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Once they were steady, Ariel withdrew his hand and settled back in the chair beside the couch. “Water and ibuprofen,” he said with a jut of his chin at the coffee table.
Jax scooted to the edge of the couch, slowly so as not to amplify their headache and to assess whether they’d sustained other injuries. They twisted their back, shook out their arms, stretched their fingers and legs. All fine. Nothing wrong that they could detect, and nothing binding their limbs either. They swept their gaze around the immediate area—no weapons in sight, no other humans besides Ariel. Then scoped out the larger area—an open floor plan kitchen-dining-living area in what appeared to be a cozy, lived-in, ranch-style home. In the middle of the back wall, large sliding glass doors led to a fenced-in backyard, quiet this time of night.
The same night or longer? “How long have I been out?”
“A few hours.” Meaning they hadn’t gone far. “We’re in San Jose,” Ariel said, anticipating their next question.
“Shit,” Jax cursed before throwing back three tablets and a gulp of water. “Have you been this close the entire time?”
“I travel a lot, but yes, this is home base.” He shrugged. “Lots of people, international airport, great food.”
At the mention of food, memories from a couple of hours ago flooded back to the front of their mind. Shattering, splintering sounds from the dining room, Chloe locking a shaking Feb in the pantry, a prick to Jax’s neck before the world went dark.
“Feb? My family?”
“All safe. It wasn’t my intention to harm any of them.”
“Didn’t look that way with Fletcher.”
He cast his gaze, light brown behind a pair of tortoiseshell glasses, out the back windows, but not before Jax caught the sadness and longing that pinched his features, that leaked into his voice. “Especially not him.” After a long moment, he cleared his throat and turned back to them. “It was meant to be a diversion, but then Juan showed up.”
“What happened to him?”
“In custody. Not talking, I assume.”
“So I was your target?” Jax asked, piecing together what Ariel was saying, their stomach twisting. Was the damage to UTT, all the stress they’d put Feb under more their fault than they’d even realized?
“Not originally,” Ariel said. “But once I got to UTT and realized my original target was gone, I had to improvise. Saw you behind the bar, knew who you really were and that you’d be an even better hacker than the one I’d planned to woo home. I activated Chloe at that point.”
Jax gulped more water, then set the glass aside and braced their elbows on their knees, staring at the confusing man beside them. He was the picture of calm, the definition of measured, but warm in a way Jax would bet had balanced out Fletcher’s reserved frostiness. History aside, here in the present, they’d somehow become the target of their original target. That part was less confusing; hacking would be a whole lot easier than playing at undercover these past few months. But what did Ariel need them to hack? “For what?” they asked and, pushing their position, sensing Ariel was a reasonable man, one that would expect some level of negotiation, added, “And what makes you think I’ll help you?”
He grinned, the crinkles at the corners of his eyes deepening. “One, because I’m going to write your girlfriend a glowing review. And two, because when this is over, I’ll turn myself in. You can take me to Isaiah yourself.”
That was their second question answered, the terms more than acceptable to Jax. So what about the first? “And why do you need a hacker?”
“Because I want to know who inside the CIA set me up and sold me out to my family.”
Jax started a new batch of searches running, then leaned back in the dining chair they’d occupied the past few hours, stretching out their fingers and cracking their knuckles.
“Ready for a snack?” Ariel said from the kitchen behind them.
Despite the late hour, he’d been the consummate host, keeping their mug full of coffee and cooking up something full of tomato goodness. The crack of eggs ten or so minutes ago, followed by the groan of the oven door, was a dead giveaway as to the dish, and Jax was more than ready for it. They set the laptop out of the way, searches still running, and moved the trivet Ariel had placed on the table to the center. “Bring over that shakshuka.”
Ariel appeared at their side with a still-bubbling skillet of eggs poached in spicy tomato sauce. “Way to ruin the surprise.”
“This is one of Feb’s go-to dishes. I’d know that smell anywhere.”
Ariel handed them bowls and silverware, then went back for the coffeepot, topping off their mugs while Jax dished out food. “I’ve had this dish all over the world,” he said. “And people eat it at all different times. Breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner.”
“Well, three in the morning seems as good a time as any.”
They dug in, impressed at the depth of flavor Ariel had managed to get out of the canned tomatoes, punching them up with fresh ground spices and herbs he’d fetched from the yard. Helped too that Jax was starving. They’d missed lunch and dinner the day before, their stomach tied into too many knots to eat. They were still worried about the fallout at UTT, about how Feb was handling everything that had transpired, the WTF world she’d been tossed into, but Jax trusted their family to take care of her and UTT. They had to because this was where Jax was needed most: helping Ariel so they could get that Render review for Feb, complete the mission for Redemption, and bring Fletcher some closure—or a new beginning. The past few hours of hacking had also re-centered them, had renewed the confidence that the past few months undercover had chipped away at. Everyone had a particular skill set, and sneaking through firewalls was theirs.
“So, why did February Winters finally decide to do a Valentine’s dinner?” Ariel asked as he spooned a second helping into his bowl. “First one since UTT opened.”
Speaking of skill set... “You’ve been following her?”
“In the culinary world, yes,” he said. “I am a foodie, that part’s real, and she’s an up-and-coming star. I also dined at the place she cheffed at before Under the Table. You could tell she was talented.”
