The Hacker

by Herkness, Nancy

  “I thought people were flattered when you asked their opinion.” Dawn took a swallow of her Stella Artois.

  “An opinion is like advice. Everyone thinks they want to hear it until they do.”

  Dawn nodded. Natalie was smart that way. Maybe it was because she owned a hair salon and heard more about her customers’ lives than she really wanted to. Or because she was about ten years older than Dawn and had survived some tough experiences in her life. That’s what had made her trust the other woman almost from the start.

  “Well, I really want to hear your opinion about this.” She told Natalie about how Leland had discovered the dark web activity at the gym. “So who at the gym do you think might be capable of doing something illegal on the internet? And what would it be?”

  Natalie gave Dawn a searching look. “Why are you getting involved in this?”

  Dawn frowned in surprise. She’d never questioned her motivation for searching out the truth. “Because something criminal is going on at the gym. Because the customers are complaining and I don’t want Ramón to lose business because of it. Because it’s not right and I don’t want to back away from a situation like that ever again.”

  “Why don’t you just call the police?”

  “Leland’s an expert on this stuff and says that the bad guys will just move the node if the police get involved before we know what’s going on.”

  “I can’t help remembering what happened when Alice tangled with some bad guys.” Natalie rotated her glass by the stem. “Haven’t you had enough violence in your life already?”

  If anyone else had said that, Dawn would have been furious, but Natalie genuinely worried about her. “Now I know how to handle myself.”

  Natalie gave her a tight smile. “You tell us in every self-defense class that a gun changes everything. Or a knife. Or more than one attacker.”

  Dawn flinched at the last one, but she had techniques to deal with that now. “I have no intention of getting myself into a situation where I need to defend myself. Leland is the one who’s doing the hacking.”

  “That’s another thing. You don’t have permission from Ramón or Vicky to mess with their Wi-Fi. So you’re getting in their business without their knowledge.”

  “Ramón just defers to Vicky and she thinks the whole thing doesn’t matter. I tried to talk to her about it, remember?”

  “Yes, you told me.” Natalie looked away across the bar for a long moment before she took a sip of her drink and swallowed. “The whole situation worries me.”

  “Me too. Help me figure out who’s behind it so we can call the police.”

  “You’re like a dog with a bone.”

  Dawn grinned. “My mother used to tell me that. I take it as a compliment.”

  “I’m sure she didn’t mean it as one,” Natalie murmured.

  Dawn set down her beer. “Ramón got me out of the dark, scary place I was stuck in. Maybe I can repay him in some small way.”

  “All right, let’s look at the suspects,” Natalie said with a sigh. “Who’s on your list?”

  “Pretty much everyone except Ramón and Vicky. I was hoping you might narrow it down since you know most of the staff and most of the customers.” Dawn paused before she decided to say it. “I think the new guy, Chad, is involved somehow. He gets hired and we start having problems with the Wi-Fi almost at the same time.”

  Natalie tapped her martini glass as she thought. “Why are you eliminating Ramón and Vicky?”

  “Seriously?” Dawn nearly dropped her zucchini stick. “Because Ramón is a good guy and Vicky can barely type without breaking a nail.”

  “Ramón was once a successful boxer. He has the capacity and will to hurt people.”

  Dawn shook her head so hard her ponytail smacked her in the face. “Not anymore. He’s done with that life. No way he’s involved.”

  “Also, don’t let Vicky’s big hair and highly decorated nails fool you,” Natalie said. “She’s a lot smarter than she appears.”

  “I know. She’s the one who runs the gym’s finances. But she and Ramón are joined at the hip. If Vicky was up to something, Ramón would know.”

  “And he would protect her because he worships her. Just keep that in mind.”

  “No accounting for taste,” Dawn said to lighten the mood. “Do you really think they’re the ones doing this?”

  “I’m just saying you shouldn’t rule them out. However, I’m with you on Chad. He’s another one who might be concealing his true self, in this case, behind that jock facade. I can’t get a good read on him.”

