Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 100791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
“We didn’t embezzle a dime from Caddell House, dumbass, so you better show me what proof you think you have saying otherwise.”
Sunny advanced on him, blowing away his promise not to get closer. Vance scrambled to pick up the gun. Snapping up, he pointed it at Sunny just in time for my man to smack it away.
“Stop playing with that before you hurt yourself.” Sunny plopped in Vance’s armchair. “Well? Hurry the fuck up and show me this frame job.”
Vance blinked from him to the gun lying across the room, and then he blinked at me like he expected me to tell him what to do.
“All of this is a huge, terrible misunderstanding, Mr. Hollywell,” I offered. “Show us the accountant’s supposed evidence so that we can figure this out.”
“I... uh... okay.” Never has a man been so defeated, and Sunny didn’t even lay a finger on him. Vance flicked on the desktop and navigated to a folder tucked in a folder tucked inside another folder as I came closer, peering over Sunny’s shoulders.
“All of our vendors and suppliers were given this account name and routing number to deposit the money.” Vance clicked on a jpeg and the image filled the screen, blasting the slip of paper with the account name for all to see. “Do I need to read what it says to you, or do you want to confess now?”
“Confess?” Sunny forced through gritted teeth. “What I want to do is punch you in the fucking face, Hollywell.”
“What?” Vance cried, jumping back. “It says right there! The account belongs to Bellisario Holdings!”
“Exactly, you dumbass! What kind of fucking idiot slaps their real name on an account full of stolen money?” Sunny stared at him in true disbelief. “What the hell is wrong with you? Did you spend too much time playing with your sewing machine in college, you forgot to take an actual lesson?”
“But—but—but— I—I—I—” Hollywell was well and truly broken.
Still, I had no sympathy for him. I shook my head, giving him the same disbelieving look as Sunny. “Come on, boss. Plain old common sense should’ve caught this one. Of course, the Merchants don’t own this account. They’ve been ruling the city for decades. You don’t stay on top for this long by being that stupid.”
“But I...” Vance fell silent, slumping on his window seat. All the righteous indignation whooshed out of him, leaving nothing behind but a puppet with its strings cut.
“What else is in this folder?” Sunny asked, clicking around on all the documents.
“It’s the... proof the... accountant... gave me...” Vance’s voice got smaller and smaller.
“Fake,” Sunny dropped, pulling up a pdf of account information and scrolling through. “Fake. Terrible fake. Fake. For fuck’s sake, my name is misspelled,” he burst out, smacking the screen. “This is the French spelling of my name, not the Italian spelling. I’ve taken a few hits to the head, but I still know how to spell my fucking name, Hollywell!” Sunny threw the pencil cup at him, making the man burst into tears. “What is wrong with you? Someone hands you a pile of manufactured bullshit, and just like that, you hop on board the train to aiding and abetting murder.”
“I—I didn’t mean—”
“Don’t give me that. It was you, wasn’t it? You put the trackers in our clothes, letting those bastards know exactly where my niece was. They almost killed her, Vance!” Sunny ripped out his phone and shoved his screensaver in Vance’s face. Of course it was a big, cheesing, adorable photo of Tricky—his favorite girl. “This is who you wanted dead? Huh!? She your hated Merchant enemy too!?”
Vance took one look and wailed louder, sinking on the floor smashing his fists against his forehead. If Sunny was going for complete emotional castration, he nailed it.
I just shook my head at the pathetic mess that used to be Vance Hollywell, director of the great Caddell House. For all his wide-eyed shock and wet-his-pants bleating, Hollywell wasn’t this stupid. If he had bothered to hold this proof under the slightest bit of scrutiny, he’d have seen for himself it was a load of garbage.
But the fact is he didn’t bother looking deeper because he plain didn’t want to. This accountant handed him all of his assumptions and prejudices wrapped in a bow. The Merchants were bad guys doing what bad guys do, so therefore, he was perfectly justified in doing whatever it took to get them out of Caddell House forever. That it also gave him a handy excuse to skip over the twenty million-dollar buyout was the cream on top.
Like I clocked the minute I met him, Vance Hollywell is a cheapskate.
My eyes narrowed, lighting on something as Vance blubbered to Sunny, swearing up and down that he didn’t know anyone would get hurt, especially not an innocent little girl.