He sat down at the table in the corner. “I’m in no rush. Take your time.”
Phoebe’s green eyes were swimming. “I promise I wouldn’t ask him if I didn’t think he could help.”
I licked my lips. “I had my friend set up an encrypted system for me. It requires a keychain lock.”
“That’s good. Makes my job a little easier. What system does it use?”
“LockSure.”
“Decent setup.” He gestured to the chair across from him. “Unlock your computer and let me see what I’m working with.”
I sat down and lifted the lid with shaking fingers. The computer automatically locked down when I closed the lid. I mistyped my password twice.
“Don’t lock us out before I can even look, Dutch.”
“Right.” I blew out a breath and painstakingly typed the alphanumerical code I knew better than my own birthday at this point. When the screen flickered on again, the screen jittered.
Lance took it from me and his fingers flew over the keys.
It took everything inside of me not to grab it away from him.
“Who’s been on your computer?”
“No one.” My hands fisted at my sides. “Why?”
“Are you sure?” His gaze never wavered from the screen.
“Yes, I’m fucking sure.”
Phoebe came up beside me, wrapping a hand around my fist. I almost shook her off, but her honey and paint-tinged scentwrapped around me, easing the panic. I lifted my arm and she immediately vined around me. “He’s the best at this. I promise.”
I couldn’t form words to reply to her. I just hoped she was right.
I couldn’t go through this again.
Even knowing it was safe, it didn’t matter.
It had to be Christopher.
How the fuck did he get in?
TWENTY-FIVE
Phoebe
My brother was hunchedover Dutch’s laptop. I’d personally never seen my brother so focused in my life. He was always laid back and just this side of sloth when he was around me.
Dutch practically vibrated next to me.
I didn’t want to interrupt my brother, but I wanted to tell him everything, but it wasn’t my place.
“Are we worried about banking info here? Or just work files?”
Dutch blew out a breath. “I use an accountant for most of my money details and never log into my banking on my laptop.”
Lance glanced up. “Then why do you have a ten thousand dollar encryption package on your laptop?”
“Ten tho—” I couldn’t even compute that kind of money on a system.
