The Virus Within: Third Wave (Book 2)

Chapter 39

In the front seat, Nina looked between two pages in her large notepad and muttered to herself, "Why isn't this making sense? There's no way this final number is correct..."

I could see the top half of the pages and their rows of numbers from where I sat. "Can you hold that up a bit higher?"

Nina glanced out the back window in surprise but raised it up so I could see the entire page.

"Flip back to the first page." When she did, I scanned her writing before saying, "And back to the second page."

Apparently, nine months in zombie land hadn't been enough for me to lose my edge. My eyes had been trained for this sort of auditing, and years of practice helped me pick out several mistakes without too much trouble.

"Whatever FT1397 and DG0121 are, they're listed twice. EN0032 has the numbers in the wrong column since there's only one number after the decimal, not two like the rest do."

Nina swiftly scanned the page and exclaimed, "You're right. No wonder my numbers weren't even semi-possible." She looked back at me. "How did you spot that so fast?"

"I used to be an accountant's assistant. He loved helping people get as many tax dollars back as he could, but he hated cheaters. My primary job was checking all the numbers in case someone was trying to pull a fast one."

"Really? That's quite interesting." Her eyes took on the familiar light of the overly curious.

I decided to get the spotlight off me as swiftly as possible. "Hey, Nicky. What did you do before the zombies appeared?"

She was still lying on her back and watching the clouds, but she turned her head to grin at me. "I didn't need a job. I had my hands full just trying to keep all of my counselors and psychiatrists on their toes."

Why did I even bother asking... Nina gazed down at Nicky through the open window. "If I can ask, how did you support yourself?"

"Money was never an issue," Nicky replied with a snort of disgust at the topic. "My mother ensured my bank account was always packed full of the electronic green stuff, but she was too stuck up on her high horse to be seen in public with me. I only got to see her a couple times a year. She was a model and an actor, but only a few people were even aware she had a daughter."

I felt bad for Nicky. My mother had been taken from me, but hers hadn't even wanted her. Nina looked sympathetic, and even Daniel was quiet.

Nicky looked at the back of Daniel's head. "And what did you do, Daniel? If you say you were a janitor, I'm going to laugh."

He adjusted the rearview mirror so he could see her prone form in the truck box. "I was actually a security guard for a small company. I worked there for years, although I only escorted two people out of the place during all that time. The insurance company wanted a security guard around due to some safety deposit boxes on site."

I raised an eyebrow. "You were a security guard, and you don't know how to use a knife?"

His eyes met mine in the mirror. "I had a baton, mace, and a small handgun. I only ever used them in practice. It was a very small company with elderly clients."

Nicky mused, "I guess that explains the guard dog act. Security guards have some bodyguard training, right?"

"Some, but it's extremely minimal. I had just started classes that would allow me to work as an escort or a lower-end bodyguard."

That explained a lot about Daniel's behavior around Nina.

"So, you decided to become Nina's bodyguard?" I asked. I wasn't about to comment on his guard dog impersonation skills while I might be able to get more information out of him. He usually didn't talk much about himself, and anything that resembled an insult would end this information session.