No. he doesn’t think Catgirl’s a murderer. She has principles. Very high moral standards. He remembers long discussions they had about right and wrong, which he later realized must have been colored by her parents’ vigilante thieving.
So, what does she want with him?
Damn. The temptation to meet with her overrides reason. The need to know, to see the beautiful hacker one last time infiltrates his being, sucking him down the rabbit hole of bad decisions.
He has a gun. He’ll bring it to the meeting, in case she tries anything. And he won’t notify anyone-not the FBI or Mr. X just yet.
Better to figure out her game first, then make a decision about how to react.
~.~
Jackson
Work is still a public relations nightmare. I’m on teleconference with the board most of the day, and many of them are calling for my resignation. Our stock price is down, and there are threats of lawsuits.
All I can think is fuck them all.
I can’t even make myself give a shit about SeCure’s stock price or what I’d do if the board fires me. My mind is only focused on one thing. Figuring out who framed Kylie.
Apart from me, I try to remember who from SeCure knew Catgirl hacked us eight years ago. Luis. A few members of the infosec team at the time. Who were they? Stu?
No, he didn’t work here then. Why did he pop into my head, though?
I remember Kylie’s interview. How eager he was to get her hired. At the time. I’d thought it had to do with her beauty, the Batgirl tits.
But what if Stu was the one who orchestrated her hire? He’d be capable of writing the code that infected our system-he’s a damn good programmer and probably another hacker-turned-infosec professional.
A prickle runs up the back of my neck, and I stand. I need to have a word with him.
As if I’ve conjured him with my thoughts, I catch sight of his slouchy figure out my window, walking to his car. The prickly feeling hasn’t gone away, so I head for the door and take the stairs down to the parking lot at shifter speed. His car pulls out the gates. I jog to my Range Rover and climb in. It’s all I can do not to screech the tires following him, but good sense wins out, and I keep a distance. He drives for a long time. This isn’t a quick lunch date. It’s a forty-five minute drive to the south side of downtown.
Though I have nothing to go on, my gut tells me to keep following.
He pulls into the Park ‘n Save at the Tucson airport and parks near a shade structure. Rolls down his window like he’s about to make a drug deal. My instincts flare into high alert. This is not normal. Whatever he’s doing is totally suspect.
I hang back by a few cars, park a distance from him, and stay in my car. He also stays in his car. A growl rumbles in my throat as my wolf prepares for danger.
I stop cold, though, when a familiar motorcycle zooms in front of me and pulls up alongside his car, the long-legged brunette looking way too good on Sam’s motorcycle. What in the fuck is Kylie doing here?
Pain pushes through my heart like a nail in a coffin. Punctures straight through to the other side and leaves me wheezing for breath.
Betrayed.
She’s been working with Stu all along? A great roaring starts up in my ears, deafens me. My body goes numb, freezing cold as it all clicks into place. She and Stu are working together on this. I was so stupid to believe all her lies. A known thief, a known hacker, I actually saw her install the malware into my system, and I didn’t realize I was being played? She took me by the balls.
What in the hell is wrong with me? I was thinking with my dick, not my brain, that’s what. I let a pair of sexy legs and Batgirl tits lead me around by the nose. What a fucking idiot.
I watch, like a dead man, as she pulls off her helmet and dismounts from the bike. She leans back against it, folding her arms across the same breasts I worshipped only last night.
I can’t tell what they’re saying. Even if my wolf hearing could detect their voices through the window, the rushing in my ears keeps me from being able to concentrate.
I turn weak, like she’s wrapped me up in silver chains-a werewolf’s kryptonite. Power simply drains from the soles of my feet, leaks beneath the car like blood.
The betrayal coats my mouth, puts a red filter over my vision. Darkness falls across everything-the peachy future with Kylie I’d been trying way too hard to figure out. It blackens the time we spent together, muddies my trust in my own instincts.
Like I’m that teen again, covered in my stepfather’s blood, I go numb. Just shut off.
~.~
Kylie
“You going to shoot me with that thing?” I ask, peering in at Stu through his open car window.
He has a gun in his pocket pointed at me. He’s pale, sweat beading his forehead. “What do you want, Catgirl?”
“My grandmother. Where is she?”
Something that resembles sympathy flickers over his face. “Right. They took your grandmother. I’m sorry, I don’t know.” He rubs his forehead with the hand not holding the gun. “I had no idea they would do something like that.”
A sick twist wrenches my stomach. “Who is they?”
He shrugs like we’re out to coffee discussing code or what we think about the boss. “Guy calls himself Mr. X. That’s all I know.”
My hands turn clammy, and I sway on my feet. “You just took down the country’s top credit card security company working for a man named Mr. X? Have you met this guy?”
A flash of misgiving passes over Stu’s face before he hides it. “We’ve been in communication for over a year. He’s placed a good faith down payment in my offshore account.”
“Offshore account, hm?”
“It’s hack proof, Catgirl.”