Read Death, Taxes, and a Chocolate Cannoli (A Tara Holloway Novel) for Free Online

encryptions in seconds flat, but with his blond curls, baby-blue eyes, and diminutive stature, he nonetheless looked like a young boy on his way to cotillion. He’d been an unlikable, sniveling weenie until Nick returned to the IRS last year and showed him how to be a man. Now, the rest of us not only tolerated Josh, but he’d become our go-to guy for technical help.
    I rapped on his door frame. “Whatcha doing?”
    His eyes remained on the screen of the laptop in front of him and his fingers continued to work the keyboard. “Blasting through firewalls, finding evidence of transfers to offshore accounts.”
    Like a supercomputing superhero. All he needed were some tights and a cape.
    I stepped into his office. “Any chance you’d be willing to help me on a mob case?”
    His eyes sought mine and his fingers froze in mid-stroke. “Did you say mob ?”
    “Yep.” I told him about Tino Fabrizio and Cyber-Shield Security Systems.
    “Hacking into a firm that provides cybersecurity?” Josh virtually drooled at the prospect. “I’m up to the challenge. Count me in.”
    “Great.” I gave him Hohenwald’s contact information. “He’ll put you in touch with the FBI’s tech team.”
    With Josh and his brilliant brain on board, I now needed to recruit some muscle. I walked back up the hall to Nick’s office and found him packing things in for the day. Nick was dressed in his usual style, basic Dockers paired with cowboy boots, a white dress shirt, and a belt with a shiny buckle. Today’s buckle featured a howling wolf. Despite the fact that Nick lived in Dallas, he was a country boy at heart.
    I perched on the edge of his desk. “Wanna help me bust a violent mobster?”
    Nick raised a nonchalant yet strong shoulder. “Sure. Why not?”
    I gave him a quick rundown of the day’s events and the information I’d learned. “Any thoughts?”
    “Yeah.” He cut me a pointed look. “Keep a gun in reach at all times.”
    “You know I will.” A shiny firearm was my favorite accessory. If one wasn’t in my hand it was on my hip, strapped to my ankle, or in my purse.
    He went to the wall and flipped his light off, then took my hand in his to pull me to a stand. “Come on. Let’s grab some dinner.”
    “Can we go somewhere that serves cannoli?” I’d been craving the stuff since seeing the sign at Benedetta’s Bistro earlier.
    “You name the place,” Nick said, “I’ll make it happen.”
    An hour later we were seated at Carmone’s, our tummies full of pasta, a cannoli sitting on a plate in front of each of us. I finished mine first, no surprise there, and when Nick stopped to take a sip of his coffee I snatched the last bite of his cannoli from his plate.
    “I should’ve known better than to take my eyes off you,” he teased.
    I glanced around. Nobody was seated nearby, but I lowered my voice anyway and told him about the space for lease in the center where Cyber-Shield was located. “It would be the perfect space for us to use to keep watch on Tino and his men, see if we can follow the cash. I’m thinking Josh could work from there, too. Maybe it would be close enough for him to hack into their Wi-Fi and get into their computer system. I’d love to take a look at their financial records, see if they’ve reported all their income.”
    “Sounds like a good plan.” Nick set his fork down. “I’ve got some available time in the morning. Want me to handle the lease?”
    “Would you?” I said, wiping my mouth. “That would be one less thing on my plate.” Ironic words for a woman who’d just emptied the plates in front of her. “Hohenwald says he can get you a new identity to use. He can get you an apartment to stay in while we’re working the case, too.”
    “Good,” Nick said. “That’ll make things easier and safer.” He took a sip of his iced tea. “When I talk to the leasing agent, what kind of business should I say I’m planning to operate?”
    Hmm. I took a sip of my coffee, the sugar