by Leigh James
I reached out and patted her knee. “Or I can leave, if you want to be alone.”
Hannah sighed and put her hand over mine. “I want you to stay. I don’t want to keep anything from you.”
“Okay. But…are you? Keeping something from me?” My heart thudded in my chest.
Hannah sank into her chair. “No one raped me.”
Kathy sat back, waiting. I held my breath.
“But one of the guards, uh, bothered me, for lack of a better word.”
“Bothered you, how?” Kathy asked.
Hannah groaned. “It sounds so stupid—Wesley was shot and in a coma, and I’m whining because one of the guards harassed me.”
“Harassed you while he had you captive, and he was armed, and they drugged you, and you had no means of escape. Doesn’t sound like whining to me—and trust me, I know whining.” Kathy clasped her hands together. “How did this guard harass you?”
Hannah looked from me to the doctor, and then her eyes fluttered closed, as if she didn’t want to face us. “He said things to me. At first, it was that I was pretty, and then it was things about my body. Then he got more creative.”
A hot ball of rage unfurled inside me. I clenched my hands into fists.
“And then?” Kathy asked.
Hannah’s eyes snapped open. “And then he tried to assault me one night, but one of the other guards found him and pulled him off.”
“Why did the other guard stop him?” Kathy asked.
“The guard who pulled him off was the one in charge—I think his name was Derek. He said that they were under strict instructions not to sexually assault me, and that he wasn’t going to tolerate that behavior. Derek threatened to shoot the other guard if he tried it again.”
Kathy pursed her lips. “But did he try it again?”
“Not exactly.” Hannah went quiet for a moment and busied herself with examining her nails.
I waited, still clenching my fists, until she went on.
“He still said things to me whenever he could—nasty things. When they beat me, he always volunteered to be the one to do it.” She winced. “And one night, I woke up, and he was jerking off in my face.”
“I am going to kill that fucker,” I said.
“He’s already dead. Gabe shot him.” Hannah’s voice was flat.
“Motherfucker!” I slammed my hands against the chair.
Hannah looked at me, her eyes pleading. “Please don’t get so upset. Honestly? It was disgusting, but he didn’t hurt me.”
“If it didn’t hurt you, why do you think you’re having a hard time connecting with Wes sexually?” Kathy asked. There was no judgment in her voice—she sounded very much the clinician, trying to understand the symptoms.
Hannah ran a hand through her hair. “The guard made me very paranoid while I was there. Even after Derek threatened him, he was always watching me. I wasn’t ever sure if he’d try to cross the line again, and it made it almost impossible for me to sleep. So even though I was already in a bad situation—kidnapped, knocked around, starving—it was that extra level of stress. I just couldn’t deal with it. I could deal with everything else, but I didn’t want to be raped. I was worried what that would do to me—I was worried that if that happened, I’d never be the same. I wanted to be ready to fight.”
“What did you do the night he was in your room? When you woke up?” Kathy asked.
“I would’ve bit him, but he was armed.” Hannah shrugged, her lip curling in disgust. “So instead, he finished, called me a dirty, cock-teasing cunt, and left.”
“Still killing him, even though he’s already dead,” I said. “And I wish you would’ve bit him.”
Hannah sighed. “I wish I’d bitten him, too.”
* * *
HANNAH
“You’re sure he’s dead?” Wes asked. After the appointment, he’d insisted we grab coffee and sit in a nearby park for a minute. He’d menaced Brian into standing out of earshot, and he wouldn’t listen when I complained I needed to get to work.
“I was in the car when Gabe shot him. All the guards who were in the car died.” I didn’t look at Wesley. I watched the squirrels instead.
“I’m glad,” Wes said, “but I’m also sort of not glad.”
I sighed because I knew what he was saying. Wes wanted to snap the guy’s neck.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. “I hope I don’t sound mad—I’m not. I mean, I am, but not at you.”
