Page 18 of Nash Falls

“Iwilllook at it… later, okay? I’ve got a busy day.”

“It’s something I’m passionate about. And you always told me to follow my passions.”

“But I also said that you had to find a way to pay the rent and utility bills. And food would be good, too. If your passion can dothat, great. If it can’t you have to pursue your passion in your spare time just like pretty much everyone without a big trust fund.”

“I think this can both be my passion and also allow me to pay the light bill.”

“And the rent,” he pointed out. “And food. Not much works without food.”

“I thought I’d live here until I got things really rolling.”

Of course you did, thought Nash.

“So you’ll look at it?”

“I said I would, and I will. But not now.”

Her pouty look vanished and she assumed a genuinely worried expression. “You… doing all right, Dad, after yesterday? I mean that—”

He cut in, “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? Because that was the most unusual funeral service I’ve ever been to. AndIfelt weirded out, so I can only imagine what it did to you.”

“I went to funerals like that all the time when I was your age,” he lied.

“Wow, okay. But who was that big Black guy with the foul mouth? He, like, just took over the whole thing and was just spouting stuff. I think he was high on something.”

“He was my dad’s best friend.”

“But he didn’t have to do that stuff in front of everybody. It was embarrassing.”

“Well, my dad was that way to me, too, so there is that consistency.”

Nash could tell that she was having a hard time figuring out his bizarre attitude on this, and, truth be known, so was he.

In a calmer tone he said, “Look, I’m sorry, Maggie. I know I’m not making much sense, and I don’t mean to be so short with you. I… I just have a lot going on right now.”

“I get it.” She looked up at him with a timid expression. “So, is that why I never met your dad? Because he didn’t like you?”

“Pretty much, yeah. He wanted nothing to do with me or my family.”

“Well, his loss.” She tapped the folder. “Whenever you can get to it.” She leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. “And thanks for being a great father, unlike the guy we just buried.”

“Uh-huh, yeah.”

With a confused and somewhat defeated expression, Maggie left him alone.

When he saw the velour suit disappearing out the door, Nash thought,I wonder how she’ll feel about zero funds for her influencer/creator platform when we all go into Witness Protection?

But then Nash reminded himself that he had not agreed to help the Bureau. Hell, he had no evidence that Rhett or anyone else at the company had done anything wrong. He had to believe that the FBI did not make it a policy to just make unproven statements about such serious matters, but still.

How can I agree to help them unless I’m reasonably sure what they’re telling me is true?

He drove to the offices of Sybaritic Investments, which occupied the four top floors in one of the tallest buildings in the downtown area. The place was expensively built out and had all the bells and whistles that the monied field of private equity typically offered their employees: a subsidized dining room, a gym, an on-call massage therapist, and free dry cleaning (up to a limit), because when you worked twelve or more hours a day, who had the time to run errands, eat, or work out? Nash was also on the company’s board of directors, and he knew that the current financial situation wasn’t the best it had been. Total revenue, profit, and free cash flow were all down, but his division was making money hand over fist.

But if Agent Morris is to be believed, my business home for nearly twenty years is a house of cards about to come tumbling down, and they want me to help them do the tumbling.

He pulled into his reserved space in the parking garage, hefted his briefcase, and headed to the twin glassed-in elevators. He got off on his floor and nodded at the woman who sat alone behind a futuristic-looking, wood-and-metal receptionist’s station in a spacious and elegantly decorated reception area. Ellen Douglas was a prim and proper woman in her fifties who sometimes brought cookies to the office. She smiled at him and said hello as he passed through the secure door by swiping his badge on the port sensor.