19. Chapter 19
Raz fell back against the SUV’s backseat, hand pressed against his thumping chest. The unfiltered thread of desire coursing across the link made him want to purr. His mind vibrated with the truth. She only wanted him.
“You good?” Sid asked from the middle row, switching his microphone off by snapping it upright.
Raz switched his mic off as well. “Fine.”
The line in his ear crackled before Clyde said, “I’m in their system, Kate.”
“Interesting…” she whispered, more so to Clyde than the monotonous talker conversing with her and Caige at the gala.
“Oh, yes, Elizabeth,” the talker gushed. “I believed so too. That’s why I—“
“Clyde’s good,” Sid said over the person talking to Kate whom Raz wanted to shut up. “I hope he’s good enough to get into Ziegler’s systems.”
Raz sat forward to peer over Sid’s shoulder. The large laptop on his lap displayed a split screen, a replica of Clyde’s.
“Only Kate would risk using the gala as a distraction while she hacked someone else. Do you think Ziegler’s hacker will catch Clyde?” Raz asked as coding filled the left screen. The right screen displayed a few unknown programs waiting.
“If he meddles too long, an intrusion detection system will report it, but everyone there, including Ziegler’s guy, is concentrated on the purse.”
The person speaking to Kate stopped midsentence as if something had happened in the room.
“Welcome to my Hackers Gala,” Ziegler’s static voice boomed in Raz’s earpiece. “We’ll jump straight to why we are here. Are the hackers ready?”
On the untouched left screen, a red buzzer lit up, as if Clyde had announced his readiness. At the top right, a box sat open with speech text copying what Ziegler had said.
“Looks great, competitors,” Ziegler said.
“Hands off your keyboards until I tell you or you’ll be disqualified.
The first one to find the identity of Philip Jason Mineer, along with his location, to steal it for my personal use, wins the million-dollar purse.
The prompt will show how to spell his name. ”
Mineer? Shit. That was the head of the national task force putting a case together against some of Matsuda’s local men. Raz hated to think what Matsuda or even Ziegler would do with that information. Helplessness closed in on him. He couldn’t warn the man without endangering Kate’s mission.
“Since all of you are patched in, all your progress will be live,” Ziegler continued. “Without further ado, let the games begin. You may start.”
Applause erupted into Raz’s ear, making him curse from the sharp pain.
The screen on the left side of the laptop whirled to life, letters and numbers flying across the surface as Clyde woke up the programs.
“I have the program searching for the other competitors now,” Clyde said.
“And…I’m almost connected to all of them.
” Five screens started to populate Clyde’s—the computers of the other hackers, if Raz had to guess.
“Okay. Everything looks great. I’ll let it track and copy their progress while I work on Ziegler’s hacker. ”
“Oh! What fun,” Kate beamed.
“Explain to me again what Clyde is doing?” Raz asked. “I nodded through that explanation since she wasn’t using layman’s terms.”
“Short version?” Sid relaxed back into his seat.
“He’s hacking through every encryption Ziegler’s hacker has on his system to reach the security program attached to the sub.
Remotely accessing it here will later allow us to tap into the surveillance cameras on the sub.
A few video re-loops later, we can take what we need, and no one will be the wiser. ”
“Got it.”
Silence dampened the car. Sid breathed deeply, eyes on the laptop. “So, Kate’s a Fallen, huh?”
The hair on Raz’s neck stood on end, but he didn’t gaze away from the screen, which was filling with code he didn’t understand. “Yeah.”
“Not what I expected. I thought there’d be an obvious clue to their spirit energy.”
“Same.” A weight slowly slid off his shoulders. The need to talk with someone else about her hit him hard.
“And she’s yours?”
Discord built up like fire at the rear of his throat. “Don’t want to talk about that part.”
“We could all sense your Mark on her. What changed?”
“I’m not going to act like linking with her wasn’t inevitable, but that personality of hers gets me. She makes me feel…maybe a little too carefree, but fuck if I’m letting that go.”
“She’s dangerous.”
“Whatever may come, it’ll be on me.” Raz sighed. “Wish she didn’t have to be…”
“A thief?” Sid said. When Raz couldn’t muster a protest, Sid continued, “It’s kind of hot. Don’t try to deny it.”
