26. Loose Morals For the Win
”HOLY SHIT.”
My focus snaps to where Heidi sits beside me, staring at her computer screen. ”Did you find something?”
”Yes.” She tips her head, lips pursing. ”Maybe. I”m not sure yet.”
I lean in, trying to get a better look at what she”s looking at. ”What is it?”
Eyes narrowing, she continues working while she explains. ”So, I”m in some relatively sketchy hacking groups, and I just found someone asking about a program that erases pathways.”
My jaw drops. ”Holy shit.”
”That”s what I said.” Heidi is still scanning her screen, scrolling through what seems to be a never-ending comment thread. It”s difficult to tell, because quite a bit of it is still encrypted. “People in these groups are super secretive, so unfortunately it”s gonna take me a while to figure out who”s asking and if they’ve got any connection to our guys.”
She’s been working on this all day and I know she has to be tired. I’m on day five and I’m freaking exhausted, and I don’t have twins at home or another job.
And now I feel like an ass for bringing her here.
”I”m really sorry. I know I”m taking you away from your job and your kids.” I blow out a frustrated breath. “I just didn”t know who else to turn to.”
”Don”t be sorry.” Heidi gives me a quick smile. ”I love this shit.” She leans closer, lowering her voice. ”And I”ve kind of missed hanging out with your asshole boyfriend.”
I smile, because I can see why Vincent likes her—and Vincent does like her, whether he admits it or not. ”I”m pretty sure he missed hanging out with you too.” I don”t want to offer up too much information, so I make my next question more about her side of this. ”Is the owner of your company still pissed?”
Heidi snorts. ”Pissed is probably an understatement.” She’s still working, managing to carry on a full conversation without so much as pausing. ”Pierce was fucking livid when he found out Vincent was behind all the weird shit happening. And it only got worse when Vincent tried to play it off like he was helping by showing Pierce where the company”s weak spots were.”
It was kind of a dick move, but I”m not telling her I think that. My loyalty is to Vincent. No matter what he”s done, I”ll back him up. I might scream at him about it later, but in front of other people, I will have his back every time. ”Were there weak spots?”
Heidi”s lips press together. ”I”m not going to answer that.”
I like that she has her own allegiances and isn”t going to throw anyone under the bus. It means she’s trustworthy and loyal, and makes me glad Vincent’s had her around. Even though she might work for another company, Heidi doesn’t seem like the kind who would run back and tell her boss everything that’s going on within GHOST.
Heidi rolls her head, cracking her neck. ”I”m sure they”ll work their shit out at some point. Honestly, they both have the same asshole tendencies, and they both need each other, even if they won’t admit it.”
That’s an interesting statement.
”I”m still not entirely clear on how they worked together.” Now I”m just being nosy. I’ve accepted that I’ll never get to work for GHOST, but I still want to know as much as I can about it.
”Both companies are privately held, but all of Alaskan Security’s contracts are civilian.” Heidi leans forward, eyes squinting at the screen. ”GHOST’s contracts frequently have government ties, so it was convenient for Vincent to occasionally use Alaskan Security to add an extra layer of separation between GHOST’s actions and the people who requested them.”
It makes sense. I can see how certain entities wouldn”t want to be connected to the kinds of things I know GHOST does. ”So what”s in it for Alaskan Security?”
Heidi finally looks my way, shooting me a quick grin. ”Vincent”s real good at making dead bodies disappear.”
I smile back. ”That”s kind of a relief, because I recently made a dead body.”
Heidi”s eyes widen and her mouth drops open. ”No shit?”
”No shit.” I still feel a little guilty about not feeling guilty for what happened, but it was kill or be killed. Or maybe kill or be abducted. Either way, that guy wasn’t there to sell me popcorn. ”I took out one of the guys who showed up at my condo.”
Heidi holds up one hand, palm facing my direction. ”Hell yeah.”
I give her a high-five. It probably makes me a bad person, but it seems like I’m in good company around here. It”s probably a good thing my moral compass is more questionable than I realized, otherwise it would likely be difficult to be with someone like Vincent. And I want to be with him. Indefinitely.
Loose morals for the win.
