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Chuckling, I took a chance and pulled her into my arms, hugging her. Over the past week, we’d been growing closer, and I’d initiated a few small acts of touch. I always felt sick to my stomach before I did them, worried it would be the time she pushed me away. I wasn’t used to feeling insecure about someone I liked, but I guess that was the difference. When I let myself think about it, Finley and Cohen were people I cared for. It was more than just getting her into bed. I wanted to be in her life.
“What was it you had to show me?” I finally asked, taking a step back. Her eyes lit up, and she took my hand, dragging me the rest of the way out the door.
“Like I said, I think it might be something, but I’m not sure.” She bit her lip, a tell I was finding she did when she was nervous or unsure of herself.
“I’m sure it’s something. You’re way smarter than you give yourself credit for.” I caught her cheeks blushing and felt pride bloom in my chest. I wanted to do more of that.
We quickly made it down the intersecting hallways to the workroom. When we neared, she dropped my hand, not wanting any of her peers to know. I knew it was necessary, but I hated losing her touch. Walking through the door, a few people looked up and nodded in greeting as we entered. I walked with her over to her workstation. Cohen and Asa peered up when we approached.
“Ryker,” Cohen said, his eyes trailing over me. “How did the meeting go?”
“Some developments, but nothing we didn’t assume. I’ll fill you in more later.”
He nodded in understanding, focusing on Finley. “You tell him what you found?”
She shook her head. “No, not yet.” I looked at her, nudging her arm when she didn’t say anything.
“What is it, little hacker?”
She began biting her lip again, and the number of things I wanted to do to her for the abuse, rammed into me. I quickly sat, needing to hide the erection growing in my pants.
“I began to think about Obsidian and how he operated. The fact that he did it out in the open for so long made me think. Did he want you to know? Was he trying to get your attention? If he’s a scorned lover, that makes his thinking easier for me to follow. So, I put together all the information you have on MKG and Dex. Using an algorithm I created for Sariah, I tweaked it to look for any places it overlaps or connects to see if I could find a pattern. Once I have that, we could use the program to help us predict future behavior. I just need more information than I think is in the files.”
“Wow, that’s brilliant, Fin. What do you need?”
“Since you lived with him, what were his daily habits? Any brands of foods he liked? Did he take any medication? Routines? Things like that.”
I placed my head in my hands, trying to think of any habits of Dex’s that stood out. “He was obsessed with a certain energy drink. It wasn’t name brand, so he’d buy it in bulk. The cans were always on the floor. It was… Bang Shock! Because I used to joke that it was the only way he got banged. Geez, I was an ass.” I hung my head, scrubbing my hand over my stubble. I needed to shave.
“Anything else?” Fin asked, an excited look on her face as she typed in the new information.
“Hmm, he didn’t get out much, but did like to go to raves at the local gay bar.” I slapped the table when I realized something important. “He had an inhaler.”
Cohen grinned widely, typing some information into the computer he was working on. “Jackpot. Prescription for Dex Callahan for Albuterol from five years ago.”
“Perfect, let me add it and scan all the pharmacies in our search and see if any of his known aliases pop up.”
I held my breath, feeling like it would be too easy to find him this quickly, but also glad to have it over with if it was. Dex was a noose hanging around my neck I was ready to shed.
“I… I… I think I found him,” Finley said, raising her head to look around at us. She hit a button, and her feed went up on the big screen. I walked up to it, taking in all the parameters. It was a perfect match for a 25-year-old male who liked energy drinks, clubbing, had a prescription for an inhaler, high-speed internet, bought a smartwatch recently, and had been at the mall.
“Holy shit, little hacker. You’re a genius.”
I turned back to her, the whole room looking at the screen. She tried to duck her head, but it was no use; everyone was already looking at her with big smiles.
“What do we do next?” she asked, looking around at everyone.
Logistics and protocol ran through my head, and I knew I wanted to be on the team who scouted. “First, we send a small convoy to check out the intel. If it pans out, we’ll look over everything and create a plan of attack.”
“I’m going with you,” Fin said, but I shook my head.
“No, little hacker.” I hated seeing her upset, but she didn’t need to be on this one. “It’s just recon. I want you to keep searching and figure out his routine. Your algorithm has gotten us the closest we’ve ever been. We need to ensure that it wasn’t his plan to leak that information to us.”
“I’ll go,” Cohen said, standing and giving me a look that brokered no arguments.
“Fine,” I sighed, pulling out my phone. “I need to handle some things; let's meet on the top floor in thirty.”
He agreed, kissing Fin goodbye before striding toward the door. I hesitated before I left the room, wanting to kiss Fin or say something, but when I saw all the eyes looking at me, I stopped and waved like a middle school dork before walking out the door. Cohen snickered at me, and I rolled my eyes, trying to hide my heating cheeks.