“I didn’t want to think about it. It happened, and I just wanted to keep it in the past, where it belongs.”
“What do you think about what Dr. McGovern—Kathy—suggested?” he asked.
“The EMDR treatment? I don’t know.” I wrinkled my nose. “It sounds all weird and new-agey, not very scientific.”
“Babe. You drink green smoothies every day, eat tofu, and love yoga. Isn’t this sort of in your wheelhouse?” His tone was teasing as he reached over and put his big hand over mine.
“I’ll think about it, okay?”
The doctor had suggested a course of EMDR, which stood for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. I had a handout about it in my tote. The treatment supposedly worked miracles on single-trauma victims, which Kathy told me I was. Instead of prolonged talk therapy, EMDR focused on eye movements.
“Eye movements?” I’d asked Kathy. The treatment sounded suspiciously easy.
“Read the handout,” she’d said, “and trust me. I’m licensed to administer EMDR, and it’s the most promising thing I’ve come across in thirty years of practice. And you don’t have to talk about your feelings, at least not for a whole hour. You would need to come in for several visits, but we’d be able to deal with your issues quickly.”
That sounded encouraging—enough so I’d agreed to read the handout.
“Babe?” Wes asked, breaking my reverie.
“It could be worth a shot.” I finally looked at him. “What about your homework? How do you feel about it?”
Wes frowned. “Not great.”
Kathy had suggested that Wes see her separately because she felt he was holding back.
“But you’re going to do what she asked, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I am. She seemed to know what she was talking about.”
I squeezed his hand. “I’ll read more about the eye therapy, okay?”
He smiled, always a good sport for me. “Okay.”
I got up and pulled him toward the car. “Let’s get to Paragon. We need to find out what’s going on with Li Na.”
I wanted to ask him about what he’d said—about living with me for safety purposes only. Did he mean that? Was he going to buy a new house, move out, and then we’d just…go back to dating? I couldn’t imagine going to bed every night without his big, warm body next to me.
He’d been spoiling me, and I worried I’d be ruined without him.
Insecurity was a foreign feeling for me, and I hated it. But rejection’s probably worse, I reasoned. So I kept my mouth shut, biting back the questions that were eating at me.
There was a ton of traffic on the freeway, and I bounced my knee, anxious to get to the office. My phone buzzed with a call from Fiona. “Are you okay?” I asked, not bothering to say hello.
Fiona laughed, but it sounded brittle. “Not really. Li Na Zhao sent me an email today—she wants to know where I stand on the sale of my company.”
“Did she threaten you?”
Wes turned to look at me sharply.
“Not specifically,” Fiona said. “But she only gave me a week to give her an answer—she said she was out of patience.”
I sucked in a breath. Li Na and her ever-loving lack of patience. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I scheduled a meeting with my board for tomorrow morning. I don’t know what to tell them, because I don’t know what to think. What will she do if I say no? After what she’s already done…” Fiona started to cry, and I clenched the phone.
“I’
m going to see Lauren right now. We’re having a meeting about Li Na—she’s been trying to hack into our system again. I’ll call you afterward. We need to do something—we’re in this together.”
“O-okay.” Fiona took a deep breath. “Can we meet up later? I really feel like I need a friend.”
“Of course. You want to go to a class?”
“Only if we can get a drink afterward—and I don’t mean a coconut water.”
“Sounds good to me,” I agreed.
“Text me later—I’ll sign us up at Praise for the class tonight. And Hannah?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
I clutched the phone, wishing I could make things better for my friend. “Don’t thank me yet.”
Chapter 15
Hannah
Lauren didn’t bother to sit at our meeting; she paced the length of her office as I, Wes, Gabe, Dave, Leo, and Ash watched.
Levi was at Protocol with Ellis, making sure that Betts Security remained on high alert.
Lauren raked a hand through her hair and looked at Leo. “Explain to me again exactly what Li Na was doing in our system.”
