Night Hack: A forced proximity alpha hero hacker romantic suspense (Nightshade Book 4)

Chapter 14

Jana

How the fuck does he know my name?I’ve never used my last name on calls. It was a cardinal rule of mine. With the slew of wackos out there, that was something I ensured I never did. And there’s also the fact I did everything I could to minimize my digital footprint. There was no Facebook, no X, no Instagram for me. I liked my anonymity, something Brycen had been quick to praise once he’d gotten over his shock.

Within moments of having dropped my phone, Cade had grabbed me by my upper arms, ensuring that my legs didn’t give out entirely.

“Stay with me, Jana,” he ordered, forcing my eyes to meet his. “That’s right, girl, keep those eyes on me.” I reached for his shirt, the warmth of his person going a long way to steadying me. “That’s good. Breathe with me.”

He exaggerated every breath, pressing one of his hands to mine for a minute until relief flashed across his face.

“Good,” he said as he bent down to pick up my cell. “Now, let’s get you inside. I need to report this incident, but we’re going to have a chat before I call it in.”

“O-okay,” I whispered, not even recognizing my own voice.

Cade

“We got a problem, D,” I told my boss as soon as he answered.

“Fu-uck!” Sighing, he proceeded with, “Give it to me, Summers.”

At the height of an hour, tops, the whole of NSI had descended and converged in the Elway’s living room.

Jana had left the group prior to the final stragglers having arrived, and Jason had taken his mother to her room where she could rest while she ate lunch, and he unpacked the groceries they’d arrived with.

Devolin was the last of the group to show up, having been out of the office when my call had come through.

“Where is she?” the woman demanded, laptop in her bag and at the ready. Her eyes fell on me as she asked, “You got that phone?”

Handing her the device, I warned her. “Go light on her, Huss.”

Her tough-as-nails persona disintegrated within a fraction of a second as she nodded in understanding.

“You know I only save the ball-busting for you guys,” she stated. “It’s par for the course having to work with all you testosterone-filled degenerates every day ending in Y.”

Dalton guffawed at his wife’s declaration. Just like the boss-man, none of us at NSI would trade having Huss amongst our team for the world. Thank fuck that woman came into our lives when she had.

Brycen

“Mind telling me how that fucker got her number?” Jason stormed into the kitchen as soon as I’d headed for it, looking to brew a pot of coffee for the troops, and some glasses, along with a water pitcher I’d spotted last night when I’d done a bit of overhauling in Jana’s kitchen. It looked like she’d managed to finish her project sometime after I’d left this morning.

Somehow, our quick tryst I’d put a stop to seemed like it had taken place ages ago instead of mere hours, and all I wanted to do right then was pause and rewind.

“That’s what we’re working on figuring out,” I growled, shutting the refrigerator door a little harder than intended. Depositing the cream and milk on the countertop, I took a few seconds to rein in my fiery temper.

When I turned around to face Jana’s brother, his assessing gaze turned to one of almost pity.

“Fuck me,” he mumbled, scratching at the scruff on his chin and averting his gaze. “I warned her too late.”

“Care to explain that?”

Thankful that Devolin was looking into the cell business, I was able to focus on the security aspect of things with the rest of the guys.

“Got a problem,” my boss’s wife and cyber partner said as Jana’s withdrawn form followed slowly on her heels as they entered the living room from the hall.

As soon as Jana’s eyes met mine, I pushed away from my perch against the living room wall, heading straight for her. Grabbing her face gently in both my hands, I aimed her gaze up to mine. “What is it, sweetheart?” She looked worse than when I’d first shown up.

“H-he knows where I live,” she said, her voice a hoarse mess and practically undiscernible.

My body stiffened immediately. “Jesus! Fuck!” Stepping away, I turned and let every ounce of frustration overwhelming me out onto the wall next to us, my fist having broken clean through the two layers of drywall as Jana emitted a terrified shriek.

“Christ,” Dalton muttered. “Bryce, take a walk, man. You’re done.”

“Like fuck I am,” I growled, and turned to the lady of the house. She wore an uneasy expression, mixed with one of anguish, and it had me instantly feeling like a useless heel—a total prick for terrifying an already scared-shitless woman—my woman. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” Without attempting to touch her, I took a step back, then headed for the backyard, shaking my now throbbing hand, and closing only the screen door so I could hear what else might go on.

“Here.” Shane’s voice knocked me back to the present from the morose thoughts that had infiltrated my head. Turning, I found the man offering me a bag of frozen peas. “Thought you could use it. No one’s gonna be able to take a leak without giving everyone else a peepshow from that bathroom until that hole gets patched.” The man smirked. “I’ll call Theo in,” he spoke of a friend and sometimes team member.

“I’ll handle it,” I told him, gritting my teeth as I applied the makeshift ice pack to my knuckles. “Least I can do for scaring the shit out of her.”

“Listen, man,” he started, taking a seat on the patio steps beside me. “I know it’s hard not to lose it when shit hits the fan with someone we’re close to. It’s why I warned you off her in the first place.”

“I get it, all right?” I huffed my annoyance at his reminder.

“No, you don’t, Bryce,” he argued. “I warned you off, but that’s before I knew this was more than just a passing interest to you.” My head turned to look at him so quick, any quicker and I’d have snapped something. “You left so fast, right there, you didn’t see the concern on her face. She’s worried about you, told Huss as much without realizing I was close enough to overhear.”