  “What about Josh and Ripley? They’re heavy-duty gamers, so they’ve got the computer chops.”

  They ran through everyone Dawn could think of at the gym and eliminated most of them, although they kept Josh and Ripley as long shots. Dawn jotted down the short list of possibilities on her phone’s notes app.

  “Speaking of facades,” she said with a casualness she didn’t feel, “what do you think lies behind Leland’s?”

  Natalie sat forward. “Now we’re getting to the crux of the matter.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean Leland is the reason you are so involved in this Wi-Fi thing. You’ve mentioned his name at least two dozen times tonight.”

  “Because he’s the computer expert,” Dawn protested before she set down her beer bottle with a thunk. “Fine, I think he’s hot.”

  “He’s not your usual type.” The innocuous phrase came with a concerned expression.

  “He’s too smart for me.”

  “You know I don’t believe that.”

  Dawn had the good grace to be ashamed of her knee-jerk remark. “Sorry. It slipped out.” Natalie was always telling her to stop putting herself down about her lack of education. She pointed out that Dawn had a compelling reason for dropping out of college, one that had nothing to do with her intelligence.

  “I’ve spent some time talking with him at Alice and Derek’s parties, and I can tell you that he’s not just a computer nerd, sweetie, despite the clothing,” Natalie said.

  Dawn had watched him at those same parties. She’d been impressed with how he treated women with the same respect he treated men. That didn’t always happen with people like Leland. “If he’s not a computer nerd, what is he?”

  “He’s a brilliant, driven man who’s at the top of his profession. He’s got money and power and influence that we can’t really comprehend. Those T-shirts, glasses, and jeans are meant to disarm you, to keep you from seeing the ruthless determination to succeed.”

  “Don’t forget his southern drawl,” Dawn said with a reminiscent smile. “He admits to using it as a weapon.” It certainly disarmed her when he laid it on thick.

  “I’m surprised he admitted that.” Natalie shook her head at Dawn. “He’s not going to let you be in control.”

  Dawn thought of the play of muscles in Leland’s back and shoulders as he swam. She’d seen his raw power and still wanted him. No, she needed him, needed the way her desire for him overwhelmed her fear.

  “Maybe I’m ready to push myself out of my comfort zone.”

  “I’m not sure he’s the right person to test it with.” Natalie’s well-groomed eyebrows were drawn down into a frown of concern.

  “He’s never been anything other than a perfect gentleman.” Except for the occasional flash of heat in his eyes, which made her nerve endings dance.

  “He wouldn’t mean to hurt you. He just wouldn’t know.” Natalie went still. “Unless you plan to tell him.”

  “No, God, no! We aren’t close like that.” Dawn didn’t want the straightforward attraction she felt for Leland tainted by her history.

  “Be careful, then.”

  She was careful. All the time. Her vigilance and caution helped, but they didn’t erase the fear or the shame. Leland made her want more than the circumscribed life she lived now. Her profession demanded that she listen to her body, so she paid attention to the intense physical reaction he evoked in h
er. He made her want to blast her demons into oblivion so she could feel and act normal again.

  But Natalie was right. Wanting to be healed didn’t mean she was. Diving into the deep end with a man like Leland wasn’t smart. She needed to be able to touch the bottom of the pool at all times for her own sanity. He would sweep her in over her head.

  Natalie reached across the table to squeeze Dawn’s hand. “Don’t look so down. I’m not saying to give him up. I’m glad you feel so strongly about a man for a change. It’s a good sign. Just be aware of who you’re dealing with.”

  “You really don’t think he’s too smart for me?” Dawn wasn’t being snarky now.

  Natalie rolled her eyes. “How many times do we have to go through this?”