Leo took his glasses off and cleaned them while he talked. “It’s like she’s pinging us—going into our system and banging into our firewall. She keeps getting bounced back. It’s a pretty common form of phishing. Hackers try it on a daily basis to see if there’s some sort of change in their target’s interface—some sort of new instability they can capitalize on.”
“But why the hell is she trying to hack you again when she’s already seen everything?” Gabe asked Lauren.
My sister stopped pacing and stared out the windows. “I don’t know. Maybe she wants to get in again to see if we’ve made any improvements…”
Gabe tapped his fingers against the table, lost in thought. “Or see if you’re developing anything new.”
“Yeah.” Lauren turned to him. “I think that could be it.”
I pushed my anger and anxiety to the side for a moment to appreciate something: my sister and Gabe really were perfect for each other. In the not-too-distant past, Lauren had operated completely solo, neither seeking the opinions of others nor tolerating them. She and Gabe needed to pick a wedding date, for the love of God. I couldn’t plan the wedding of the decade with Li Na hacking us and murdering our friends.
This is it. I’m DONE.
“Have we ever hacked her?” I asked Leo.
He nodded. “Dave and I have been able to get into her system, but Lauren had us back out after the closing didn’t go through. We thought we were done with her.”
“Can they go back into Jiàn Innovations’ system?” I asked Lauren.
“Why would we do that? What do we have to gain?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but Fiona Pace called me on our way in. Li Na gave her a week to give her an answer about selling the company.”
Gabe cursed, and Lauren wrapped her arms around herself.
“I’m seeing Fiona later,” I said. “I feel like we need to help. We need to do something.”
“What do you want to do?” Gabe asked Lauren.
“I know what I want to do.” I jumped up before Lauren could respond. “I want to take this bitch down, once and for all!”
Gabe grinned. “You are so my favorite sister-in-law.”
But Lauren didn’t look happy. “Hannah, I’m not sure what you have in mind.”
I crossed my arms. “I don’t think we’ve ever even talked about going after Li Na before. We’ve just been reacting to whatever she’s throwing at us, and I’m done with that.”
“You want to send me to Shenzhen to take care of her?” Wes asked, perking up.
I put my hand on my hip. “No. As in absolutely not.”
“Then what?” Ash asked. “I’m not opposed to sending a team to take Li Na out—quite frankly, I think it’s time. But if you have some other ideas, I’m open to hearing them.”
“I’ve been thinking about what Gabe said. About ‘face,’” I said. “I have some ideas about what to do.”
“What’s ‘face’?” Ash asked.
“It’s is a Chinese sociological concept—it’s your social rank in Chinese business,” I explained. “Gabe thinks it’s the driving force behind Li Na’s push to illegally acquire new technology. He thinks she wants to build her reputation, which in essence is her standing in the business community.”
“She doesn’t just care about the money,” Gabe told Ash. “Li Na wants to be recognized and esteemed in her country. She’s made big promises about what she’s going to do for the technology industry in Shenzhen, but she’s lost her chance at Paragon—twice—and failed to deliver. She’s looking for a big hit.”
“Paragon got away, so now she’s after Protocol,” I said. “She’s skipping over kidnapping and blackmail, going straight to murder. She needs to close this deal fast—she must have some sort of clock ticking, something hanging over her head that’s making her desperate.”
“And she’s back to trying to hack Paragon to see if there are any fresh ideas she can steal,” Wesley added.
I stared out the windows, at the acres of neatly manicured grounds surrounding the building. “We need to make sure there’s something sparkly in there so she goes for it.”
“What?” Lauren asked.
I turned to my sister. “If she’s looking for new technology to steal, let’s give her something good.”
She shook her head. “I’m not following you.”
“What she cares about is her public appearance—right? She wants everyone in Shenzhen to worship her. So…what if we let her steal something from us and run with it?”
Lauren looked as if she might put her hand on my forehead to check for a fever.
