Page 24 of Insidious Threats
“Did you enjoy your dinner?” Amanda asked.
Beside her, Sasha gasped and started.
The driver met Amanda’s eyes in the mirror with an uncertain expression.
“I thought you said you were supposed to meet her here.” His eyes flicked toward Sasha’s. “You twoarefriends, right?”
“We’re not friends,” Sasha said firmly, her hand on the door handle.
“Listen,” Amanda said, speaking quickly. She knew she only had one shot at this. “Just hear me out. It’s, what, a four-minute drive to your house? Let me plead my case while Dustin here takes you home. I won’t bother you again after this. I promise.”
“Sure, why not? Tonight’s apparently going to be one ambush after another.” Sasha flopped back against the seat with an exasperated sigh and gestured for the fretting driver to pull out.
Amanda didn’t know what the ambush comment was supposed to mean, so she ignored it. “First, I apologize for the way I left the meeting. That was unprofessional.”
“It was.” Sasha nodded her agreement. As Dustin eased the SUV out of the lot and into the flow of Shadyside traffic, she said, “Before you plead your case, tell me how you intercepted my ride. There’s no legitimate reason for you to know where I was having dinner or that I called for a car.”
Amanda arched one eyebrow. “I’m sure you can figure it out. You do remember who I work for, right?”
“It would be impossible to forget. You mention it every three seconds.” She pursed her lips tighter and frowned, tapping the fingernail of her left index finger against her thumbnail as she thought. Then she leaned into the space between the front seats. “Hey, Dustin?”
“Yeah?”
“Who owns Dryve Time?”
“Leith Delone. He owns all three of the city’s ride-sharing companies now. Now, you tell me, isn’t that the definition of a monopoly?”
Amanda shot forward. “No, it’s not. Customers haven’t been harmed, and competition hasn’t suffered because Le—Mr. Delone operates all three companies as separate, independent entities with their own fare structures and distinct corporate cultures.”
The driver snorted. “Must just be a coincidence that all three offer the exact same crappy pay and brutal working conditions, huh?”
She was about to retort but reminded herself to stay on mission. “I’m sorry to hear that’s your experience, Dustin.” He rolled his eyes, and she turned back to Sasha, who was giving her an icy look.
“So you hacked into the app?”
“Ididn’t hack into anything. I acquired information through non-public means. Listen, I’ll apologize for that too, if you want me to.”
“Do you not understand that your behavior is incredibly creepy?”
“I did what I had to. Ineedto talk to you.” Amanda winced when she heard the desperate quaver in her own voice.
Sasha shook her head, unmoved. “So talk.”
“You know that neutral, that Collins guy, home-courted me. He shouldn’t have ordered us to pay your client. Not at this stage. He was supposed to help work out a freaking discovery dispute. He went far beyond the scope of his authority.”
She shrugged. “So appeal.”
Amanda gave her an unamused look. “Come on, you heard him. He practically dared me to appeal. He’ll get the judge to impose sanctions, and that’s just going to make a bad situation worse.”
They both lurched forward as Dustin hit the brakes with too much force.
“Sorry. This guy in front of me slammed to a stop the minute the light turned yellow.” He gave the driver ahead of them the bird.
Sasha eyed Amanda. “Let me ask you something. Why is this a bad situation? Delone is the richest man on the planet, isn’t he?”
“This week, he is. You know, those rankings fluctuate with the markets. Next week, he might be number three.”
“Whatever. There’s no market fluctuation that would make a million dollars a meaningful sum to him. It’s like a fraction of a percent of his hourly income. Why does he care at all?”
