fingers laced in front of her. “We have to stop this ruse now.”
I leaned back in my chair and sighed, shaking my head. “If I tell you something privately will you keep it that way?” She nodded, motioning with my hand to tell her. “I thought being married,” I explained using heavy air quotes around married, “was a good cover.”
“What are you, Mr. I.T. the secret agent guy?”
I had to hand it to her, she was sharp witted and had a wicked tongue, but she was beautiful. She made work fun, and I would give just about anything to see her having fun in her life. She was always so serious, and I couldn’t figure out why.
“Funny, but no.” I grinned, pushing my plate out of the way and copying her posture. “However, being a couple can only benefit us in Honolulu. Gideon didn’t tell you this, but someone is also stealing expensive technological trinkets.”
She leaned back in her chair in such a way it was obvious I had taken her completely off guard. “How do you steal equipment electronically?”
“That’s the other half of the picture. The technological thefts are only coming out of Honolulu.”
“Which is why you think the thief is in Honolulu,” she finished and I nodded. “Why didn’t Gideon tell me that part?”
“He was so caught up in the idea of the money thefts he forgot. He came to my office and I assured him I would fill you in.”
“Color me confused,” she sighed and I motioned for her to sit on the couch, which was a lot more comfortable than the wooden chair.
“I do all the ordering for both hotels, right?” I asked and she nodded. “I make an order after I’ve spoken to the tech guys in Honolulu to discuss any needs they may have. Then our distributor ships the orders in two separate shipments to the respective hotels. On the last three orders, there have been additions to the packing slip. Someone has gone in and changed the order, adding whatever it is they are trying to procure. We get the bill, but the actual piece of equipment disappears somewhere between the time it comes into the hotel and the time the invoice gets to us.”
“So it’s someone with the freight company?”
I held up my hands. “We really don’t know. It’s happened twice, and we’ve now instructed our distributor to verify every order with us a second time before filling it. They are also shipping everything to Kupid’s Arrow. They called this morning to verify an order for a Promethean board we never ordered. They couldn’t tell us who called, but whoever it was, they claimed to be me.”
“So you think the same person is stealing the money and the equipment by using your name.”
“Or a team of someones,” I agreed.
“Which is why Gideon tasked us with this new job and why you decided to make us a married couple,” she groaned, thunking her head on the back of the couch a couple of times.
“Yes, to the first, but the married couple bit wasn’t planned. Although after I thought about the idea a bit, it does make sense. If we go to Honolulu, stay in the same room, and pretend to be married, someone may let down their guard or leave a door open that we can walk through and catch them at their own game.”
She ran her hands through her ebony hair, soft if the flyaway tendrils were any indication. “I’m still not quite certain how I am much help in all this. I can barely run a computer.”
I laid a hand on her knee, surprised when she didn’t push it away. “Here’s the thing, I’m an IT guy, as you so often point out. That means I can find IP addresses, problem shoot just about any piece of AV equipment, keep servers running, code malware, and those types of things, but I don’t have the knowledge about social media that marketers do.”
“I’m not entirely sure it’s legal for me to snoop through employees’ social media pages. I know some employers do it, but ethically I think it crosses a line.”
I rubbed my hands on my pants. “I’m not talking about
I leaned back in my chair and sighed, shaking my head. “If I tell you something privately will you keep it that way?” She nodded, motioning with my hand to tell her. “I thought being married,” I explained using heavy air quotes around married, “was a good cover.”
“What are you, Mr. I.T. the secret agent guy?”
I had to hand it to her, she was sharp witted and had a wicked tongue, but she was beautiful. She made work fun, and I would give just about anything to see her having fun in her life. She was always so serious, and I couldn’t figure out why.
“Funny, but no.” I grinned, pushing my plate out of the way and copying her posture. “However, being a couple can only benefit us in Honolulu. Gideon didn’t tell you this, but someone is also stealing expensive technological trinkets.”
She leaned back in her chair in such a way it was obvious I had taken her completely off guard. “How do you steal equipment electronically?”
“That’s the other half of the picture. The technological thefts are only coming out of Honolulu.”
“Which is why you think the thief is in Honolulu,” she finished and I nodded. “Why didn’t Gideon tell me that part?”
“He was so caught up in the idea of the money thefts he forgot. He came to my office and I assured him I would fill you in.”
“Color me confused,” she sighed and I motioned for her to sit on the couch, which was a lot more comfortable than the wooden chair.
“I do all the ordering for both hotels, right?” I asked and she nodded. “I make an order after I’ve spoken to the tech guys in Honolulu to discuss any needs they may have. Then our distributor ships the orders in two separate shipments to the respective hotels. On the last three orders, there have been additions to the packing slip. Someone has gone in and changed the order, adding whatever it is they are trying to procure. We get the bill, but the actual piece of equipment disappears somewhere between the time it comes into the hotel and the time the invoice gets to us.”
“So it’s someone with the freight company?”
I held up my hands. “We really don’t know. It’s happened twice, and we’ve now instructed our distributor to verify every order with us a second time before filling it. They are also shipping everything to Kupid’s Arrow. They called this morning to verify an order for a Promethean board we never ordered. They couldn’t tell us who called, but whoever it was, they claimed to be me.”
“So you think the same person is stealing the money and the equipment by using your name.”
“Or a team of someones,” I agreed.
“Which is why Gideon tasked us with this new job and why you decided to make us a married couple,” she groaned, thunking her head on the back of the couch a couple of times.
“Yes, to the first, but the married couple bit wasn’t planned. Although after I thought about the idea a bit, it does make sense. If we go to Honolulu, stay in the same room, and pretend to be married, someone may let down their guard or leave a door open that we can walk through and catch them at their own game.”
She ran her hands through her ebony hair, soft if the flyaway tendrils were any indication. “I’m still not quite certain how I am much help in all this. I can barely run a computer.”
I laid a hand on her knee, surprised when she didn’t push it away. “Here’s the thing, I’m an IT guy, as you so often point out. That means I can find IP addresses, problem shoot just about any piece of AV equipment, keep servers running, code malware, and those types of things, but I don’t have the knowledge about social media that marketers do.”
“I’m not entirely sure it’s legal for me to snoop through employees’ social media pages. I know some employers do it, but ethically I think it crosses a line.”
I rubbed my hands on my pants. “I’m not talking about
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