Chapter 17
“Thank you so much,” Zoe said as she disconnected the call. She glanced at Spence, who was sitting at the table. “No Ethan Davies registered at the conference.”
He shrugged one shoulder without looking up. “Wasn’t expecting there to be.”
Zoe curled her fingers into her palm. Truthfully? She hadn’t expected Ethan to be registered under his own name, either. But she was pretty sure Spence was right -- Ethan would be at that conference. Looking for a way to grab her and take off.
It was an unsettling thought. Disturbing. But she trusted Spence to protect her. Drumming her fingers on her desk, she said, “Have you searched databases to see if Ethan is registered at a hotel? A motel? An Air B&B? A VRBO?”
“I asked Mel to do that,” he said, looking up from whatever he was working on. “She’s really good at that kind of digging.”
“I am, too,” she said, a little hurt that he hadn’t asked her.
He tilted his head at her. “Are you offended because I didn’t ask you to search for Davies?”
She was tempted to say no but opted for the truth. She didn’t want to lie to Spence. At least not directly. Lying about how she felt about him? That was self-preservation. “Yeah, I am. A little. I know Mel’s a whiz with that stuff after working for the CIA, but I’m no slacker when it comes to hacking.”
She smiled and glanced at her computer, then back at Spence. “How do you think I spent my time after we moved away from Illinois? I didn’t have any friends and was afraid to make new ones. So I spent my time on my computer. Doing what stupid, cocky kids do -- hacking into computer systems.”
An answering smile drifted across Spence’s mouth. “Glad to know you weren’t a perfect kid. Perfection is boring.” His smile faded. “Why were you afraid to make new friends when you moved here?”
“Duh,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I had befriended Ethan, or at least was friendly to him, because he sat next to me in computer class. Everyone talks to the kid next to them before class begins, right?”
“Yeah,” Spence said. “I suppose.”
“So if I didn’t talk to anyone, didn’t make friends, I wasn’t taking any chances. Opening myself to someone dangerous who could hurt my family.”
Spence’s expression softened. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “Of course you’d be afraid to make friends.”
She shrugged, sorry she’d brought it up. “I made lots of friends in college,” she said lightly. “After I got over myself.”
She didn’t add that all her friends were superficial ones. The kind of guys and girls she’d go to a bar with. See a movie with. Talk to in class. Maybe even study together. She’d been holding people at arm’s length for a long time.
Spence studied her for so long that she began to squirm. Had she given away too much about herself? Pried the lid off some of her most closely held secrets? She swallowed. She hoped not.
Finally Spence said, “I didn’t ask you to do the research about where Davies might be staying because I figured you have work of your own to do.”
Her shoulders relaxed that he hadn’t pursued any more details of her life. “I do but tracking down Ethan is my first priority. Everything else takes a back seat.”
He raised one eyebrow. “Really? Then why are you going to that conference?”
“I already explained that to you, Spence,” she said, more sharply than necessary. “And nothing has changed in the computer and tech industries in the last few days.”
He held up his hands. “Sorry, Zoe. I know. I get it. I’m just worried. Too many people milling around my principal makes me nervous. Itchy. I’m thinking about asking Nico to give me a hand at that conference.”
“Why don’t we see how the first night goes -- the cocktail party. It’ll be less hectic than the rest of the conference, but if you still think we need Nico, you can ask him to help for the other two days.”
Spence nodded. “I’ll give him a call and see if he can do it.”
He stood up and walked to the far side of the office as he pulled out his phone. When he spoke, his voice was too quiet for her to hear. The conversation was short, and when Spence slid the phone back into his pocket, he turned to her. “He’s free the first two days, but he has a job scheduled for Sunday.”
“Good. That’s settled then. You still have work to do?”
“Yeah, a few more things.”
“Okay. I’d like to get a little more work done, too.”
Spence nodded and sat down at the table and immediately began typing on his computer.