I grab my coffee cup, ready to take another swig before getting back to work, but the second I pick it up, I groan. Peering into the lid’s drink hole, I frown. ”Dammit. I didn”t notice I”d already drunk all this.”
Heidi waves me on. ”Go get more. It”s gonna take me a while to get all this deciphered.”
I wish I could help her with it, but I never quite made it into those super clandestine groups. Once I discovered there were companies like GHOST that I could work for, I focused most of my attention on that and less on the social aspect that comes with hacking. It”s a solitary sort of thing, but the community surrounding it is surprisingly big and close-knit.
”You want anything while I’m in the breakroom?”
Heidi shakes her head, lifting up her giant cup with one hand. ”I”m good.”
“I’ll be right back then.” I take my empty cup with me, because there”s no reason for me to use a new one every time. I’m at the coffee machine waiting for my next brew when movement catches my eye. I turn to find Amos, the guy in charge of Vincent”s SWAT style teams, entering the room. I give him a nod, but don”t smile, because that”s how Vincent greets people. Then go back to making my coffee, figuring he’s here for a beverage of his own.
I finish making my cup and turn to find him standing right in front of me, so close I almost jump back in surprise. Thankfully, the fear of being scalded by my screaming hot coffee keeps my reaction subdued. I must be in his way, so I step to one side.
He follows, blocking my path. ”Vincent wants you to come to the training center.”
”Oh.” His rounds must be taking longer than he expected, and he wants to touch base with me about how things are going on my end. ”Okay.” I double check the lid of my cup and follow Amos out of the room, trailing behind him.
GHOST headquarters is huge. Like, could serve as an Amazon distribution center huge, and I”m still not great about knowing my way around. I blindly follow Amos as we make turn after turn, switching my hot cup from hand to hand, wishing I’d taken the time to slide on a cardboard sleeve so my palms wouldn’t be melting.
He pushes a heavy metal door open, and I follow him through, expecting to walk into the giant auditorium style arena. Instead, the sharp cut of the Alaskan breeze steals my breath.
Maybe I”m not the only one who doesn”t know their way around this freaking place. I stop, ready to turn back and race inside before my nipples can cut glass, but Amos grabs my elbow, his grip a little tighter than I”m expecting. ”This way.”
He tries to pull me, but I hold my ground. ”I”m pretty sure the arena isn’t that way. I”ve never had to go outside to get there.”
Amos stops and slowly turns to face me, but this time when he looks at me his expression is different. It’s colder. Darker.
I figure out I’m in trouble a split second before he tries to grab me with both hands. The only weapon I have is a cup of screaming hot coffee, and I use it, ripping the lid free before throwing it right in his face. I know it won’t stop him, but maybe it’ll slow him down enough to give me time to run. Time to get someone’s attention.
But Amos barely even flinches when the scalding liquid makes contact with his skin. The only way I know he even realizes it happened is because he immediately backhands me across the face. The hit stuns me. I”ve never been hit in my life, and it seems to short-circuit my brain just long enough for him to start dragging me away from the building. The path is a little slippery and my cute black ankle boots do nothing to help me get traction, so instead of fighting to get free, I’m fighting to stay upright.
”We could have done this the easy way, but you just had to be difficult.” His voice is flat. No inflection at all. ”You know how long it took me to find you? Months. It cost me millions. And because of you, it was almost a complete waste.”
What the fuck is he even talking about? ”I haven”t—”
Before I can finish my sentence, he slaps me again, palm connecting with the other side of my face in another shocking blow.
”I hope you weren’t about to say you haven”t done anything. We both know exactly what you”ve done.” He continues moving, and now my whole face is throbbing. If it wasn”t for him holding me up, I”d be splattered across the snow, melting into a puddle of panicked tears. He’s hit me twice now for less than no reason, so I can only imagine how he”d react if I fell. And since I don’t want to find out, I put all my effort into keeping both feet under me while I try to come up with a way out of whatever the fuck this is.
”You have two options.” He continues hauling me forward, and I catch sight of an idling SUV as we round the corner of the building. ”You can keep dragging your ass and I can take out whoever gets in my way, or you can come with me and no one else has to get hurt.”