“What do you suppose I do?”

“Go after her,” Jason interrupted, and I turned to look at the newcomer. “Get her out of her head. You’re good for her, Matthews. Mom said as much when we were out earlier. Thanks for last night, by the way. I should have been here, but I’m glad she had you.” Taking a long breath, his face hardened. “I came out here to let you two know they’re talking about moving Jana into a safehouse. I thought you’d want to weigh in on that discussion.”

“You’d be fucking right,” I grumbled, Shane and I getting to our feet.

Jason gave me a curt nod, meeting my eye. “Good. Now, do me a favor?”

“What’s that?”

“Keep her safe.” Jason proffered his hand, and I shook it immediately, my eyes glued to his, matching his determination.

“I will.”

“Good.”

Jana

“And this right here is why I never go on trips,” Devolin stated as she helped me pack a few bags, which had rapidly turned into five massive suitcases.

It had been decided, because whoever was after me knew my location, that it would be ultimately safer for Mom, Jason, and me to be relocated. As much as I didn’t want to, I knew it was now a necessity. I’d probably have argued more ferociously had it just been me, but it hadn’t been that way for months now.

At Dalton’s request, Devolin and I were in my bedroom, looking after my things while Jason and Rex were tackling Mom’s and my brother’s.

“So, tell me about this house Shane’s mother owns. Is it really across the street from where they live?” I asked to keep the conversation going.

“It is. It’s also got maxed-out security features, much like this place, but more,” she explained, zipping one case closed, then hefting it up to leave it by the bedroom door. “Holy shitballs, lady! I think you own quadruple the amount of clothes I do.”

I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped. “I never know how to pack, it doesn’t matter whether it’s for a few days or a month,” I explained.

She nodded, a sad look coming across her face. “I get it. I haven’t done much traveling since I was ten, really, unless you count my and Mom’s move here from Canada. Being sickly isn’t conducive to being a globetrotter, know what I mean?”

I paused long enough to study the other woman. “But you don’t look sick,” I said. If anything, she looked as if she was glowing. I suppose being with a man who worships the ground you walk on, like Dalton seemed to do, could make anyone look like that. Not for the first time in as little as a few days, I felt envious. Torn.

What would it be like to have a man, not any man, but Brycen, be like that with me?

“That’s the thing,” she explained, bringing me back to the moment. “Lupus won’t always make you sick. Before I met Kip, I’d been in and out of hospitals, mostly in, for nearly two years. A byproduct of childhood cancer treatments leaving me with lupus, and later, aplastic anemia.”

Holy shit!

“Yeah, you got that right. Damn well kicked my ass too,” she smiled sadly, then shook it off with a grin. A mischievous gleam entered her eyes as she continued telling me her story. “To keep my mind off of my health issues, I got really good at computers.” She winked.

A grin to rival hers crept onto my face before I giggled. “We’re going to have to get together for a girls’ night one of these days, and you’re going to have to go into more detail about these computer talents of yours,” I announced. Devolin was sweet one minute and had the right degree of sassiness to hold her own with the guys currently crowding my home in the next. I had liked her immediately upon meeting her weeks ago, but this one-one-one time we were having right then had solidified my opinion of her. “So, how’d you and Dalton meet anyway? Brycen told me something about an operation?”

“I suppose.” She shrugged her shoulder. “We met unofficially when I stumbled upon a site on the dark web that was making waves about a kidnapped kid.” I gulped at the reality. “Officially, we met about a year after that. My jackass uncle called in a favor to see if I could help locate his kidnapped fiancée, who’d disappeared while visiting family in Mexico. I referred him to NSI, but I kept a pulse on things by monitoring online chatter because he’s always been into some shady stuff. When I discovered the threat was bigger than what Dalton and his team could ever imagine—and I’m talking cartel big—I convinced my bestie, who’s a nurse at the hospital I was admitted to, to let me sneak out so I could warn Dalton.”

My eyes rounded at her explanation. “You’re shitting me, right?”

She shook her head, no. “I took a cab home, jumped in my car, drove to Kip’s house, and when he wasn’t there, I went to the next logical place: our friend, Theo’s. I should have never left the hospital that day. My nerves got the better of me, and so did my stress levels, and when those get crazy, my lupus sends me into a tailspin.”

“Was he there? At Theo’s, I mean,” I pushed, perched on the edge of the mattress, barely reining in my patience, packing all but momentarily forgotten.

Smiling shyly at her recollection, her eyes sparkled. “Yeah.”

“And?” I urged.

“And what? I ended up back in the hospital, the bestie, who turns out to be Dalton’s half sister of all things, colluded with my now-dear-husband. To be honest, I think half my heart belonged to him from that first night over the comms,” she fessed up. “I’ve never been one for relationships, and I didn’t have the time. I was better at computers and enjoying the small circle of friends I had, because most of everyone in my life had always left. But Dalton never did.”

“And I never will, babe,” had me jumping out of my skin, my hand clasping at my chest. “Almost ready to go, ladies?” The man walked up to his wife, wrapping an arm around her waist, then kissed the side of her head.

Damn!

“Right?” Devolin smirked as her husband chuckled.

There went my mouth again.