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“I think so.”
“When something that’s inherently designed to be unhackable gets hacked, then it’s back to the drawing board on the whole technology, because you’re now vulnerable to getting stymied at every future turn. There’s no point in heading down that same path, ever again. The bad news is we only won the battle, not the war. I’m sure they’re already hard at work on an entirely new version of it, in a new language that’s never been seen before. Hopefully, it’ll take ’em a while to come up with something, though. And in the meantime, maybe their staff hackers can learn from what I came up with and use that as a launching point for future work.”
“If they don’t, I’m sure they’ll be calling you again, like Deputy Director Leach said.”
“If that happens, I can only hope and pray I’ll get lucky again, before it’s too late. Or that one of the other gunslingers will. I’m telling you, Hannah, it was only by the grace of God or Steve Jobs’ Ghost I figured the thing out. I don’t have confidence I could do it, again and again, like clockwork.”
“Well, I do. I have complete faith in you.” I lift my head and kiss him. “I’m so proud of you. Thank you for telling me about all that. I promise I’ll never tell a soul.”
“I know you won’t. I trust you completely.”
“And I trust you. I love you so much.”
“I love you too. Now, get some sleep, my brave and beautiful Banana. We’ll talk some more tomorrow. I promise, I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“I’ve got some things to tell you, too.”
“I’ll be all ears. But now, it’s time to sleep, my love.”
“Goodnight.” I close my eyes and relish Henn’s body warmth. His gentle strokes across my back. And I’ll be damned, in no time at all, I feel myself drifting. When sleep finally envelops me, I have one of the deepest and most refreshing slumbers of my life, thanks to the strong and loving arms holding me all night long.
47
HENN
There’s a loud knock at Hannah’s door that prompts Hannah to shriek, stop transferring cookies onto a cooling rack, and bound enthusiastically across her living room.
Laughing at Hannah’s excited reaction, I amble behind her, figuring I’ll hang back and give Hannah a private moment to welcome her new roomie to her new digs.
For the past few days, as Maddy’s traversed the thousand-mile distance between Seattle and LA in her little hatchback, Hannah’s been eagerly preparing for her sister’s much-anticipated arrival. Hannah cleaned the apartment, top to bottom. Cooked several of Maddy’s favorite meals and stored and labeled them neatly in the fridge. She went to Trader Joe’s and stocked the pantry with all Maddy’s favorite snacks and goodies. And if all that wasn’t enough to welcome her little sister to LA in style, about an hour ago, right after Hannah received Maddy’s most recent text with her ETA, Hannah started baking a batch of Maddy’s all-time favorite cookies. “I want the apartment to smell like freshly baked cookies when Maddy first walks in,” Hannah explained. “Maddy loves that.”
When Hannah reaches her front door, she gleefully flings it open and hurls herself outside with a loud shriek. I can’t see what’s going on out there from my vantage point, but I can certainly hear Hannah screaming, “Welcome to your new home!” Also, a male voice chuckling.
Surely, the owner of that male voice is Keane Morgan. When Hannah expressed concern about her little sister making the multi-day drive from Seattle all by herself, Dax—who now lives across the hallway with his two bandmates, Fish and Colin—kindly enlisted his older brother to accompany Maddy. According to Dax, his big brother has been wanting to visit him in LA since his move a couple months ago, anyway. Plus, Dax said, Keane has some kind of “stripper showcase” in LA he’s been invited to perform in—an audition to be represented by a big talent agency in Hollywood—so Dax said the ride-sharing arrangement would be a win-win-win: Maddy wouldn’t have to make the drive alone; Hannah wouldn’t have to worry quite as much about her little sister; and Keane would be killing two birds with one stone: visiting his rockstar little brother and performing in the showcase.
I lean against the doorjamb and smile when I see the joyful scene unfolding before me. As expected, the Milliken sisters are embracing and shrieking like it’s been years, not months, since they last saw each other. The only surprise is that Keane Morgan has dyed his blonde hair an eye-popping shade of electric blue since I last saw him in Maui.
My heart skips a beat to see Hannah looking so happy. When she and I said goodbye to Maddy in Seattle, I wasn’t sure if my beautiful girlfriend would fully bounce back from the nightmare she’d endured at the hands of Greg Smith. To my massive relief, though, she’s not only accomplished that feat; she’s better than ever. I’ve heard stories of people coming off near-death experiences with renewed purpose and a greater appreciation of life and love. But observing the phenomenon firsthand with Hannah has been inspiring. Electrifying. And a huge relief. As it’s turned out, therapy, unwavering support from Hannah’s loved ones, and an exciting new job she absolutely loves, have all laid the groundwork for her to not only heal, but to thrive.
