Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
“What are you doing?” Maureen stood in the doorway to his bedroom, staring at him skeptically.
Dominic got up off his hands and knees. “I was cleaning. Is that a problem?”
“Not generally. But it does make me concerned about the state of your mental health. I’ve never seen you clean anything.”
“Which is a problem in itself, isn’t it?”
Usually, Maureen was the one to tidy up after him.
But he didn’t like her coming into his room too often, so it tended to get cluttered.
After Sylvie had arrived a couple of days ago, he’d shoved a bunch of junk under his bed.
But now he was too full of nervous energy, and he needed something to do.
Plus, he liked the idea of making more room for Sylvie. As if clearing away the detritus from his regular life would give her that much more reason to feel comfortable here.
Which was stupid because he wouldn’t be here much longer anyway. He’d be leaving for the safe house before long, and he had no idea when he’d be back here.
But cleaning had made some instinctual sense in his head, so he’d decided to go with it.
He stood up from the floor. “Do you know how much longer it’ll be ’til they’re here?”
“Your answer is as good as mine. I would’ve thought Sylvie would let you know.”
He hadn’t heard back from her all day, even though he’d written. Maybe that was another source of his nervousness. He wanted to know what was going on.
He’d managed to talk briefly with Raymond, who wasn’t happy at all about the safe house idea. And he’d been outright pissed when he’d heard about the bodyguard detail. Ray had insisted Dominic call off Bennett Security before he’d even consider anything like the safe house.
Dominic didn’t understand his brother’s reticence. Maybe the kid was afraid to accept that their lives weren’t normal, wouldn’t be anything close to normal until they could both get away from the Syndicate.
Raymond was going to need more convincing. Dominic was still counting on Lana to help him there.
But at least they had some time before the move. He wanted to spend as much of that with Sylvie as possible.
By the time Sylvie and Tanner arrived, Dominic’s room was spotless.
He’d showered and shaved. He met Sylvie at the door and swept her into his arms, capturing her mouth in a passionate kiss.
He was putting on a show for the cameras because he knew Sandford was watching, but he didn’t have to fake his enthusiasm.
When Dominic broke off the kiss, Sylvie said, “Wow. Hello to you, too.”
“Just wanted to make sure you knew how much I missed you.”
Sylvie pulled him down again, locking their lips.
Dominic knew she was playing along, but he liked to think her show of affection was mostly sincere.
Their chemistry certainly felt like the real thing.
His breathing was shallow, and his focus was soft.
No one had ever fit so perfectly into his arms.
Maureen cleared her throat. “All right, I think that’s plenty. We’ve all got the idea. Either you two head upstairs for privacy or turn down the thermostat. I’m having a hot flash over here.”
Tanner snorted, shaking his head as he wandered toward the kitchen.
They acted normal for a while, chatting like this was just a regular visit, in case the Syndicate had binoculars trained on Dominic’s windows right now. He didn’t want to do anything that might set off their suspicions.
But there was a different kind of tension in the air this afternoon. All four of them knew they had an important objective today.
Dominic took solace in the fact that they were all finally working together toward a common goal. Every time he touched Sylvie or kissed her hair, he felt the relief of knowing they were being completely honest with one another. That he wasn’t hiding anything at all.
Maybe this was what it felt like to really be himself.
Smiling and laughing easily, feeling at home in his skin.
Not worrying about what anyone thought of him, despite the danger waiting just beyond their door.
He wished it hadn’t taken such extreme circumstances to make him stop playing the role of “Dominic Crane” and just be Nic.
All he knew was that he wanted to feel this way all the time.
They’d choreographed the whole evening. Sylvie had already dropped off her overnight bag in Dominic’s room. When she and Maureen started making dinner, with Tanner helping out, Dominic went upstairs with the flash drive Sylvie had given him. It contained the modified code she’d created.
She’d promised all he had to do was plug it in to her laptop, just like the one Sandford had given him before. To the Russian hackers, it would be indistinguishable from the programs they’d created to infiltrate Bennett Security. Of course, this one had the secret malware Sylvie had devised.
Dominic didn’t understand how it all worked, but he could manage this part of it. He took Sylvie’s laptop out of her bag and set it on the dresser. Even pretending to violate her trust bothered him. It reminded him of how close he’d come to doing the real thing.
He plugged the drive into the USB port on the side of Sylvie’s machine. She had told him the screen would come to life, and a small window would appear with code.
So far, so good.
He’d asked Sylvie if she should handle the install herself in case anything went wrong. But she was worried the slightest misstep could alert the Syndicate that something was amiss.
As he waited for the code to stop scrolling, the only sound he could hear was his own breathing.
When the little window on the screen disappeared, he removed the drive and shut the lid on the computer. The last thing he had to do was use his phone—the regular one the Syndicate knew about—to notify Sandford.
Dominic: It’s done.
