Grayson slammed the heavy payphone receiver back into its cradle. The metallic clunk sounded like a gavel dropping in an empty courtroom.
"Did he go for it?" Toby asked, his eyes darting between the graffiti-covered phone booth and Grayson’s impassive face. "Did you really just buy half a tech company with the money we made from old library books?"
"I secured fifty-one percent," Grayson corrected, turning away from the phone and stepping briskly down the bustling Seattle sidewalk. "Which means Vanguard is no longer just a piece of paper in a manila folder, Toby. We are now a holding company with proprietary infrastructure assets. But the deal isn't closed until he has the cash in hand."
"So, what do we do? Mail him an envelope of twenties?"
"We wire it. There’s a Western Union kiosk in