“We can let her into our system and plant specs and production details about a new product we’re about to launch. She can steal it, tell everyone she’s about to launch some hot new technology, and then…”
“I’m still not completely following you.” Lauren frowned.
“And then she’ll realize that even though it’s sparkly and you created it, it doesn’t work. And she can fail in public.”
For the first time today, I smiled.
“But we still have to deal with Fiona and Protocol Therapeutics.” I turned my attention to Dave and Leo. “Last week, before she tried to hack us again, Li Na tried to insert code into Paragon’s system, right?”
Dave nodded. “Yeah. It was a very sophisticated type of virus that would target certain types of files, manipulating them. We killed it before it got through, but Leo and I replicated it and played with it. The code can subtly deconstruct files, disturbing production. It can be a mess to unravel.”
I snapped my fingers, then pointed to Dave. “That is what I’m talking about. We need to boomerang that code and disrupt Li Na’s system.”
Dave stroked his patchy beard, looking confused. “Huh?”
“So that even if Fiona sells to Li Na, the antibody therapy is compromised. But not until after she gets it and gets ready to launch. Because we need to humiliate her in public. Because that is what that bitch fears most, and I am going to serve it up to her in a one-two punch!”
I turned around, beaming at everyone, thrumming with adrenaline.
Gabe and Lauren looked at each other. Wes cocked his head, examining me.
“You don’t get it, do you?” I asked, deflating.
Lauren opened her mouth and then closed it. Gabe scratched his head.
“I think we need to process,” Wes said. “That’s all.”
I stood and grabbed my tote. “Fine—process. I’m meeting Fiona. I’ll see you all at home. Dave, Leo? Can you keep working on that code for me? These guys will come around.”
I glared at each of them individually before I left. They better.
* * *
“Ellis is staying in the room during class?” I asked as I assembled my mat and towel next to Fiona’s. Brian had at least agreed to wait i
n the lobby, even if he was stalking around and scowling.
Fiona sighed. “He doesn’t talk much, and he also doesn’t take no for an answer.” She brushed the bangs from her face and inspected Ellis, who stood at rigid attention at the wall of the studio. “He’s kind of intimidating, don’t you think?”
“He has a heart of gold underneath the glower. He’s just very serious.”
I studied Ellis. He wore a long-sleeve shirt, jeans, and heavy boots. The temperature in the room would soon rise above one hundred degrees, and there would be lots of bodies in the studio, sweating profusely. “He might die if he keeps all those clothes on.”
“When I mentioned it, he said he was fine.”
“Let me talk to him.”
I got up and approached Wes’s brother. “Hey.”
His blue eyes, so much like Wes’s, flicked to mine. “Hey.”
“You’re going to get too hot with those jeans on,” I told him.
A ghost of a smile lit up his face. “So I’ve been told.”
“Do you have to stay in here, against the wall? It’s kind of weird.”
He looked at Fiona. “I am not letting her out of my sight for a second, but thank you.”
“How’s she doing?” I kept my voice low.
He just shook his head.
“If you feel dizzy, go wait outside. I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”
Ellis looked unimpressed as he inspected my pink tank top and pink-and-white camouflage capris tights. “I think I can handle it.”
I gave him a dirty look that I didn’t mean in any way, shape, or form. I loved Wes’s brother—he’d been kind to me from the first moment I met him, even though Wes was seriously injured while protecting me. “Fine,” I huffed, heading back to my mat.
Ellis didn’t budge.
Fiona eyed him. “He’s stubborn.”
“Stubborn’s probably good.” I sighed. “Stubborn will protect you.”
I wanted to talk more, but the instructor came in, and the room fell silent. Talking during yoga was a no-no, as were cell phones. Fiona and I followed instructions, gamely moving through the poses as the room grew hotter. We did sun salutations, upward-facing dogs, downward-facing dogs, forward folds, and halfway lifts.
