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“Of course, come right in,” Felinus said dryly without looking up from his computer. “Knocking on your boss’s door is always optional.”
“I have never knocked on your office door once since you found me and you don’t care,” Seong said, arching his back to look back at Felinus. “What’s got you?”
“Hmm, Issac’s not returning to school this semester,” Felinus muttered, still not looking up.
“That’s… good isn’t it,” Seong said, frowning at him. “You’ve been trying to convince him to take time off since he came off the morphine?”
“I have and it is,” Felinus responded.
“…But?”
The older man sighed through his nose, finally looking at Seong. “You are frustratingly perceptive for someone who spends all day on the computer.”
“Reading body language is important when you scam money and need to find people in a crowd,” Seong said, shrugging. “Why is Issac not going back to school bothering you?”
Felinus hummed, leaning back in his chair. “Imagine if you suddenly unplugged from now to August.”
Seong winced. “You might as well ask me to saw my own arm off.”
Hazel eyes rolled at him. “So you can see where him having all the time in the world to explore his own interests outside of school has him a bit…”
“Stir crazy?”
“I was going to go with lost,” Felinus said mildly. “But that works too. How was your date?”
Seong hummed, letting himself hang over the arm of the couch to both stretch his back and to watch Felinus at his desk. “Enlightening,” he said after a bit of thought. “We’re planning on seeing each other again, if my benevolent employer allows me some nights off.”
Felinus huffed out a short laugh. “First you tell me you need two Wednesday afternoons a month to remain free and now you are asking for nights off. If I didn’t know any better I would think you were forming a social life.”
“Perish the thought,” Seong mocked as Felinus grinned at him. “Someone might usurp me as King of the Nerds if I did such a thing.”
Felinus laughed again, shaking his head. “I’ll do the best I can, Seong,” he said, resting his cheek on his fist. “But you know just as well as the rest of us how unpredictable this work is. I hope whoever you are meeting up with understands that.”
Seong thought about Thomas and Ray and their unique understanding of the sort of person Seong was. Still… He had seen Felinus try and fail to date men before Issac came around, men who thought they understood that Felinus wouldn’t be available all the time. “I hope so, too. Speaking of unpredictable work, I’ve circled back to dear Dan’s theft and money problems now that we’ve dealt with the bigger fish.”
“And?”
“It dead-ends,” Seong admitted, grimacing in frustration. “Vinny keeps his books perfect so I can see how much money Dan was supposed to be turning in and didn’t but then the cash just disappears. Nothing close to the amounts reappears anywhere.”
“Four grand every month for six months doesn’t just disappear, Snake,” Felinus growled.
“I know it doesn’t, Cat,” Seong said firmly. “But it didn’t go digital. Where ever it went, whoever has it, they are staying old school. As far as I can tell Dan stole cash, paid cash, and whoever he paid hasn’t made any digital mention of Dan or his family in connection to that money. They are either dedicated to not leaving a digital footprint or…”
Felinus’s expression darkened, that rage Seong had seen many times before threatening to boil to the surface. “Or they are too old and stubborn to enter the digital age,” he growled.
Seong shrugged, folding his arms. “I hate to admit it but there is something to their stubbornness. If I can’t find their money then the feds are never going to locate it.”
Felinus sighed, frustration in his voice. “So you aren’t able to get any further?”
“Not unless you can find me another thread to pull on. I’ve exhausted everything I can think of with the information I have.”
“Fine,” he huffed. “I’ll have someone go pay Dan another visit. Bat’s fairly convinced that it has something to do with a debt, if I recall.”
“I recall that, too,” Seong said. “But there’s no debt in his name that I can find. If the Russians and Irish have one on him then they have an old school method. I’ve turned their books inside out at this point looking for any mention of him. He might as well be an ant as far as the other Rings are concerned.”
“Hm, so it’s either in the Family or off the books,” Felinus said, getting up to pace over to the large windows that overlooked the stacks. “I know I don’t have to say it but keep your eyes and ears open for anything. I had hoped this was an outside force putting pressure on a foolish, prideful young man, but if there is someone potentially stealing from within the Family-”
“I know what to look for,” Seong promised him. “If someone is taking from us, I’ll find them. Just find me a string that can lead somewhere.”
