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Another curse, then she brought up a new screen and went back to typing like her life depended on it.
I intended to watch her a moment, then pull her away.
I couldn’t do either.
I watched her and I couldn’t stop.
I took in her pride, her stubbornness, her will to right the wrong—and she cared. I was remembering another time when I saw her hack, when she cared enough not to harm Sera- phina, Cyclone, or Matt’s accounts. She got in. She wanted to let Quinn and Peter know that she could get in, but she didn’t harm them. She cared even at the start.
“You love.”
She screeched and whirled around. Blood had drained from her face, but seeing me, she scrunched up her face in frustration. “No, no, no. I need more time.” She wheeled back, taking a moment to press the bottom of her palms to her eyes. She lowered them, shook her head, and started back. “I need more time. This girl is crazy with her firewalls. She has like five backup systems, and I had to get them online in order to get everything from them.”
I waited.
It was a minute later when she paused and looked at me. “What did you say?”
I knew where we were. I knew what she was doing. But this moment was important, so I was taking it.
I nodded at her. “I told you that you had siblings, and you loved them immediately. I gave you their files. I let you see their faces, see their names, and that was it. You sunk for them. Then I took it from you and said you’d be a stranger to them. I saw how that crushed you, but you did it anyways. You didn’t cry or whine or become resentful. You didn’t hate them, and you could’ve. Others would’ve. Most would, but not you. You loved them first, and you loved them pure. That never changed. You’ve been angry at your mother, and you were angry at Peter, and I know you were angry at me. The three of us, we could take it, but never at your siblings. Youonlyloved them. You never let anything else in there when it came to them. No anger. No jealousy. Nothing. Only love.”
I remained in the doorway. I knew she needed space, and I wasn’t going to crowd her. I was going to do what I could to give her as much time as she needed, but I needed to tell her this much.
“It’s that same love that’s motivating you now. It’s driving you. Marie misjudged you. Quinn insulted your upbringing. But when they did that, you knew it wasn’t you being insulted. It was Chrissy, and that’s what pissed you off the most, because in your core, you are all Chrissy Hayes.”
Her eyes were watering. Her bottom lip started trembling.
I nodded at her. “Obliterate this bitch, because I know you’re not just doing this for you, for me, for Matt. You’re doing this for Chrissy.” I inclined my head to her. “Thank you.”
She sniffled, drawing in a deep breath. A tear fell and she wiped it away with the back of her hand.
She grinned, though it was still shaky. “You’re not supposed to make me a blubbering mess.”
“I’m not supposed to do anything except love, cherish, and protect you.” I gestured to the computers. “Do your thing. We’ll cover you until the last second.”
Her eyes were clear again, locked on, focused, and when she looked back to the computer, I knew she was immune even to me being in that room. A circus could’ve thrown a show with elephants and she wouldn’t have let them pull her concentration away.
Fitz had been on the phone with Matt, who reported that Camille Story was fast becoming drunk and that her lips were getting looser and looser as the night wore on. She’d started talking about Quinn, so Matt wasn’t staying for Bailey anymore. He was staying because he hated Quinn more than anyone. When Fitz asked about her phone and if she was getting any alerts, he said she pulled her phone out once. She frowned at whatever she saw on the screen but clicked out of it and never pulled it out again.He had a plan in motion to try to sneak it away from her because he saw the key to get in.
I was okay with all of it.
Josh reported they found the hidden cameras in the apartment and everything was pulled. “You think your girl in there could loop some background video and make it look like the place had been empty the whole time?”
“I’ll ask her, but we need an ETA as soon as Matt calls when she leaves. I want to give Bailey as much—”
“I’m done! Hell yes, you motherfucking bitch!”
Josh and I both had to look down for a second.
Bailey continued cheering from the office and I nodded to him. “Call Matt. See if he can sneak her phone sooner than later. Have him erase any alerts she might’ve gotten.”
“If she saw the first one?”
That was a gamble. “I’m judging by the fact that she stayed and chose not to worry about it. When it goes missing, she’ll pretend she never saw it.”
He grunted, nodding. “You think she’s really that hard up for him that she’d choose to ignore a security alert?”
That was the gambling part. “I’m hoping that she never got any follow-up alerts and assumed it was a momentary glitch.”
