Chapter Fifteen: Richie

Archie Dee reached into his pocket with his good hand—the other was still in a cast—and then tossed some things on my desk.

“What the fuck is all this?”

I stared at the five thumb drives spread on the mahogany surface.

“They’re flash drives,” Archie said helpfully

“I know that, shit-for-brains. What’s on them?”

Archie shrugged. “I don’t know, but you said anything strange or suspicious, right?”

When I waved my hand, gesturing for him to go on, he shrugged again. The ever-to-the-point Archie Dee. If I could figure out how to get anything useful in a timely manner out of the man, I’d be able to keep my blood pressure under control. As it was, my head hurt.

“How do you know if they’re suspicious if you don’t know what’s on them?” I asked. “They could be copies of her stupid books or old bar accounts.”

“Well,” Archie said as he leaned forward, “I found them hidden inside cardboard tubes.”

“Huh?” Butch asked.

So profound. My brain actually lost IQ points once I left the Loop and came here to surround myself with these two.

Archie smiled. “In her tampon box.”

“What the fuck?” Butch said, lurching back like the flash drives had emitted radiation. “You went into her tampons? That’s freaking sick, Arch.”

“Tampons are just cotton, Butch. Nothing to be scared of.”

I lifted one of the thumb drives and studied it for any sort of marking. Just a plain old drive. I stuck it into the USB port and waited for a second while the drive opened.

“Arch, what made you look in her tampon box?” Archie’s decision showed a willingness to go above and beyond, and that choice had roused my curiosity.

“Oh, I’d already gone through just about everything. Her calendar was empty except I saw your birthday’s coming up, boss. Congratulations in case I don’t see you.”

“Thanks,” I muttered.

“Her books are all crap. Her video collection sucks. Rom-coms up the ass. Her desk has nothing but office supplies. Her computer was password protected, but I guess we could find someone to hack into it if you wanted. I know a guy who—”

“I’ll think about it,” I said, waving my hand.

“Her drawers have nothing but clothing, and boy, she could sure use some new lingerie. Most everything looks like it came from Walmart, though she does have a few sexy things and—“

Butch shoved an elbow in his side, saving me the need to respond.

“I think if you gave her a raise, she—”

“Is there a point to this?” I asked.

“Just making sure you know I covered all the bases.”

I glanced at the computer screen and discovered folders labeled Lesson 1, Lesson 2, up through Lesson 6. I clicked on one and perused the file names. Accounting terms. Business lessons. It appeared my little sister had signed up for some sort of accounting program, and based on the logo dotting the materials, she’d done it through Phoenix Online. The little bitch had made a decision about her life without consulting me. No wonder she’d seemed a bit off. Hiding such a massive secret must have been stressful. She must have been sweating bullets. Now I wasn’t surprised she changed her locks so often. I’d thought it might be because of Butch, but now I knew better.

“You never answered my question, Arch,” I said as I continued to scroll.

Archie frowned and then brightened. “Oh, the tampon box. That was easy. After I’d already gone through the calendar—”

“Keep focused.”

“I read a book once where a lady thief stuffed the stolen jewelry in her tampons to smuggle it through customs. So”—he shrugged—“it just came to me to try looking there.”

“Repeat that,” Butch said, wearing a dumbfounded look. “You said you read a book?”

“Jeez, Butch, I know how to read. What do you think I do with my free time, hump my cat?”

“You have a cat?” Butch asked.

“Enough, you two.” I pulled the drive from my computer. “I’ve got to go through these, and I need quiet.”

“What’s on there, boss?” Butch asked.

“Hannah just handed me back my control,” I said.

Butch and Arch exchanged a glance, but I’d had it with the two stooges. I gestured toward the door, and they both—blessedly—took the hint.

“Oh, Arch…”

He turned around.

“Meet Butch at the warehouse tomorrow, and he’ll hook you up with some extra juice for the month.”

“Thanks, boss.” He gave me a salute. “Happy to help. And if you have a birthday party, let me know.”

I waved him away, my mind already elsewhere.

When the door was shut, I put the second flash drive into the USB, got out my Macallan, and settled back for a little light reading. It seemed little sis had been busy over the last year working toward an actual degree.

Now I had her right where she needed to be. Back under my thumb.

I flipped one of the flash drives in my fingers.

Such a small thing and pretty innocuous in the grand scheme of things.

Almost everyone used them nowadays.

Probably safer than calls or texts—and easily destroyed when plans were firm.

“Thanks, little sis. You’re a fucking genius.”