Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“She’ll be okay.” His sister had a big group of family and friends around her.
“I want to know who was following her around.” His mom sat back with a frown on her face. “Someone took pictures of her holding hands with Aidan and Tris. Whoever did it put the pictures on her volleyball team’s social media page. It wasn’t someone from her school.”
“Or it was someone from her school who has a fake account.” He’d thought about this, too.
“I’ll figure it out.” Kyle had a pile of food in front of him. “I have a friend who pretty much owns the Internet, and I’m putting her on this.”
He knew the woman Kyle was talking about. MaeBe Vaughn was a cute hacker who worked for McKay-Taggart, and Kyle pretty much took every chance he could to get close to her. But she was a “friend.”
David did not want to be friends with Tessa Santiago.
“The Internet has been rough on our family lately.” Sean sat back.
“I told you, it’s a troll, and it will go away,” his mom said with a sigh before looking David’s way. “We’ve been getting some weird reviews.”
“And a surprise inspection.” Sean frowned. “That wasn’t such a big deal. Inspections happen, and we’re always ready, but the timing was shitty. I don’t know. Something feels wrong. Like I’m missing some connection I should catch.”
Though he was a successful chef now, it wasn’t hard to remember that once Sean had investigated things like corporate espionage. After all, it was how Sean had met his mother.
“I’ll look into it,” Kyle promised. “Like I said, MaeBe can find anything on a computer. If someone’s fucking around with the family, she’ll figure it out.”
“I’m sure it’s all coincidence.” His mom set her fork down. “You know what they say. When it rains, it pours. And that brings me to what I want to talk to you about.”
That got some alarm bells ringing. “You said it was about my trip.”
He had a research trip planned to coincide with spring break, and it was even to a place with a beach. Not that he would be lying out by the ocean.
“Yeah, you’re going to some island, right?” Sean seemed far more comfortable talking about this subject. He’d even picked up his fork again. “This is about the book you’re writing? Something about a crazy millionaire?”
“Ah, he wasn’t crazy. He was eccentric,” David corrected, warming up to his favorite subject. “His name was Ricardo Montez…”
“And he wanted to change the world,” Kyle finished sarcastically. He straightened up when Mom’s death stare made a second appearance. “Sorry. I hear this story a lot. I mean a lot. He’s obsessed. The whole hidden treasure thing is cool, but David talks about the man’s political beliefs to the point that I’ve started to fall asleep when I hear the words social democracy. I’m pretty sure the cat does, too.”
The cat liked to nap when he wasn’t being a paranoid weirdo.
God, Hamilton was the feline version of Kyle, right down to purring the neighbor’s cat’s way but being way too scared to actually approach her.
He wasn’t going to be Kyle or the cat. “I’m going down to the island Montez bought back in the eighties to do some research. I leave in two weeks, and I’ll be gone for seven days.”
“I want you to take your brother with you,” his mom said.
He was twelve again being told he couldn’t go to the movies if he didn’t take his kid brother along. “I don’t think Kyle wants to go.”
“I do not, but I agree with Mom.” Kyle suddenly had his serious face on. “You can’t go without a bodyguard. Given everything that’s happening around Sean right now, I don’t feel comfortable with you alone in South America. You’re not traveling straight to the island. You have to land in Buenos Aires, and then you’re planning on riding a bus to Mar del Plata.”
“Why would you take a bus?” his mom asked.
“I’m recreating Montez’s first trip out to the island.” He would be taking pictures and trying to make it as authentic as possible. “From Mar del Plata, I’ve hired a boat to take me to the island.”
“Have you looked into the business behind the boat?” Sean asked.
“They had a great rating on the web.” He wasn’t sure why he was getting interrogated. He hadn’t thought anyone was interested in his trip.
“There are several dangerous groups in the area who fund their terrorist activities by kidnapping wealthy travelers,” Kyle pointed out. “They recently held the son of a Mexican businessman hostage for two months before they negotiated his release to the tune of a million dollars. I can give you several more instances in the last year.”
“It’s dangerous, but Kyle knows what he’s doing,” Sean explained.
“It’s dangerous for wealthy people.” He wasn’t going to have Kyle suddenly in charge of his trip. “I’m a college professor. I don’t have anything.”