AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I love you, too." After a pause he adds softly, "Happy Birthday, Calla."
The corner of my mouth pulls up. "Thank you."
We watch each other in comfortable silence until he suddenly perks up, changing the topic. "Well, Mom and Dad sure as shit didn’t react how I thought they would." He rubs his neck with one hand, grinning crookedly.
I smirk at his way of shifting the mood. "Definitely not." Where was the yelling, the gazillion questions, the demands to come back? In the end, all they asked was if I was safe.
Rhys laughs non-humorously. "I gave up on trying to figure out why Dad does anything. They’re clearly keeping a shit-ton to themselves. And they know we are too."
"I guess." I replay the entire conversation. "Do you think they know who Nate is?"
"Uh, should we be using his name? I mean..." Rhys glances at the ceiling where his camera is hidden. One would never see it if you didn't know. They blend in even better than what Nate has at the vineyard.
"The cameras don't have mics; there is no sound recorded. I think we're good," I explain.
He tilts his head. "Sooo...if he can't listen, why did we hide in the freaking bathroom all the time?" Sarcasm drips from his question.
Unable to stop myself, I roll my eyes and match his tone. "Because a) he could've seen us hovering over a phone neither of them bought us, and b) they could've heard us talking from the hallway."
I swallow the duh.
Rhys cocks his head then slowly nods in an exaggerated motion. "That makes sense."
His expression makes me squint at him. "How long have you been awake?" He’s acting...drunk. Loopy.
He turns his head to glance at the alarm clock then shrugs. "Long."
"Okay, why don't you get some sleep and call me tomorrow?" I didn’t realize how tense I was until all of it suddenly leaves my body. I sink lower into my chair. I'm not oblivious that I will have a lot to explain and work through with my family and friends when all this is over, but the fact that Rhys hasn't broken up with me gives me the strength to keep going.
His scrunched forehead brings me back to the present. "And how am I supposed to do that? You took the burner."
I explain, "The message you opened before I called disabled Tristen's tracker. As long as you don't restart the phone, he can't follow your calls or texts."
Rhys's brows shoot to the hairline. "Was that you or your brother's handiwork?"
"Kinda both," I admit sheepishly. "He told me what routines to use but made me write the execution myself." It's still a miracle to me when the programs do what I want them to do.
"I’m gonna call you Whistler from now on," he announces proudly.
"Whis— Wha—?"
"I told you before, you need some cool hacker name, and you're obsessed with Abigail Whistler." Rhys grins.
I shake my head but can't suppress a laugh. "You're such a dork."
I like it, though. Whistler.
We talk for a few more minutes. He tells me to call Den and Wes. I instruct him to memorize the number I'm going to send him and then delete the text. Even if Tristen can't follow Rhys's phone activity anymore, I don't want to risk it.
For the first time since leaving the house in Westbridge, my heart feels a little lighter.
Nate hadto leave after dinner. Margot had been blowing up his phone with calls and texts while we were eating, and he ran out of excuses. Mostly because she figured out that he's not in the office—she checked with Hank and called my brother out on it.
Before he left, Nate hooked the little NCC upstairs into its big brother network and gave me full access. When he told me, I couldn't stop myself from clapping my hands and jumping up and down, which resulted in both men scowling at me.
"What? Can a girl not be excited about her tech?" I frowned right back with my hands on my hips. I could hack into the feed and watch Rhys. That wouldn't be borderline creepy at all.
Nate shook his head and walked toward the garage entrance. "I’ll talk to you later."
