It’s right there on the street she shocks the living shit out of me. She’s a fighter, it’s her nature. But right here, right now, she visibly backs down, all because she trusts me. That right there changes me as a man. I can feel it right down to my bones. It affects me in ways I don’t understand, causing my heart to race for a whole ’nother reason.
“Please be safe and get back to me quick.” She kisses me like I’m leaving for war and maybe won’t be coming back before she slides into the back seat.
I shut the door after her, and I watch the cab fade off in the distance before I take off running to my truck. When I reach it, I jump inside and click the map that Alex has sent to my phone and allow the GPS to lead me to the right location.
The streets she’s taking me on are empty, not a cop in sight, but that’s no surprise to me. Alex keeps me neatly away from law enforcement.
When I reach a fork in the road, my GPS indicates I should take a hard left, and after I do, I discover Alex has brought me to the Yacht Club. In an instant, I spot my team waiting near the sailboats parked by the dock.
As I park my truck next to Lee’s Hummer, I force my heartbeat to slow and the adrenaline to quiet with a couple long, deep breaths. I exit quickly, moving to the back of his Hummer, where I see Lee with five other Blackwood team members. “Alex told me very few details. What do you know?” I ask Lee, taking off my jacket and depositing it, along with my bow tie, into his trunk.
He hands me a gun and my leg holster. “The hacker is in that boat there.”
Once I strap on the holster, unclick the safety on my gun, and place it inside, I accept the communication device from Lee and tuck it into my ear. Then I glance to where he’s pointing and find a motorboat. Other than that, most of the area is quiet, except for a few other boats out on the water off in the distance. “Any recent movement?”
“Not in a while,” Lee explains, folding his arms over his bulletproof vest. “Our drone gave us a good look at him back at headquarters, confirming that Alex did have the right location, but since we’ve arrived we haven’t seen the target. I suspect he’s down below the deck, likely on the laptop that we saw him carrying around.”
“Any intel on this location?” I ask, taking the bulletproof vest that Lee’s offering and slipping it over my head, fastening the Velcro sides.
Lee shakes his head, his mouth forming a thin line. “We’re going in there blind.”
I understand his concern. We don’t work this way. But time is not on our side. “Did Alex say anything about the target’s history?”
“No criminal record,” Shawna says, stepping in next to Lee, as the four other members of my team surround us. “There’s nothing in his youth that would lead us to believe he’s dangerous.”
Lee adds, “He’s only a year out of high school.”
Which confirms my original thinking, and I suppose that explains why Alex didn’t know of him. Hackers have a code of ethics, and this kid isn’t following that code. A lesson that after tonight he will learn, and if he tells me what I need to know, he’ll get a slap on the hand instead of the criminal record the cops would smack down on him.
I finish up by muting the volume on my cellphone before I shove it back into my pocket. Then I address my team. “I realize we’re breaking protocol and not gathering as much intel as we usually do. If any of you are uncomfortable going into this blind and want to leave, I won’t hold it against you.”
One by one, each member of my team responds with a firm nod and says, “I’m with you.”
Proud of them, and determined to get Hadley out of this mess permanently, I tell my team the same thing I do before every mission: “Get in quick. Get out safe.”
Hadley
Right as the cabdriver pulls to a stop at a red light, my cellphone beeps. Convinced that Ryder’s been hurt, shot, or something worse, my heart leaps up into my throat. I jerk my head away from the headrest, as I had been doing the only thing I could do: watching the storefronts whiz by so I didn’t make myself sick with worry.
I grab my phone from my purse, praying that Ryder and his team are safe. Though also hoping this nightmare is over and finally behind me. But as I focus on my cell’s screen, in an instant, I know that my nightmare is about to get far, far worse. My hands begin to shake as I read the email from my father, word for word.
Received my schedule. Thank you. I’ll call you when I’m back from Washington. Lots of love, Dad.
Sent from my Samsung device
“Stop,” I scream, and my voice booms within the car.
The tires screech to a halt, and I shoot out my hand to stop myself from head-butting the passenger seat. Behind us, a horn blasts angrily. Even the cabbie’s glaring at me in the rearview mirror. “Take me to Van Ness and Broadway,” I gasp. “Please hurry.”
Regardless that his voice is full of exasperation, he says, “Right away, miss.” He turns the car around in the closest driveway, way slower than I want him to.
I can barely control the shaking of my hands when I lift my phone and read the message once more. I can count on one hand how many times my father has emailed me. He’d much rather hear my voice, he always tells me, and basically, he’s just that middle-aged guy who refuses to accept technology in his life.
I urgently scan through my contacts and locate Ryder’s phone number. My breath catches in my throat
when I hit send. But after the fourth ring, it becomes clear he’s not going to answer. Obviously, he’s still dealing with the hacker. I need help. And I need it fast.
Right now, my sex tape is so far from my mind. Something feels wrong…This time, I refuse to ignore my instincts. Realizing that I’ve reached a dead end at getting ahold of Ryder, and in sheer desperation now, I open my Internet browser and search “Blackwood Security.”