Page 118 of Get A Fix

“I’m sure he thought he was the more easily recognizable of the two, and he was right. You had no idea who she was, but his face was fresh in your mind.”

That was true.

“Go on with why they were after you.”

“The way the Vault works, whatever you put in, once it’s in, it’s at the discretion of the Vault when it’s returned to you.”

“See, right there. That’s where your boss lost me.”

“There are extenuating circumstances where the Vault is concerned.”

“Like?”

“Okay, say you put the deed to your house in there for safekeeping, but a bad guy kidnaps your husband and says he’ll blow his brains out if you don’t hand it over.”

“This is a terrible example.”

I scowled at him. “Focus.”

“Fine.”

“Okay, so when you ask the Vault for the deed back, they want to know why, and they have people to check in on you and see if you’re being leveraged in some way.”

“Oh, I see. So even though you put whatever into the Vault, in this case millions of dollars, it’s not a sure thing that you’ll get it back out.”

“No. You will absolutely get it back, it’s yours, but the when is the issue. The Vault isn’t going to send someone with a briefcase full of money to some scary-ass rendezvous point where both you and the courier will be murdered. They’re going to wire it somewhere, but everyone in the scenario, both you and them, need to be safe.”

“So since Voss and his wife are both on the run, whoever at the Vault said nope, they’re much more likely to lose their money in that situation.”

“Correct. The Vault said you’re not getting the money at this time. You can send it to someone else, but not you, since you’re a wanted fugitive.”

“I don’t think they should get a say.”

“But think how safe most people feel. Say you’re a cartel boss and you want the money to go to your family, but you’re killed. You’ll die knowing that they will be provided for.”

“Are we on the side of cartel bosses?”

“They have families too,” I pointed out.

“Okay, so whatever you put in is safe with the Vault, but apparently the Vosses had no one like siblings or parents or best friends that they trusted enough to have the money wired to.”

“Which is kinda sad if you think about it, but there’s also the question of everyone thinking that Voss killed Carrie, and they’d have to blow their cover and have whoever realize they’re on the run. At which point, how safe is it to get involved with all that?”

“Right. Okay. I get it. But I still don’t understand why the Vosses came after you?”

“Originally, on the secure site, Voss got a message in his account that his money had been accepted into the Vault, and if he had any questions or concerns, he should speak to Conrad Harris, and he was given an email.”

“Which he used to ask for his funds back.”

“Yes.”

“And was told no.”

“Correct.”

“Conrad Harris is the man in charge.”

“To everyone else, yes. You know that he’s actually Darius Hawthorne, because my boss told you in confidence, but to users of the Vault, it’s just a name.”