Page 16 of More Bite than Bark

“Educated guess.”Cypher didn’t even look at him.

“So this ass face owes his bookie more than a hundred grand, he’s making at least one trip a month, sometimes more, into Biloxi to hook up with an unknown number of men, and we think he’s paying off either cops or judges to get out of speeding or possibly DUI charges.Does that cover it all?”

“That’s what I have so far.”

“What part of that was so important that I needed to come hear it now?”

Cypher sighed.“Well, maybe it wasn’t enough to get you out of bed for, but it felt like it at the time.However, in the last few minutes I finally cracked a bit deeper into Harry’s system.And into his email.I love how easy finding out things has become when these idiots use things like email and text messages to plan and execute their crimes.”

“Were they really that stupid?”Hex stared at Cypher with wide eyes.

“They were.”Cypher shook her head.“But on the plus side, I now know that Harry has been cracking down on Anderson.According to the emails back and forth with one of his men, they’ve cut off Anderson’s line of credit and they’re trying to collect from him.”

“Interesting, how long has that been happening?”

“Looks like about four months from what I’m seeing here.”

“Any details?”

Cypher was quiet for a moment, Hex didn’t know what the hacker was doing, other than scanning the triad of screens in front of him.

“Give me a sec, I’m still reading through shit.”Cypher continued to scan, clicking different things, moving others then reading some more.

Now that he’d learned some of what Elle’s ex was into, Hex was impatient to know it all.He tipped back the can in his hand, forgetting for a moment what it was.When the sugary flavor hit his tongue, he didn’t stop drinking or spit it out, but he couldn’t stop the shudder that worked its way down his entire body.

“God.How can you stand to drink this shit?”he asked when he’d finished.There was still about half of the weird concoction left, and he’d finish it, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever be desperate enough for caffeine to drink another one.Give him some good black coffee any day.

Cypher lifted one shoulder and let it fall as if it was no big deal.

“I like it.Plus, it’s not bitter like coffee, and you don’t have to find water to brew a pot or wait for it.Pop the can open, drink.It’s that simple.”

“It’s that gross, and I’ve eaten a lot of things that would send most men running.”

“Brother, we live in the south.We regularly eat things that would send most other men running.”Cypher shot him a look that clearly said he thought Hex had lost his mind.

Hex waved one hand.

“I don’t mean normal shit or us, I’m talking really weird shit, like shark, menudo and puffer fish.”

“You’ve eaten fugu?”Cypher stared at him with wide eyes.

Hex nodded.“I didn’t know what it was at the time, but yeah.”

“And menudo?That’s not all that different from chitlins, or not massively, other than the seasonings and shit, and I know you’ve eaten that.”

Hex shrugged, taking another pull from the can in his hand, but expecting the sweetness this time, and he didn’t shudder.Instead, he paced the small room while he let Cypher read and figure out what was going on.

After a few minutes, the hacker let out a low whistle.Hex turned to look at the monitors, not that he would understand what was there unless it was spelled out for him, still he looked but before he could ask what Cypher had found, the hacker started talking.

“Looks like they confronted Anderson, told him to pay up or else, got a little rough and he made a deal he’d pay it all back, with interest, at a whopping fifty percent, if they would give him until after the wedding.From what was put into the messages he’s looking at getting a significant pay out after the wedding.”

“That he likely won’t be getting now.”Hex blinked a couple of times while he considered the possibilities.If he owed a hundred large, that he’d promised to pay back and a hundred and fifty, to someone who would do painful things like break bones and shatter joints as incentive to pay, and the money he’d been counting on to pay it off had just been jerked out from under him, what might he do to the person who had cost him that?

A lot.

“Elle doesn’t have any money.Any clue where he would be getting the money?”Hex asked.

“My original thought was he had an inheritance or trust that would pay out when he got married, but I haven’t found anything on that yet.I’ve started looking at other possibilities.”