It doesn”t take a rocket scientist to understand what he”s telling me. He’s all in on whatever this is, and will do whatever it takes to get me out of here, killing anyone who tries to get in his way.
Including Vincent.
”I”m not trying to drag my feet. I”m trying not to fall on my ass.” I put a little more effort into actually walking. ”Maybe this would go a little more smoothly if you told me what in the hell it’s about?”
Amos turns to me, and I brace for another hit. He did warn me not to pretend like I don”t know what”s going on, but I”m legitimately not pretending. I really don’t know what in the hell is happening.
The back door of the waiting SUV swings open and a man in a suit steps out.
A man I fucking recognize.
He jerks his chin at the open door. ”Get her in here. We need to get the fuck out of here before he notices she”s gone.”
Amos stuffs me into the back seat before climbing in behind me. The man I know parks his pasty ass on my other side, blocking me in so I can’t even try to jump out. I stare straight ahead, trying to watch both of them in my periphery, because I”m not sure which one of them is a bigger threat.
I have a pretty good guess though.
”This all could have been so much easier, Julieanne.” Amos’s partner in literal crime watches me with a sneer on his lip. ”We had a nice dinner. Good conversation. You could”ve invited me to your place, enjoyed a little one-on-one time, and then I could have handled all this when you went to sleep.” He shakes his head, sucking his tongue between his teeth. ”But you just had to go and be stuck-up.”
I finally turn and face him, wishing I still had that gun Vincent gave me by the pond because I’d love to put a bullet between his eyes. And I wouldn’t feel bad about it. At all.
His saggy face is a little sweaty and his eyes have a wild edge. His suit is expensive, but who the fuck cares when the rest of him is hot garbage? I never really found this prick that attractive, but I thought maybe he”d grow on me. Turns out he kinda has. Like a wart. The genital version. ”We must not have been on the same date, Clark.”
Anger flares behind his eyes, and he leans closer. ”Not my fault you’re a frigid bitch.”
I laugh. I can”t help it. It”s probably because I”m hysterical, but I let myself think it”s because I”m about as far from a frigid bitch as it gets. ”Whatever.” I start to ask what this is about again, but then I remember how far that”s gotten me previously, so I press my lips together and face back out the windshield.
”You look awfully calm for a woman who pulled a stunt like the one you pulled.” Clark adjusts the jacket of his suit. ”You should probably be a little more concerned for your well-being, considering you fucked me and then wouldn’t let me fuck you.”
I decide to keep ignoring him because men like him enjoy being ignored so much and I want to piss him off. Make him irrational enough to fuck up. Hopefully it will give me an opportunity to get away.
Unfortunately my silence doesn’t seem to bother him because this particular man really fucking likes to listen to himself talk.
”You should probably be thanking me.” He smirks, like he’s amused. “Otherwise you would have found out the hard way that Vincent’s just using you.”
I almost laugh again, because it”s kinda comical that he thinks I”ll believe Vincent is using me. I mean, I’m not opposed to letting him use me, but not in the way I think he”s imagining.
However, his attempt to turn me against Vincent is a clue. To what, I don”t know, but he talks so damn much, I”ll probably know shortly.
”I”m not sure why you would believe Vincent wanted you in the first place. All Vincent wants is what”s best for him, and he probably should”ve put a little more thought into what you really have to offer him.” He leans closer. ”And I”m not talking about your cunt.”
I keep staring ahead, doing my best to school my features and wear an expression like Vincent would if he was in the situation. It seems like a better way to handle this than how I would react in this situation, because I”m pretty sure by now I’d be crying. Maybe even throwing up.
Though throwing up on them does sound like fun.
I continue staring out the windshield, wishing I was familiar enough with the area that I’d be able to figure out where we’re going, but nothing is jumping out at me. Everything”s covered in snow and frozen, so it all looks pretty much the same. Even if I could contact Vincent somehow, I’d never be able to tell him how to find me.
The reality of my situation slowly starts to sink in, and I have to shove both hands between my thighs to hide the fact that they”re starting to shake. Now I fully get why Vincent didn”t want me working for GHOST. Why he brought me here and locked me up in his fortress of solitude, saying I couldn”t have Internet access or talk to anyone. What I wouldn”t give to be piled up on his couch with Radar draped across my lap, watching Netflix until my eyes glazed over.
