baby [h.s.]

thirty

            "Styles!" It was Riddle, calling Harry's name. We pulled away from our hug. I stepped back and pulled my blouse down.

"Riddle," Harry said. His composure contrasted how flustered I was.

"Hate to break up the love fest, but we've got something going on."

Harry straightened up and his eyebrows creased. The lighthearted air had vanished. Riddle waved his hand and began walking, so we followed. He led us to a desk, one among where most of the people were seated. Folders littered the surface of the desk.

The people around us paid no mind. The three of us stood around the desk. Riddle leaned over and picked up a file. He shoved it towards Harry.

"Look at this shit, mate. How much money did Vega make off of that deal a few months back?"

Harry's eyes narrowed at the papers he held. I stood on the tips of my toes and looked over his shoulder. The papers looked to be receipts of sorts; documents with amounts of money. The total was two hundred thousand.

"Had to be at least half a million more than this." he said. He shuffled through the papers. "How the fuck did our people let this slide. Did no one even look at these?"

"What's happening?" I said. They both looked up at me.

Riddle sighed. "Vega is in charge of New York. Made a huge drug deal with a local months ago and the company allowed some personal profit. The company documents said he took two hundred grand, but the cash from the exchange was at least seven hundred."

I leaned against the desk. "Why would he lie?"

Harry scoffed. "Beats me. We need to figure this out though. How'd you even come across this?"

Riddle shrugged. "Vinny had me prepping some stuff for him so he could give it the final once-over. This shit shouldn't even have to do with London, but I was the only one not looking busy at the desks. That's why all these wankers look like they're actually working for once."

"Fuck off Mick," A woman in the next desk said, without looking up from her computer. Riddle laughed.

Harry pinched his lips together. The folder slapped on the desk. He pointed at Riddle.

"I'm speaking to Vinny about this now. I want you to have this researched in an hour, figure out all we need to know." he said. He looked at me. "Tilly, will you go speak with whoever signed these off?"

"Yeah, that's fine." I said.

"Right, I'll go speak with him. Figure out how this is going to go down."

Harry turned and stormed away from us, back towards where the conference room was. I huffed and looked at Riddle.

"Let's work this shit out then." he said.

I nodded. "Figure out a motive. Look into these documents; make some calls about his track record in New York. Sniff it out. I'll go to talk to whoever signed off on these."

I picked the folder up. In a loopy signature, 'Anne Tyler' was spelled out.

"Anne Tyler," I said, looking at Riddle. He had already sat down with the phone in his hand.

"Office next to Perkins," he said. "You know where I'm talking about? She's a rock, but don't hesitate to shake her up if you think there's information you need to know. She thinks she's more important to Perkins than she is. He values you and Harry more than her."