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“Baby, you did so damn good for me,” I murmur, and I mean it with every fiber of my being.
Lying in bed, I stare at the ceiling, focusing on the sound of Riot’s soft, steady breathing. The way he inhales and exhales so quietly beside me. I’m breaking all of my own rules right now. Never spend the night. Never let them spend the night. But after I wore him out, we showered, and he was completely exhausted. I couldn’t very well ask him to leave. So here we are.
Glancing over at him, for just a moment, I allow my eyes to wander over his naked form. He’s been sleeping for hours now, and I should be too, but I can’t shut off my brain. Everything I’ve learned, and all of the lingering questions, play through my mind in an endless loop.
Trying to sleep is useless, so I slide out of my bed, step into a pair of sweatpants and throw on a hooded sweatshirt. Reaching into my nightstand, I retrieve the flash drive from the drawer and tiptoe out of the bedroom. Quietly closing the bedroom door behind me, I sneak out the front door of my apartment and make my way downstairs to my office.
I shouldn’t be doing this. The fatigue has started to fuck with my head, but I also can’t seem to control myself, not when it comes to this. Settling into my chair, I pop the drive back into my laptop, cut on the monitors, and begin opening the files. Since the various codes I’ve written can’t seem to get me in through the backdoor of any of these encrypted files, I’m going to have to hit them hard with decryption codes. There’s only one problem with that though.
I have no idea if the encrypted files are being remotely monitored.
Breaking the encryption in its entirety could mean triggering an alert that gets sent to their hacker. But right now, it’s a chance I’m going to need to take because I’ve run out of options. I can’t play it safe anymore. Picking up my glasses from the desk, I slide them down over my eyes and flex my fingers. With a heavy exhale, I dive right in. My fingers fly across the keyboard, writing in my native tongue. Various chains and threads, comprised of letters, numbers, and symbols, designed to crumble the virtual vault that hides all of their sordid secrets.
The spreadsheet I was able to find months ago was the only thing on the drive that wasn’t encrypted but it didn’t give me what I needed. So many fucking names, dates, locations, and ages all over the spectrum, and it wasn’t lost on me that they all appeared to be female. The information is useless to anyone that doesn’t know what they are looking at though. The fact remains, that the spreadsheet was merely the tip of the iceberg, and something tells me that beneath the surface of the rippling ocean, the rest of the iceberg is fucking massive. And if I’m not careful, I’m going to crash right into it head first.
Finishing the code, I press that last key and wait, allowing it to run its course.
My breathing falters, and my heart rate soars through the roof.
Closing my eyes, I try to reign it all in.
Breathe, Zeke. Breathe.
Expelling all of the air from my lungs forcefully, I open my eyes just in time to see files popping up one at a time like a fucking game of whack-a-mole. At least 30 decrypted files stare me directly in the face, and suddenly, I can’t even see straight.
I have to export the files without a trace. I have to destroy the drive. Destroy the evidence. I’m probably being irrational. In fact, I know I’m being irrational, but the fear of having the Syndicate hot on my trail is too intense to worry about rationality. It’s the elephant in the room, and it’s crushing me beneath its weight.
Quickly creating a secure, virtual lockbox, I export the data one file at a time. Just the bones. Just the information. Not the full, formatted file.
Leave no trace.
One by one I cross another file off the list without reviewing the contents. It’s going to take me time to even figure out the most efficient way to sort through the large volume of data that was hidden in the files. Time I don’t have.
The final file finishes exporting and I silently pump my fist in the air in celebration. Yanking the drive from my laptop, I drop it to the ground with a triumphant smile. Standing up, I pick up my chair and smash it down onto the drive several times until all that remains are tiny fragments. Again with the irrational covering of my ass, but I have to be sure.
Once I’m convinced that the destruction was sufficient, I set my chair back down on the floor. Sighing, I run both hands through my hair but as I turn to sit down, I see the flash of skin out of the corner of my eye.
Spinning around entirely, I come face to face with Riot. Shirtless and barefoot, he stands in the doorway of my office with a confused expression on his face.
“What the fuck is going on Zeke?”
A lump swells in my throat and I try to swallow it, but it’s too large. Too massive. A lie of epic proportions begins to take form, but the tiny voice in the back of my head speaks up. That tiny voice that tells me I have to learn to trust someone.
And if I can trust anyone, it’s Riot. Right?
Right?
“Nothing. Just, blowing off some steam. Let’s go back to bed.”
Chapter nine
Riot
“I saw it, Zeke!”
“You didn’t see anything,” he flops down on the edge of his bed with his knees spread, looking down at the floor.
“It was the fucking drive Zeke! I know what I saw! You dropped it on the floor and smashed it to pieces. I fucking watched you!”
