The Bullshit Investors Club, Rednecks and Crypto, What could go wrong? Chapter One

The anchor smiled as he read the copy, “Well it looks like full steam ahead for this community of crypto currency enthusiasts, as the most transacted crypto in history reaches an all time high of $100 US dollars per share today. Steem, the capitol coin of the Steemit network joins the ranks of Bitcoin and Litecoin as some of the most valuable digital assets on the planet. It is estimated, that, in addition to those who’ve already found financial freedom on the social network that pays you back, over five hundred users became millionaires today, if just for a brief moment.”

The room exploded with cheers. It was the end of a long road that had started three months before right here in the breakroom of one of the busiest chicken processing plants in North America. Founder’s Pride was the second leading national brand of fresh and processed chicken in the United States, but their success had not filtered down to this place in any measurable fashion. Over half of the labor force in the plant was on government assistance of one form or another, the rest had their own methods of making up the difference and surviving.

Alex looked around the room at the smiling faces, there were seventeen members of the Bullshit Investment Club altogether, and everyone that wasn’t one of them looked pissed off. These were hardened blue collar workers who earned every dime they took out of this place with sweat, blood and although they hated to admit it, more than a few tears. It was good to see them succeeding.

“Well, boss man, why don’t you call Billy in and let’s divvy up! It’s time, right?” Tito slapped Alex on the shoulder. He was a massive, dark, brooding man with a taste for tequilla and a temper that matched, but today, his face split side to side, exposing a pearly white smile that was typically kept hidden, except for the occasional sarcastic sneer. “I didn’t think he could do it, you know? But he did it. Sammy just kept bugging me, when you getting in man, when you getting in? Until I finally just said, fuck it, let’s do this thing, nothing else is working, you know?”

The spot where Billy had held court for the past three months was empty, his closed laptop lay conspicuously on the table, but there was no sign of the young wiz kid that had just made the second shift of Founder’s Pride a group of very rich people. It seemed odd. Across the room, with his back to the celebration, Martin stood, arms folded across his chest, peering out through the dusty, wire reinforced windows toward the gravel parking lot. He nodded slightly.

“Where’s Billy? I need to give him a big ole kiss,” this from Sid, a redneck, as wide as he was tall, that seemed to be allergic to sleeves, and any fabric that wasn’t denim. His tobacco stained grin froze, as he caught the look on Alex’s face, then followed his gaze to Martin, “Hey! Quiet down fellers, something’s amiss here. Well, what is it, Alex? Spit it out!”

Martin answered. “He’s gone,” he said, pointing out to the parking lot, where a cloud of dust floated out into the roadway, hovering over a brand new, shiny black Toyota Tundra that could only be Billy’s new truck, as it rocketed out of sight.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop to zero, then shoot to boiling as work boots scuffed on the wide plank floor, chairs scattering from the tables as a dozen bodies launched at once for the single exit to the parking lot.

“It’s no good!” Martin bellowed. “He’s already out onto I44 by now, you’ll never catch him.”

Everyone but Sid stopped, Sid squinted at Martin, spat in the floor and barreled out into the scalding August sun, keys in hand. He was not the kind of man you gave orders to, not if you expected him to do what you wanted done, but Alex had a feeling Martin was right.

There was only one chance at recovery now, and it lay in the thin silver box laying on that table on the other side of the room, he needed to get to it before something happened to it. Alex didn’t know a lot about computers, just enough to know that the wrong attempts at getting into them could end poorly and he couldn’t take that chance. He had far too much riding on this, both for himself and his crew.

As everyone crowded to the windows to watch Sid take off in pursuit, Alex shouldered his way to Billy’s corner. Moving slowly, so as not to draw attention, he made his way around the edge of the group. Alex mentally patted himself on the back for not attracting attention, he’d just grab the computer and… His heart stopped, where the silver slimline case had lay before, was an empty slab of formica, the laptop was gone and with it, any chance of recovering their hard-earned investment.

Who had it now? One thing was sure, Alex knew the crew well enough that whoever managed to find their way to the treasure was unlikely to share their crypto-currency millions. Alex glanced around the room, desperation rising. There were things he’d promised himself he’d never do again, but this situation was testing his resolve. Someone here held the key to his future and he was willing to do almost anything to get it back.