Hunter remained silent. Would he be endangering his brother if he trusted them? Or was Kyle in more danger without their offered protection? Before he could answer, the office door swung open and Byte walked in.
“Just great,” Hunter mumbled.
“Where’s the nice one?” she asked instead of greeting him.
Ivy stood and suggested they move into the conference room. “It’s getting a little crowded in here.”
Once the five were seated, Byte looked across the table, again demanding where Kyle was.
“You’re the reason he’s not here!” Hunter spat. “He was so wrapped up in identifying you that he put himself right in the middle of a turf war between two criminals.”
“Curiosity killed the cat,” Byte said back.
“Byte!” Ivy warned. “Hunter, Byte, much like the rest of us, has unique skill sets that help in finding those who prey on the weak. While you might not agree with our methods, we are successful in saving so many innocent lives. Now, if we can move past the accusations and talk about Kyle, I think we’ll all feel better.”
Ivy wanted to pat herself on the back with how diplomatic she sounded. God, she couldn’t wait for Justin to return.
“He went to find the police.”
“Good heavens!” Byte frustratingly said.
“You may not like the police, but I wasn’t leaving his fate to chance. Ever since I met you, you’ve been nothing but trouble. This is not my life. I don’t get kidnapped. I’ve lived twenty-eight years without having to say that. Nothing about you is normal.”
“Thank you,” Byte responded. “I never want to be normal.”
“Right,” Hunter said without humor.
“Life would be boring… kind of like yours.”
“My life isn’t boring… it’s safe. I don’t want to endanger my family.”
Ivy interrupted their debate, asking for more details about Kyle’s departure.
“I don’t know which law enforcement he found, but I told him to go to the café down the street. It’s a normal hangout for police.”
“Byte,” Ivy started to say, but was interrupted by an alarm at the door.
“Great! This isn’t going to turn out well. How did they find us so quickly?”
“Who?” Hunter asked.
“The police,” Aria answered.
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Hunter asked after Ivy left the room to greet their guests.
“Sometimes. You already know what we do. Sometimes we cross a line that we’d rather not draw attention to,” Aria responded.
“Like kill people,” Hunter said.
“At times. We have law enforcement agents that we trust. We try to not engage with ones we don’t know, for obvious reasons.”
The room went quiet when Ivy opened the door and ushered Kyle and Dax Chambers into the room.
“Wow! Byte, you’re alive,” Kyle said in excitement.
“As am I,” Hunter grunted.
“Yeah, sorry. I knew you’d be okay. But Byte, how did you get away?”