  “I know, I know. Being a college dropout does not make me stupid.” But it made her uneducated. Whereas Leland was the product of some very fancy schools, according to the bio on KRG’s website. Yes, she’d looked him up. Studied the few photos she’d found on the internet, mostly of Leland speaking at tech conferences, a jacket thrown on over his T-shirt. She liked that he refused to wear a suit and tie even then.

  “You asked me what I think is behind Leland’s facade,” Natalie said. “I think he hasn’t had such an easy life, despite what it looks like.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because no one works as hard as he does unless he has something to prove. To himself, to the world, to someone important to him. I don’t know which.”

  Dawn digested that. “Maybe we really are kindred spirits in some way. Maybe that’s why I’m not afraid of him.”

  “Kindred spirits?”

  Dawn hadn’t meant to say that out loud and she flushed. “He said that in an email. I didn’t believe it at the time.”

  Natalie gave her a searching look. “You need to be very careful.”

  Dawn stayed up later than usual that night. First, she reviewed all the possible suspects she and Natalie had talked about and tried to figure out what any of them would want with the dark web. She sat cross-legged on her sofa and listed the names in order of probability on her laptop. She still couldn’t bring herself to put Ramón anywhere near the top of the list, but she went ahead with Vicky’s name in the number-two slot. She’d never been a huge fan of the Vickster on a personal level. Chad sat at the top of the list, even though Dawn couldn’t see him as anything more than a has-been jock reliving his glory days with his clients.

  But that was all a pretext for waiting to see if Leland emailed her. There was no reason for him to do so because they would see each other the next day for a training session. Tomorrow was a Friday, which meant most of her clients took the evening off from exercise, heading for bars and other entertainment instead. Evidently, Leland didn’t drink or go to movies or sporting events, so he’d taken the six o’clock slot.

  By the time her list was finished, she still hadn’t heard from him. At eleven thirty, she closed her laptop and drummed her fingers on top of it. He’d turned down stretching with her and left immediately after swimming. She had been with a client by then so she didn’t expect him to say goodbye, but he might have given her a wave or something. Now no email. What was going on?

  Something Natalie had said nagged at the back of her mind. Her friend had reminded her that at some point very soon, they would call in a law enforcement agency—whether the police or the FBI—and then the project would be taken out of her hands, removing the need for Leland to train with her. He would go back to his corner office in Manhattan and she would be left at the gym in New Jersey. The hollow feeling that left her with made her reopen her laptop.

  Maybe Leland was wrong for her, but his presence made her body thrum like a perfectly tuned treadmill going at high speed. Even an email from him sent a thrill of endorphins rippling through her. Honestly, she’d been afraid she couldn’t feel this way about a man ever again.

  She needed to see where this could go while she had the chance.

  After typing a brief email to him, she hit “send” and shut down the laptop immediately.

  The next morning she braced herself for disappointment before she opened her laptop to check for new email messages. And there it was.

  She checked the time it had come in and her breath hitched. One minute after she’d sent hers. He’d made up his mind fast. Was that good or bad? Clicking on the email, she actually closed her eyes before it popped up on the screen. Turning her head, she squinted at it sideways, afraid to see what his reaction had been.

  It was brief but sent a shock of delight through her. All he had said was: Yes.

  She floated through the morning, often having to force her wandering mind back to whatever client she was training. For her lunch break, she took her quinoa bowl out to the picnic table Ramón had set up for the staff in a little patch of grass behind the gym. Her buoyant mood made her want to bask in the gentle caress of the autumn sun.

  “There you are!”

  Dawn jumped as Vicky’s voice broke in on her fantasy about Leland and her in the swimming pool. Naked. “Yup, getting a dose of vitamin D. You should try it. It’s good for your health.”

  Vicky slid onto the bench opposite Dawn. Could this woman be running an illegal operation out of the gym? It was hard to believe when you looked at the fake eyelashes, the tan produced by a salon bed, and the fingernails decorated with, yes, leopard spots and rhinestones.

  “I wanted to check in with you about something,” Vicky said, fluffing her blonde hair. “Have you gotten any more complaints about clients’ data usage on their phones?”