He stared at the screen, waiting for a response. But none came. He had to assume everything was fine. Sandford would let him know what to do next.
He went back downstairs to meet Sylvie in the kitchen.
“Did it go okay?” she whispered, her eyes wide.
“It was exactly what you said. Plugged it in, the window did its scrolly thing, then I pulled it out. That was it.”
She nodded. “Okay, that’s good. I guess now all we can do is wait.”
“When will we know it’s working?”
“When I get back to the office and access the data that should be coming back from the Russian hackers.”
“You can’t check on the laptop upstairs?”
Sylvie smiled at him patiently. “I can’t do that because then they’d see it. They have access to everything on that machine, but it’s just a decoy. A copy of my real laptop. The malware I wrote is going to send the Syndicate data directly back to Bennett Security.”
He stood behind her and kissed the side of her neck until Maureen and Tanner started to complain.
Then Dominic’s phone chimed with an incoming text. He checked the message.
Aaron Sandford: We need to talk. Urgently. Get somewhere you won’t be overheard and call me.
Dominic cursed. “It’s him. Sandford needs something and says it’s urgent. What if it’s the program? What if something’s wrong?”
Sylvie’s face gave away her anxiety. It was the same thing he felt.
The four of them went upstairs to the game room. Maureen, Sylvie, and Tanner sat out of sight on one side of the room. Dominic lowered himself onto the couch and dialed Sandford’s number.
The lawyer switched the call to video. His face appeared, eyes glittering with animosity.
Dominic forced himself to act calm. “What do you want now?” he whispered, as if he feared being overheard. “I did what you asked.”
“I know. It’s a step in the right direction, but unfortunately, that’s no longer good enough. Charles wants to see you in person. You need to deliver your endorsement to the captains, and besides that, Charles is tired of having to guess about what you’re really doing.”
Dominic’s stomach lurched. “You want me to leave my house? Did you forget the ankle monitor?”
“So get rid of it. You’ve been giving far too much credence to those rules. It’s really making Charles have doubts about you. He heard you were going soft, and your tendency to hide in that house is only confirming those rumors.”
Dominic could feel Sylvie and Maureen reacting on the other side of the room, but he didn’t dare raise his eyes from the screen.
“But consider this an opportunity,” the lawyer said. “You’ll finally get out of that house, just like you wanted. Don’t worry, Charles will keep you hidden. He’s very anxious to keep you close.”
Dominic tried to think fast. “All right, I’ll make it happen. Just tell me when and where to meet Charles, and I’ll be there. But I’ll need at least a week. I have to wrap some things up here, pack, make excuses to Sylvie and Maureen…”
“That’s not possible. We’re sending a car for you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Someone will call you in the afternoon when the car is nearby. They’ll tell you where to meet up with them. All you have to do is ditch the ankle monitor and walk away. If the police figure out you’re running, it’s not a problem. Our car will get to you faster.” Sandford smirked. “Until then.”
The lawyer’s face disappeared.
He hadn’t even given Dominic a chance to argue, to ask questions. Nothing. Because there was absolutely nothing he could do.
Charles was demanding he come in and put himself at the mercy of the Syndicate.
Dominic didn’t just turn off his screen. He powered down his phone completely. “He’s gone.”
Sylvie raced across the room. “Why are they doing this? Do you think they know about our plan to target their hackers?”
Dominic shook his head. “I don’t think so. I think they’ve been planning this all along. I gave them what they wanted, so now they have no more use for me. Maybe Charles really does want me to put in a word with his captains. But after that…”
They were going to kill him. Dominic was sure of it.
He hardly felt anything, just numb. Like the shock hadn’t worked its way through his entire brain yet.
“You’re not going with those people, are you?” Maureen asked.
He huffed a laugh. “Not if I want to live through the week.”
Sylvie covered her gasp with her hand.
Charles had trapped him. Left him no way out but to run.
Lana had told him they might be able to move up the schedule if circumstances changed. But could she find a way to get him out of here by tomorrow?
He reached for his phone. Then he remembered he had to use the burner. “I need to contact Lana and see if the Feds can get me and Maureen out of here tomorrow.”
“They have to,” Sylvie said. “There’s no way they’ll just leave you at the Syndicate’s mercy. You’re a witness.”
Tanner walked toward them, his hands tucked casually into his shorts pockets like always.
“Or we could just skip the bureaucracy and deal with Bennett Security instead. We’ll get you out of here tonight.
No messing around. We’ll get you into one of Max’s safe houses until we can figure out a more permanent arrangement. ”
“You think Max would do that?” Dominic said. “You’d be helping me violate bail. That’s a crime.”
Tanner shrugged. “Pretty sure he would.”
Sylvie sat on the couch and took Dominic’s hand. “Even if Max wouldn’t help you, he would do it for me. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
He wasn’t sure he believed her. But it meant a lot that she’d said it.