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It took me awhile, but then a pattern emerged and I noticed something I hadn’t seen the night before.
I printed off pages and studied the hard copies, confirming what I’d seen. After every chunk of malicious coding, there was a symbol. One I hadn’t seen before in any type of code. I sat back down at my desk and logged into the hacking group I was a member of online. Within minutes, I had uploaded a screen capture of the symbol and had my answer.
The symbol was a signature. It belonged to the hacker who had infiltrated our system.
Apparently, some hackers created symbolic signatures to identify their work and garner respect in the hacking community. I started a new thread, asking if anyone knew the identity of this particular signature, but didn’t receive any immediate responses.
It seemed odd to me. I knew hacks and could find my way around the cyber world with relative ease, but I would never dream of using my skills for anything evil. Even the task Cooper had set before me, to gather information, was pushing my moral boundaries. However, now that I’d seen first-hand the damage the competition was willing to do, to take out Plush and hurt Brighton Enterprises, I was less upset about the whole thing and more eager to get the information Plush needed.
Not for him. But because someone needed to punish these hackers.
I tapped into their database and started compiling data. Soon, my screen was filled with bars of information that was downloading to my computer. Once everything was up and running, there wasn’t much for me to do besides wait. Unfortunately, waiting left my brain too much room to roam and my mind became engulfed with thoughts of Cooper again.
Since meeting him, my world had become turned upside down. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever find a way to return to normal. Whatever that looked like, anymore. I’d never felt normal. I’d always been the odd one out, the misfit, the rebel. I’d never been able to blend into society and lead a normal, everyday life. I supposed that moving back to Kansas would be a step towards normalcy. It was becoming painfully clear that the longer I stayed here, trapped in Cooper’s intricate web, the farther from normal I was getting. And at some point, it would be too far and I wouldn’t be able to get back if I wanted to.
Something on my computer beeped and drew me from my spiraling thoughts. I leaned over the keyboard and reviewed the progress.
Everything looked good and I’d made quite a step in retrieving the information Cooper wanted. Satisfied, I unplugged my USB and carefully closed everything down.
I went back to the parking garage. My head was down, focusing on the steps in front of me, and when I looked up, I gasped.
Cooper was standing right next to Cherry Bomb.
Chapter Ten
“Cooper, what the hell are you doing?” I demanded as my steps turned to strides as I crossed the parking garage.
“It should be pretty obvious,” he said. “I’m waiting for you.”
I rolled my eyes. I planted myself three feet from him, knowing that my brain would go on the fritz if I got even one inch closer. No matter how furious I was with him, he seemed to always manage to get me right where he wanted me. Which, most of the time, meant on a flat surface that he could fuck me against.
I shook the stars from my eyes, not wanting to even dwell on those memories.
It would only m
ake things more complicated than they already were.
“Why? What could we possibly have left to say to each other?” I asked, crossing my arms.
He looked completely unshaken as he watched me. “I figured by now you would have cooled off, but I can see that was the wrong conclusion.”
He was still talking like some kind of Rico Suave robot and I wanted to knock him on his ass. “Cooper, I have nothing to say. I have played this game too many times and I give up. I am not yours—you can fuck whoever you want. You win.” My voice faltered at the last part of my speech and I kicked myself for letting my emotions seep through. I needed to keep it together long enough to get away from him. Then, I would allow myself one more long, ugly cry session and then, that would be the end of it.
I was over Cooper Brighton.
To think that morning I’d been laying in his arms, feeling like the center of his universe.
What an idiot.
Stupid, stupid girl. Didn’t Marx teach you not to fall in love?
“Ugh!” I groaned, more to myself than at Cooper.
“What?” he asked. “What is this all about?”
My fingernails pinched into my bare arms. “Just tell me why, Cooper? Why did you have to get me involved in any of this? I could have grown to be happy at Spotlight. Maybe, someday.” I winced, even as I said it. I knew it was bullshit. “But no, you had to swoop in and take over my whole life. I know how you did it, even though you deny it, but what I don’t understand is why. Why did you do it? Why did you get me fired? Or, haul me out of Marco’s? Why did you take me to your lake house? Why go out of your way to make me feel special and significant, only to bring me down less than a week later?”
Tears were freely rolling down my cheeks and I did nothing to stop them.
