degree. So I told him that sounded great. Because what choice did I have?”

Tony looks at me, and I move my head in the slightest nod. The silent communication is clear. This girl is legitimately scared, and not just because her boss collects blackmail tapes and launders money. This is the fear of a bullet in the brain.

“But here you are,” I say. “So what happened?”

Her throat moves as she swallows. “My brother was a hacker. Is, really, though he swears he doesn’t do it much, and only to keep his skills up. But he used to be all over the dark web, digging in all sorts of creepy places. And he’d tell me about it. So once I started feeling really trapped, I thought maybe I could find out about my boss on the dark web.”

“You were going to blackmail him for your job?” Tony’s voice is incredulous.

She shakes her head. “Honestly, I didn’t know what I was looking for. And then Billy—that’s my brother—started stumbling across these questions about The Serpent. Buried queries, but all from the same guy. Turned out to be you,” she says, looking at Tony.

He reaches his hand out and takes mine. “So why meet me?”

“I figured you wanted to kill him. Either that or hire him, but I doubted that. But for me, it doesn’t really matter. Because I can tell you his name and where he lives, and I figure that’s worth something.”

“And now we get to the crux of it,” Tony says. “What do you want?”

“Help,” she says plaintively. “The owner of Debauchery lets my boss use his vault to keep records. Like in that Tom Cruise movie, The Firm. Stuff that’s not on the computer because, well, people like my brother could hack in. I want to get in there, take a ton of photos, and then go to the Feds. If I have evidence of all the shit they’re into, they’ll protect me, right?”

“You’ll end up in Witness Protection,” I point out.

“Good,” she says with what sounds like genuine eagerness. “I’ve made a mess of this life. That’s what I want. A totally fresh start.”

“Do they know you’re here? Dailey? His people?”

She nods. “The island is a perk. Like I said, it belongs to Dailey’s friend. I’m not supposed to know about the cameras, but I do. So I think when I asked to come here during my vacation, they were more than happy to let me. I’m in one of the monitored cabanas.” She makes a face, and I’m assuming she’s thinking about finding someone to take back with her, just to make sure her cover looks legit.

“So you’re looking for our help to get into the vault? Believe it or not, we can’t just crack the lock to a vault by pressing our ear to the door. This isn’t an action flick.”

She shakes her head. “No. I have the combination. Like I said, my boss is friends with Debauchery’s owner. So he lets Dailey keep a vault here. I think they all know it’s for paperwork he doesn’t want the IRS to see, but nobody talks about it. And that’s one of my jobs—rotating out the combination every other week. What I need is your help getting a contact in law enforcement. Someone I can trust who’ll actually help me. I don’t know how to reach out. I mean, Dailey has people loyal to him in the government and the court system. If I approach the wrong person, he could—”

Tony holds up a hand. “Gotcha. That’s doable. And in exchange you’ll tell me where to find The Serpent. And his real name?”

She nods. “I don’t know either offhand. But I know it’s in the vault. All the personnel records are, along with dossier’s, blackmail material, that kind of thing.”

Tony stands, then goes to the cutlery drawer. He takes out two steak knives, then returns and hands one to me. Not the best weapon, but if this mission is as simple as Thea is making it out to be, we won’t need a weapon at all. Still, I strip off the handle to make the blade more balanced if I’m forced to use it as a weapon.

With a frown, Tony lifts Thea’s wine glass. “Go take a nap. I assume you can find the bedroom? Two hours. And eat this,” he adds, pulling out one of the croissants we’d found in a kitchen welcome basket.”

“I’m not really—”

“I need you sharp. We do it my way or not at all. After we wake you, you can run us through it. Location of the vault. Potential surveillance. Any sort of alarm system that will need to be disengaged. Anything you can think of.”

“Sure,” she says, “but it won’t be a big deal. I’m here for some R&R, right? And getting into the vault is just a favor for my boss.”

“You’re right,” I say, taking my seat beside Tony. “It sounds simple. But trust me. It never, ever is. Go on,” I add gently. “Get some rest. We’ll wake you.”

“You’ll be here? With me?”

“We’re going to take some coffee out on the patio. No microphones in the garden?”

“None,” she says. “Save some coffee for me. I’m always groggy after a nap.”

Tony laughs. “Will do.” He watches her leave, then turns to me. “And how about you?”