The Bullshit Investor's Club, Rednecks and Crypto, What Could Go Wrong? Chapter Seven, Chapter links included

“What’s this?” Tito flipped through the bills in the manila envelope, as Billy turned to walk away.

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Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

“It’s your buy in, you wanted out,” Billy said, turning back to him.

“Nah, you misunderstood, I don’t just want my buy it, I want it all and you’re going to give it to me. You know why?”

“You don’t really scare me Tito, I had a dad that beat the shit of me almost every night, so, do your worst. Unless you want to go to jail for murder, I bet I can take it standing up,” Billy said.

“Tough guy, huh? That’s fine, you know why? Cause everybody got something they care about it, sometime it ain’t them. Sometime it’s someone else, or maybe something else. Nice truck,” Tito said, he tossed the envelope at Billy and turned away.

“Wait, don’t you want this?”

“Nah, I ain’t interested no more. Now, it’s a matter of principles, you know?” Tito grinned and cracked his knuckles.

The next afternoon, when Billy found a cinder block sitting in his front seat, having bounced off his truck hood and smashed through the windshield, there was very little question as to who was responsible. He’d been out to his truck less than an hour before to get his phone charger, so he had a very good idea of when it had happened.

“Welp, these cameras was state of the art when they installed ‘em. Problem is, that was sometime during the Clinton administration,” Hank said, sniffing loudly.

“I doubt we got anything. See how you’re truck is backed up along the fence to the right of the front gate, I guarantee the only view we got will miss your truck by ten feet….yep, there it is, can’t see it, see, it’s over here to the right of the camer.. wait a second, got something.” Hank was head of Founder’s Pride security and he’d made an exception for both Alex and Billy to enter his portable office, which was typically off limits to unauthorized personnel.

“Who’s ‘at, right there?” Hank stabbed a fat finger at the screen, someone stood, with their back to the camera watching something in the parking lot. It looked like Sid.

“It looks like Sid,” Alex said. “But I can’t be certain.”

“Welp, whoever it is, he seen somethin happen, cause watch this here,” Hank ran the tape forward a bit, and Sid flinched, looking toward where Billy’s truck would have been parked, then turned, looked around and fled from camera view.

“Great! We got him, right?” Billy said.

“Welp, in m perfessional experience, it ain’t ever quite as easy as it should be. You want me to interrogate him?” Hank asked. “I was buddy’s with a special ops guy, learned a few “enhanced” techniques.”

“Do I want you to waterboard Sid?” Alex looked incredulous. “It’s a very generous offer Hank, but I think we can just ask him what he saw.”

“A’ight, suit yerself,” Hank said. “Now, if you gentleman will excuse me, you’ll have to clear out, I’m about to review the security logs and you ain’t got clearance for that.”

But Sid saw nothing. Or so he said. He refused to share what had caused his visible reaction on the video, claiming he’d simply sneezed. Even when the police questioned him later, he was not forthcoming and although several other employees were seen within minutes of the incident in the area, no one would say a word.

Alex couldn’t blame them for being scared. He was sure Tito had done it and likely threatened worse toward anyone that shared the story.

“Seriously? Nothing you can do?” Billy slammed his fist on Alex’s desk. “You’re kidding me, right? At least two people heard him threaten me, you know what’s been going on, and now this, and nobody saw a damn thing?”

“Well, look, you filed a police report. I shared my suspicions with them, maybe someone will get tired of Tito’s bullying and speak out, but otherwise, yeah, there’s not much we can do. Your insurance should cover the damage,” Alex said.

“And Founder’s will cover the deductible, it was clearly our fault for not having adequate security.”

“Great, just great. Look, I’m going to finish this thing with the crypto, but then I’m leaving this plant and maybe the state. I can’t be looking over my shoulder for some angry butcher the rest of my life,” Billy said.

By the next day, Steem had risen another 30% and the lunch room broke out in applause at the news. Billy looked nervous. Tito hadn’t shown up that day, or called in. Alex figured he was laying low to avoid questioning.

The police officer who filed the report stopped by to check on Billy and let him know they were still looking for Tito and would question him about the incident as soon as they found him. He warned Billy to be on the lookout, then he left.

Sid slapped Billy on the shoulder, “Sorry about your truck, man. I’ve been there, wish I’d helped more, but I told them everything I saw.”

“Yeah, sure, Sid, whatever you say,” Billy didn’t look up.

“Man, I’m serious, if I could help I would, but… hey, about this crypto thing, thanks for working on that, I mean it, sincerely, this is going to help a lot of folks and we really appreciate you, you know?” Sid walked away quietly.

Tito didn’t return to work the rest of that week, and when he did, it was to a warning that his job was on the line if he missed, or was late again. Hank had installed new cameras and there were new signs up around the building reminding everyone that they were being watched. Life seemed to return to normal at Founder’s except for the constant reminder of the nearing deadline.

“How long will it take to cash out?” Alex asked Billy as he walked him to his truck one day a few weeks later.

“Uh, two, maybe three days. You set up that online account? That’s the key, I can transfer more faster that way,” Billy said.

“Yes, and all you need is the email? Are you sure?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, I’ll convert it from Steem to bitcoin, then to dollars, so , yeah, I can send it using that email, no problem.”

“How much did you say it was again?” Alex asked.

“Well, I managed to triple your money,” Billy smiled. “And if we do it this way, you can probably avoid the taxes, unless you just want to volunteer the information.”

Alex nodded. If either of them could have foreseen the next day’s headline, the conversation might have gone differently. Billy climbed into his truck and Alex returned to his office to finish up some paperwork. He only had a few days left, but tomorrow was about to change everything.