AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Don’t flatter yourself,I wrote back, even though she had indeed spooked the fuck out of me.Maintenance.
Sure. Mid-week is a perfect time for that. By the way, those traps you laid for me were real cute. Again, offer stands to teach you a few things.
My lips twisted as I fought the urge to laugh.You’re just delaying the inevitable, brat.
I don’t think so,she wrote back.I think you like playing cat and mouse, Mr. Hype. Especially since I’ve piqued your interest by being in possession of a vagina.
At that, I did laugh outright, and Heavy, who was sitting across the room in the Crow’s Nest, the nickname of our building down the Seaport, slowly lifted his head and raised an eyebrow at me. I winked at him.
Of course,she continued.You thought I was a dude—so disappointing.
Is that why you nuked my computer?I wrote back.And I didn’t assume jack shit. If anything, though, I should’ve assumed you were a woman.
Oh, bullshit,she wrote back.But fine, humor me, why?
You’re persistent and adaptable. You think outside the box. You code with as much elegance as you do brute force.
For a moment, there was no response.
And compliments seem to be your weakness,I couldn’t help adding.
Meet me.
I stirred at that, something in my gut twisting, even as my heart beat a little faster.
Come on. I’ll make it easier. Meet me and let’s talk this out. I have money and—
I’ll stop you right there,I wrote, resentment filling me.I’m not “meeting” you, Iris. Fuck, how naïve do you think I am? I have no interest in having a bullet put in my head in a downtown café.
Perhaps I’d been a bit naïve, too, hunting Iris down with such recklessness. I’d thought her young, but maybe that had been an act. Asking me to meet, that shit was bold. A bit of an ingénue feint, too, trying to get me to let down my guard. Seemed Hendrix had sent an absolute pit bull after us.
Or—fuck. Was this a Fed? Waving money around like that? How fucking nauseating. I’d have to jump off the Tobin if I’d been bantering with a goddamn Fed.
Oh my God, that’s so dark,Iris replied.Christ, only a gangster would think thatshe wrote back.So, what, we go around in circles until you find me? I have a life, hello? Guess it must benice not having a day job, being all above it as criminals, too good for the rules like the rest of us.
“Oh, Iris,” I said out loud, dazzled and delighted at her biting temper coming through the computer screen. “You just fucked up. You showed your entire ass, girl.”
I have several jobs, smartass,I wrote back.And yes, I like the chase. I also don’t believe for one second that you’d make it easier for me.
Except, I did. But it was too late to try and go that route. Plus, I couldn’t say for certain, but I suddenly suspected that Iris was a civilian, not Mafia. Day job, huh. Delicious. Especially since I was now pretty certain she wasn’t a Fed.
You won’t find me,Iris wrote.If you haven’t found me yet, you won’t, aren’t you smart enough to see that?
She was right. It had been almost four days, and I hadn’t found her. But what she probably had not anticipated was the danger of revealing anything to someone like me.
I, however, am getting lots of juicy information about Hyperion,she wrote, and I fought a grin. “Yeah, Iris, what I’m letting you find,” I said.
And I am persistent, Mr. Hype.Iris’s words were coming fast and furious now. I knew she had to be glaring at her computersomewhere.I will take all your shit down to get what I want. This is my last offer for a mutually beneficial compromise.
I appreciate that, Iris,I wrote back.But I’m not interested in compromise.
“I’m also not the one using company technology on personal time, young lady,” I said out loud.
“You good over there, cuz?” Heavy called. “’Cause you’re kinda freaking me out talkin’ to yourself and grinnin’ and shit. Look possessed.”
I grinned even wider, my demon’s grin, and I heard Heavy curse to himself. I’d ran a cross-search, and within five minutes, had pulled up the website for a company calledMoxi. Located in downtown Boston, right in the Financial District, they were a world-wide expert on security technology, famous for employing hackers to test for weaknesses. And there’d been chatter about their propriety, cutting-edge security technology in beta, not even known to the market yet. A technology calledIris-Beta-22.
“Bingo,” I murmured. Louder, I said, “I’m fucking grand, Heavy.” He came over, a nervous hilarity on his face as he hovered, and I grinned wider. “Wanna take a field trip over to the Financial District with me? I’ll get you dinner.”