  Dawn put down her fork. “I thought you weren’t worried about that.”

  Vicky shrugged. “A couple of people mentioned it to Ray so maybe it’s more of a deal than I assumed.”

  “Yes, a few more customers have said something about it.” Dawn downplayed the griping because she didn’t want Vicky fixing it before Leland figured out what was going on. “Are you going to get your IT guys involved?”

  “Maybe I should.” Vicky tapped a painted talon on the picnic table. “Don’t want the customers unhappy.”

  “Give it the weekend and see if it resolves itself,” Dawn found herself saying.

  “Yeah, I’ll do that.” Vicky slithered off the bench. “Thanks.”

  Crap, they had a deadline now. Even though Vicky’s IT fixers seemed to be inept, once they started messing with the router, it might scare away the dark web people.

  She was glad she’d summoned up the nerve to send that email to Leland.

  The afternoon seemed to drag by, but finally she was lounging at the front desk, watching the door for Leland’s arrival. She wanted to get a read on his mood about her invitation. She was pretty good at body language, and her awareness of him made her almost hypersensitive to his.

  The door swung up and she tensed until she saw his smile, heavy-lidded and focused entirely on her. Heat seared through her. Even the way he walked—with an almost predatory stride that shrugged off all distractions—made her shiver with arousal.

  When he stopped, he was close—very close—so she had to look up to meet his gaze. “I’m glad you emailed me,” he said, his drawl soft as velvet.

  She swallowed. “Me too. It’s good that you were free.”

  A shadow of guilt crossed his face. “I made myself free.”

  Pleasure flushed her cheeks at the admission that he’d made room in his loaded schedule for her. “Let’s get you warmed up on the treadmill.”

  “I meant to come early for that but work got in the way. Does a brisk three-block walk from the limo count?” He fell into step beside her and she swore she could feel the stir of air around him brushing over her skin.

  “How about I work warming up into your session so you can skip the treadmill? I’ll meet you in the training room.” She veered off to pick up her tablet while Leland dropped his gym bag in his locker. As she walked away, she let the grin she’d been suppressing pull the corners of her mouth up. However, she stopped her
self from doing a dance step across the gym floor.

  She’d gotten over the grinning when Leland joined her where she’d set up for their session. But the hot look that still smoldered in his eyes stroked delicious tingles over her skin. The next hour was going to be the most exquisite kind of torture. Then who knew what would happen afterward?

  Starting him with some easy sidesteps and lunges, she moved in closer and lowered her voice. “There’s been a development in our project.” One that made her impulsive dinner invitation even more timely.

  The gleam in his eyes flickered out. “And you decided it would be better to discuss it elsewhere. Hence, dinner away from the gym.”

  He’d gotten it backward but should she tell him that? “That’s not the reason for dinner.”

  He straightened from his lunge, his brows drawn down in puzzlement. “Is the development positive or negative?”

  “It speeds up the timetable. That’s the reason for dinner.” She gave him a smile that held all the sexual interest she felt.

  He answered her smile with a slow curve of his lips, all the focused intensity alight in his eyes again. “Ah, that timetable has sped up as well.”

  He understood. Maybe it was good to hang around with a smart guy. You didn’t have to spell things out for him. It saved some embarrassment. Although she’d only asked him if he’d like to have dinner after their training session, so it shouldn’t be that big a deal. It just was, somehow.

  “Are you going to swim afterward?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “No time. I’ve got to get back to the office after we, er, eat.”

  She ratcheted up the intensity level of his workout just a little so he was huffing by the end of it. He braced his hands on his knees. “Is this to make up for my lack of swimming?”

  “You don’t want to lose ground,” she said with a grin.

  He narrowed his eyes at her before he grabbed his sweat towel and mopped his face and neck, using one corner to wipe off his glasses. His T-shirt was dark with sweat and clung to the pecs and abs that his swimming had honed to underwear-model perfection.