23. Lex
23
LEX
A fter I’ve walked Vani back to her room, I return to the mansion.
Saint and Zane are in the same position I left them, watching re-runs of sports on the television. They’ve dived into the snacks now, too, and I screw up my nose at their choices. Zane, I can understand having poor taste in food, since, though he has Greek heritage, he grew up in the States, but Saint has no excuse.
“I hope you’re not getting a taste for that rubbish,” I say to him, smacking at his feet to get them off the coffee table. “I thought you knew better.”
He plunges his hand deep into the bucket of popcorn and tosses some kernels into his mouth. He shrugs and says, “It fills a hole.” Then a sly grin crosses his face. “Speaking of filling holes…”
I know exactly what he’s referring to, or perhaps I should say who. “Do you think she’ll come back after how you treated her?”
Saint shrugs again. “They normally do. They pretend they don’t like it, but then it’s my voice they hear when they’re playing with themselves.”
Arrogant fuck, how does he know it’s not mine? Or that they don’t think of Zane when they close their eyes? Saint has always had more confidence than anyone has a right to.
Zane picks up his tablet. We need to check the cameras from the office .
Shit, he’s right. “I’d forgotten all about that.”
“Me, too,” Saint agrees. “Think you can handle it?”
I twist my lips and nod. “Yeah, I think so.”
I retrieve my laptop from its bag and set up at the table. The glow from the screen illuminates my face and the space behind me as I run my fingers over the keys. My attempt to hack into our college’s security takes all my focus, and I’m barely aware of the other two in the room. Even when they let out a yell and high five each other because someone scores, I don’t look up.
I’m not the best at this, but I can do the basics. I’ve done it before back home when Saint and I wanted information on various enemies. Our father has an excellent hacker working for him, and she taught me the basics. I think our father fucks her as well, but he fucks a lot of women, so nothing new there.
After about thirty minutes, I announce, “I’m in.”
Movement comes around me as Zane positions himself at one shoulder and Saint the other. I drill down to find the exact camera I need, and then isolate the footage, and hit play.
I sit back. “Let’s find out what Nathaniele has seen.”
“Fast forward it a bit,” Saint says.
I do because I didn’t enter until later.
I wait for the moment I see myself or Vani, but there’s no movement onscreen. The corridor outside the office remains dark and quiet.
Saint frowns, and I lean in. “I don’t understand. I’d followed Vani into the office by now. Why didn’t the camera catch it, or her picking the lock?”
Zane signs, You’re sure of the time?
I nod. “Positive.”
We watch the footage again.
“Look, there.” I point at the screen.
A white moth is caught in the small amount of light from the security camera, and its pale wings flit across the screen.
“I don’t get it,” Saint says. “It’s a moth. What’s the big deal?”
“Yeah, but watch.”
Less than a minute goes past, and the moth appears again.
Zane frowns and signs, So?
“Wait.”
The moth appears again.
“It’s every thirty seconds,” I say. “Same moth, same direction, same position onscreen. Someone has created a loop on the video footage.”
Saint lets out a low whistle. “No way.”
We’re home and dry, Zane signs. But because of who?
I sit back and spear my fingers through my dark hair. “There’s only one person who’d have done this, and it sure as hell wasn’t Nataniele.”
Zane positions his fingers in a V.
I nod. “Yep, that’s my thinking too. Vani. Our Venom.”
“She saved your ass, Lex,” Saint says.
I nod. “She must have pre-planned this and already hacked the security footage to prevent herself being seen when she broke into the office. Of course, it means it prevented me being seen, too.”
Saint rubs his fingers across his mouth. “Clever girl.”
Yeah, we underestimated her. She’s broken into the fucking dean’s office, which takes a lot of balls, and she’s also hacked his cameras, which takes skill. It took me thirty minutes just to get in for a look. She managed to set a false loop up, too. I like it.
Saint frowns. “We’ll have to watch her. Make sure she doesn’t get above her station.”
Zane gives a low rasp that passes as his laugh. Keep her in her place.
“If she comes back,” I point out.
“She’ll be back,” Saint says.
Zane nods, his fingers moving. Oh, yeah. She’ll be back.