“Is true. But for ransomware, North Koreans have nothing to eat and then they throw out little leader in glasses. Others do it, too.”
“Russia?”
Valentine pointed his finger at him. “Ha-ha. Putin loves his money. He buys big horses and rides them without shirt on. He is crazy-ass stud.”
“Can you see if Cowl is doing their high-frequency trading from Area 51?”
“I can see trades if buying and selling is on public markets. I can’t see if they buy and sell through darkpool, not till sale complete. Is how high-frequency traders operate for so long without being found out.”
“But can you tell if it is high-speed trading going on? Based on the activity in the pipe?”
“Will take time. I have other things to do.”
“I thought you liked a challenge. And you couldn’t trace the message. I thought I’d give you a shot at redemption.”
“What is this redemption bullshit?” he asked, frowning.
“It means a second chance to prove that you are a world-class hacker.”
“I am world-class hacker. I know this already.”
“But I don’t, not based on the email fail.”
“You are funny man. Let me think. I get back to you.”
“Just don’t take too long. I have a feeling knowing sooner is better than knowing later.”
Valentine put his headphones on, flipped open his laptop, and went back to work.
Devine climbed the stairs, rinsed off the day’s grime in the shower, and changed into a pair of light brown slacks and a short-sleeved white shirt that he wore untucked. He put his dress shoes back on.
As he was heading back down, he met Helen Speers coming up the stairs. She’d obviously been doing yoga in the dining room again because the woman had on another set of colorful duds and was sweating. And he felt his heart start to race as she approached.
“Going out?” she said.
“Got a meeting.”
She gave him an odd look. “How’s the police investigation going?”
“It’s going. In some pretty odd directions.”
“Need that lawyer yet?”
“Probably any minute now.”
She looked at him severely, then headed off to her room where she would slide out of her yoga clothes and step into the shower . . . And he had to stop thinking about that.
Devine knocked on Tapshaw’s door. “Hey, it’s Travis. Did you eat today, Jill? The dating world of Hummingbird wants to know.”
She opened her door and stood there in red athletic shorts, a white tank top, and crew socks with pink Converse tennis shoes. Her hair was done up with an assortment of bobby pins. “I had lunch,” she said brightly. “And I might have dinner.”
“How’s the fund-raising going?”
“Hey, you work on Wall Street, right?”
“Yeah. Cowl and Comely. Why?”
“Let me show you something.”
She led him into her room and over to one of her giant computer screens. He had been to her office in the strip mall, and it looked like a cyberwarfare command center.
All in the name of love.
She brushed some of the sticky notes off the glass and hit a few keys. Her LinkedIn page came up. Tapshaw scrolled down and pointed to a message.
“I got this ping. It’s from an investment group looking to fully fund my next round. I mean the whole twenty-five million, Travis. They want to Zoom-meet and then start doing due diligence. They said if things go well, they could have a term sheet to me in two weeks and the money days after agreement on the deal points and the lawyers papering it all.”
“That’s great.” He looked at her. “So why the long face?”
“I’ve been beating the bushes trying to get this round filled for a while. It’s been tougher than I thought. You heard me on with the Taiwanese VC group the other night. They were interested, but said the process would take about six months, and our cash flow is tight. I’ve heard that same song over and over. And I reached out to them. I’ve done the same with all the other potential investors for this round. I’ve run out of friends and family and angel sources. This round is with the pros. But then these guys ping me and say it could all be done in a little over two weeks? I don’t know. It just seems weird. What do you think?”
“It does seem off. What’s the name of the investment group?”
She hit another key and a second screen came up. She pointed to it.
“Mayflower Enterprises. Ever heard of them? I’ve done some digging on them but there’s not much. Some guy named—”