I start making phone calls the next day. A question here, calling in a favor there. It takes longer than I want and impatience rides me, but by the following weekend, I have my answer. So Monday, I pick up the phone and dial an old frat brother of mine. It’s a stroke of luck that he’s in the middle of this cluster. Now I just need to find the right lever to pull to get him the hell out of it.
Thankfully, he answers on the second ring. “Holy shit. The great Sebastian Shaw is calling me on a Sunday morning. How the hell have you been?”
“Good, man. And from what I hear, Jeremy McBride is doing fantastic things, too. How’s the consulting gig?”
“Lucrative. I can’t complain. Being my own boss is great, but you know I’m all about making money. Speaking of… You still working for Evan Cook? Or is it my lucky day and you’re calling me for a job?”
I’m not, but he doesn’t need to know that. “What if I was?”
“You could write your own ticket, my friend. A lot more money and a lot fewer hours. It’s pretty sweet.”
“I’m sure. But Evan moved me to Maui. It’s fucking awesome here. Way better than Phoenix.” Where I’d probably have to relocate to consult with his mainland clients face to face. No, thanks.
“Yeah. I can’t compete with that…unless you’re getting island fever?” he asks hopefully.
I snort. “No chance.”
“Hey, a guy can dream, right?” He sighs. “Seriously, I can’t hire you away from Evan? He speaks geek-tech. You and I, man, we speak the universal dirty language of money.”
No arguing that, and that’s exactly how I’m going to bend him to my will. “We do. That’s actually why I’m calling. I hear you picked up a side hustle with Reservoir, Inc.”
“Yeah. Word travels fast. I just inked that deal Friday afternoon. How the hell did you find out?”
“I have a great network.”
“You always have,” he says like he’s in awe.
No idea why. He works his contacts over like a good whore. He touches them thoroughly, leaves them satisfied, and stays easy to find for the next trick.
“Listen, strictly between you and me, I might be interested in jumping ship,” I lie. “Maybe. But I’m going to want an obscene salary to do it.” I toss out a number that borders on ridiculous.
Predictably, McBride chokes. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am. But let me prove it to you.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“Let me take the Reservoir thing off your plate.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. It would save you a shit-ton of research…”
“You got me there. I know squat about the data storage biz.”
“And you’ll need to in order to really help them. After a decade with Evan, that’s my bag. I could solve that shit in my sleep. And hey, I’ll even work this one for free.”
“What’s the catch?”
“No catch.” Except I’m going to fuck your client out of a deal.
I feel vaguely guilty, but that’s business. Besides, I’ve looked into McBride’s situation. It’s goddamn rosy—way better than I thought a guy who vodkaed his way through the last two years of college would ever do. He doesn’t need this gig to go well half as much as Evan needs them to go the fuck away.
“Bullshit,” Jeremy tosses back.
“Let me prove to you I’m worth the exorbitant salary. Give me the client. I’ll do it pro bono. You’ll see.”
“It’s a conflict of interest. You’re competitors.”
“We won’t be if I come work for you.”
He pauses.
Since I can almost hear the indecision rattling in his head, I lean on him a little. “C’mon. Don’t you want to free up some time to spend with that hot blonde you’ve been shacking up with? Sorry. What’s her name? Avery?”
“Aria.”
“That’s right. Pretty name for a gorgeous girl. I heard a rumor you two were getting married. When’s the big day?”
“We split up last week.” And he sounds crushed.
Shit. I didn’t hear that from the grapevine. “Oh, man. I’m sorry. What happened?”
I don’t really have time to care, but I actually like Jeremy. Though screwing with this one account won’t mean much to his thriving business, some girl messing with his heart pisses me off on his behalf.
“Apparently, she’s been fucking around on me—with my older brother. Who got her pregnant. It hasn’t been a great week.” He sighs. “So if you want to take this account off my back…”
“And give you time to deal? You got it.”
“If you’re as good as I think you are, I’ll hire you when it’s over. Hell, I’d hire you now, but that salary…”
“Which is why I’m going to prove it to you first.” I BS him again. “We’ll talk about it when I’m done, okay?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“Fill me in. What does the client want?”
“It’s weird. They say they want help eliminating redundancies and inefficiencies so they can streamline overall. But Bruce Rawson should know this stuff.” Jeremy sounds confused.
True that. Rawson is too savvy to need the basics. After all, he built Reservoir by himself over the last half-dozen years. “But he doesn’t seem to?”
“Hard to say. I’ve only talked to an assistant. Once the deal was done, Rawson had me contact his oldest son, Shane. We’ve traded emails since then. But I haven’t personally spoken to the old man or the kid yet.”
That’s unusual. “And?”
Jeremy hmms like the client is taxing his strained patience. “Confidentially? Shane Rawson is an idiot. If his dad thinks he’s taking over anything more complex than sweeping the floors, I’m not surprised they asked for my help.”
Why doesn’t the old man just teach him? “When do you fly out to see the client?”
“I don’t.” His tone says he finds that even more puzzling. “Rawson senior wants to do everything over the phone, like I’m a dirty little secret.”
“Huh.” That will work in my favor. “No problem. I can handle it.”
By convincing them the Wynam job isn’t right for them…
“Thanks. But listen, you have to pretend to be me. I promised them personalized, white-glove treatment.”
And Jeremy doesn’t want to let the new client down. “You got it.”
“Really? Thank fuck. I appreciate that—and the call. And I appreciate you being a pal.”
The fact I’m not makes me wince with guilt again. We hang up, and I make a few calls so he’ll get a delivery of a very friendly stripper and a few liters of Cîroc to help him forget Aria. And hopefully, he’ll remember my gesture later, when he finds out what I’ve done.
February 26
Eight days later, at two o’clock in the afternoon Dallas time, where Reservoir’s offices are located, Shane Rawson returns my calls. Finally, we’re getting down to business.