Instead, I”m stuck between a traitor and his narcissistic, paunchy, boring as fuck boss.
Who is still freaking talking.
Clark leans back, draping one arm across the seat behind us. ”Let me guess. Vincent told you he wasn’t gonna let you work for GHOST, but ended up bringing you in anyway and letting you dabble around on his system.”
The reality is a little too close to his hypothesis, but I know Vincent. I know he”s not using me. It still creates a little hint of insecurity in the back of my brain, and that makes me hate Clark even more.
I wonder if Vincent will let me be the one to shoot him when he shows up. He probably would if I asked. Deciding I’ll be the one to shoot this motherfucker between the eyes makes me feel a little better. Reminds me that while I might be the only one in the car with him now, I’m not alone.
Vincent will find me, and I almost consider feeling bad for these guys because of it. They don’t understand the lengths he will go to. The crimes he will commit. The blood he will spill to avoid losing someone he cares about. His wrath is going to be unmatched.
All I have to do is stay alive long enough. And I will. I”ll do it for the same reason I let Amos get me in this car. I won’t allow anyone to hurt Vincent. He pretends to be all hard and emotionless, but that man has the most tender heart I think I”ve ever seen. Losing his mother almost broke it beyond repair, and there”s no way I”m going to let him lose me.
I take a deep breath, staying as calm as I can, ready to act the minute I have an opportunity.
After what seems to be only fifteen minutes, we slow down and pull into a parking lot. The building attached to it is boarded up and looks about one strong wind away from collapsing.
“Let’s go.” Clark is the first one out of the car, but he slams the door, leaving me to be Amos’s problem. Amos isn’t a big fan of me, so he”s not careful as he yanks me out and shoves me toward the building. The man who drove us here opens the rusted metal door at the back of the dilapidated structure, and I follow Clark inside to discover it might be slightly more stable than I initially thought.
There”s a handful of other people in here, all of them on computers, and I”m starting to get even more confused about what”s going on.
Amos grabs my arm and hauls me toward an empty desk, slamming me down into the seat as Clark comes to prop his ass on the corner. He gives me a smile. “I want you to give it to me.”
I blink, looking around the space for some hint of what it is, but there”s nothing. ”What are you talking about?”
I glanced at Amos, just in case I need to brace for another hit, but he doesn”t move.
Clark sighs. ”You”re too smart to play stupid, Julieanne.” He leans down, getting close enough I can smell the stink of his breath. ”I want the scrubbing program you sold me.” His expression hardens. “And this time I want the correct version.”
My eyes go to the people hunched over laptops. Not a single one of them spares me a glance. I didn”t expect any of them to offer me help, but one of them could at least look at me. They don”t though, so it seems like I am completely and totally on my own until Vincent gets here.
”I didn”t create a scrubbing program.” I offer up the truth even though I know they”re not going to accept it. For some reason, this asshole thinks I”m responsible for the magical program that hid the source of the people who came for me in Tennessee…
Oh shit. I think I know who came for me now.
Clark”s jaw clenches, and I swear one of his eyes starts to twitch. ”Cut the shit, Julieanne. We know it was you. You did a real good fucking job of hiding it, but you missed something.” He leans closer. “One tiny little slip-up sent us right to your IP.” He smirks. “Bet you wish you spent a little more time putting that program of yours to work now, huh?”
I try to swallow, but my mouth has gone dry. Panic like I”ve never felt before settles into my body. Into my soul. It takes everything I have to speak. To keep my voice from shaking the way my whole body is. ”Okay, you”re right. It was me.” My throat’s tight, gripped by fear unlike anything I”ve ever known.
I didn”t make the program, but I have to believe him when he says it originated from my IP. They tracked me down somehow, and there’s no reason for them to lie. But if I didn’t do it, then someone else with access to my computers must have done it. There”s only one other person who could be responsible, and I will protect my son at any cost. I love Vincent. I don”t want him to lose another person he cares about. But I love my son more. And I”m sure if Vincent understood the circumstances, he would see why this is the only choice I can make.
I take a steadying breath, knowing what”s coming next. ”But you can fuck all the way off, because I’ll never give it to you.”