Raz punched him in the shoulder. Sid sat forward, chuckling.
Kate’s giggling filled his earpiece, the too high-pitch grating compared to her genuine laughter.
Sid asked, “Can we trust her?”
Raz’s heart dropped, feeling that tendril of blackness curling along the link. The part she tried to conceal from him. “She can’t fake her emotions on the link. I know she’s hiding something, but she’s genuine about the situation. She wants to stop Matsuda.”
“I hope it works out. Just glad it’s you and not me. The whole other half thing doesn’t suit me.” He flashed Raz a grin.
“Shut it.”
“I shouldn’t ask about the sex then?”
“You…” Raz wrapped his arms around Sid’s neck in a play choke hold. Sid reached back to grab Raz, laughing.
“Kate,” Clyde’s voice interrupted them. “One hacker is close, but I’m still a few minutes away from getting through these encryptions.”
“Prepare to switch to plan B,” she whispered.
Raz released Sid and turned on his microphone. “What’s plan B?”
“Roger,” Clyde said.
After a moment of silence, Raz asked, “Kate?”
“Relax. Don’t look all serious,” Kate said, most likely looking at Caige, but speaking to Raz.
A commotion of gasping followed by cheers and sighs of defeat crackled over his earpiece.
“Well, folks…I believe Sinclair has delivered,” Ziegler said.
“Wait. So has Hackerm,” someone’s shout barely reached over his headphones.
“That part went as planned at least,” Sid said, pointing at the laptop to show the screen that had three different identifications of a blond male named Mr. Mineer, including an image taken from a stoplight camera as he walked down a sidewalk, face highlighted by a red box.
How the hell? These were professionals, capable of getting into systems he didn’t even know were hackable.
Sid said, “Clyde’s program pulled the information from the winner as soon as they got it.”
If that was planned, why was anxiety pumping adrenaline into his veins through the link? He practically wanted to jump out of the SUV.
“Well, now, that is a turn…” Ziegler said.
Kate coughed.
A second later, something red filled half Sid’s screen—coding flashed before it turned black.
“What the fuck?” Sid said, sitting up in the seat and moving his cursor.
“What happened?” Raz asked.
Sid puffed out a laugh. “That was fast. I caught the beginning trail of ransomware followed by a sick-ass virus.”
“What does that mean?”
“Clyde just stole the information Ziegler wanted and attempted to cover his tracks. Everyone’s systems are fried.”
What is she up to?
“Kate, want to explain why you grabbed Ziegler by his balls?” Raz said over the microphone, even as what sounded like mayhem happened on the other side. Yelled accusations shot out along with chatter as people worked to figure out what happened.
“Buying time, baby,” Kate said.
“You bitch,” the feminine shout came close to Kate’s microphone. “How dare your hacker steal that information from me?”
“I thought that was the point,” Kate said smoothly. “Have the better hacker.”
“Yours just fried my fucking system.”
“Excuse me? Why would I fry my own in the process?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. You will pay for this.”
The threatening tone sent Raz’s hackles rising. Heat ripened up his spine in a fiery burn.
“Please step back, Mrs. Sinclair,” Caige whispered calmly, his voice as penetrating and deadly as a bullet.
“Insolent little thing. You even need a guard to fight your battles for you.”
“Trust me. I can take care of myself. He’s doing that for your safety, honey.” Her lips smacked together before air whisked by as if she blew the woman a kiss. Marking your next target, Kate?
“I can squish you beneath my boot,” Mrs. Sinclair hissed.
“Louis Vuitton. Can’t say I’d be too ashamed of that.”
Sid laughed and Raz flicked his ear.
Sid jerked away. “Sorry. This catfight is making my day.”
“I’ll need you to come with me,” An authoritative masculine voice said from Kate’s side. “Ziegler would like to see you both.”
“Oh?” Kate said. “I wonder why.”
Kate’s cavalier attitude did nothing to soothe his worry. What would Ziegler do to her? That was information Matsuda himself needed. A snort came across the line as if from Mrs. Sinclair.
“I don’t know how she does it,” Sid murmured, a half-cocked grin tilting his cheeks.
“She’s a talented actress—that’s for sure,” Raz said. Especially when her fear of failure wrapped around his throat like a boa.
How are you going to get out of this one, Kate?