by Alexa Davis
I glared at Carey and clenched my jaw. “No. I’m not. And, quite frankly, I was here to enjoy myself, pick up some bobble heads, and support my girlfriend. So, if wasting my time and being rude is your pitch, I might suggest you polish it a little bit before you accost the next guy.” I took C.J. by the elbow and steered her away, cursing under my breath.
“Do I ask what that was about?” she asked, glancing back over her shoulder as we headed into the crowd aiming for the beer garden.
“Damned if I know. Someone went to a lot of trouble to find out who I was, then proceeded to attack me for what they assumed, since they didn’t actually find out much of anything.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, that little spontaneous announcement you made yesterday got someone’s attention, who then dug around and found my screen name. But, since I cover my tracks way too well for anyone here to find out where I’ve been, they’re riding on some pretty damn wrong assumptions, and decided they hate me based on them.”
“Oh. Well, fuck them anyway,” she replied, “and whatever horse that fat bitch rode in on, in particular.” She shuddered. “She reminded me of my ninth-grade math teacher. I flunked that year, had to take summer school.” I sniggered and tried to hide it behind a cough. “Don’t laugh, it ruined my GPA.”
While she squatted on a table for us, I ordered two beers and a big plate of nachos because her healthy eating was over, far as I was concerned. She seemed to agree, and lunged at the tray of greasy tortilla chips, pulling it to her side of the table and growling when I reached out for some. I laughed and drank my beer, until she pushed them back to the middle.
“You didn’t play with me,” she pouted, looking at me from under her long black eyelashes.
“There was nothing to play at,” I chuckled. “If my woman wants all the damn nachos, then by fuck, she gets the damn nachos.” I grinned and popped a cheesy bite in my mouth, watching as she blushed and drank her beer, looking everywhere but at me.
“How much longer do you want to hang out?” She met my eyes, and hers were tired and faded from the shine they’d had earlier.
“I’m ready to take the celebration home. Pick up something good on the way, or order pizza, strip down to our underwear, and play some Call of Duty.”
She nodded. “Yeah, the whole convention has lost its charm in the last twenty minutes or so. Let’s grab the stuff and go. I’ll text Shelby, I think Nick was meeting her, so she won’t be stuck here alone all night.”
She has to stay?”
“Q and A panel on Hollywood and cosplay makeup in about thirty minutes. I was going to go just to support her, maybe ask a question or two that would irritate her, if the crowd was too quiet.”
I laughed quietly. “Okay, let’s go sit in the auditorium she’s going to be in until her panel, then get the stuff and go. At least it will be quiet.”
We finished our food and snuck into the room marked as the character makeup panel, and sat in seats near the front, where we knew Shelby wouldn’t be able to see us past the lights in case C.J. couldn’t resist the temptation to heckle her friend a little. Grateful for the theater seating, I lifted the armrest between us and pulled her closer. Her skin was cold, and in the tiny skirt and cleavage and midriff baring shirt she was wearing I was surprised she wasn’t suffering from hypothermia.
She snuggled in and I put my arm around her, so she could rest her head in the curve of my shoulder. The theater was cool and dark, except for the lights on the stage, and I closed my eyes, appreciating the quiet and the sensation of C.J.’s breath on my neck.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Carina
Jackson pulled me into his side and put an arm around me, and I dozed off, using his shoulder and chest as a pillow. I couldn’t have been out long, but felt Jackson stiffen next to me. I opened my eyes and to see Carey and yet another of his colleagues standing there, watching us. I sat up in my seat and folded my arms, and glared at them with as much venom as I could muster.
Jackson cleared his throat, and Carey stepped forward with his hands outstretched in surrender. I peeked at Jackson out of the corner of my eye, and saw the muscles of his jaw working like he was chewing nails. I could tell he was mad, but when it wasn’t aimed at me, it was just plain sexy.
“What can I do for you now, Carey?” His voice was level, but I felt an undercurrent of anger vibrating through him as he spoke, and his jaw never completely unclenched, making his enunciation clipped and tight.
“I know some of my associates haven’t handled themselves very well, and I apologize for any offense they caused.” I rolled my eyes, and Jackson scoffed. “Look. They were inexcusably rude. But, they’re frustrated and pissed off that they might have to go to the kind of person who put us in the position we’re in, to get us back out.”
“If you want Jackson to fix something for you, I’d suggest starting with a little respect. He doesn’t owe you shit.” Jackson chuckled and I glared at him. “What?”
“You done defending my honor, Good-lookin’?” he asked me in a stage whisper.
“Yes,” I grumbled. We turned back to Carey and his companion.
“You’ve approached me three times now,” Jackson said. “Obviously, this is important to you, so why don’t you just start by telling me what’s been happening to you, and I’ll tell you if there’s anything I can do to help.”
Carey proceeded to explain to Jackson that they’d had more trouble than usual with game content being leaked and pirated, to the effect that the release was completely overshadowed for their last Major League Baseball game. It was bad enough for them financially when it was a small thing like a sports game, but now, they were close to a release of their next big war game, and already there had been a big enough leak that in other countries, pirated versions of the short were being sold, and Bandai was at risk for major fines if they couldn’t prove that they weren’t responsible for the leaks themselves.
I bit my tongue and watched Jackson as he listened to the details they gave him. He grew increasingly thoughtful and as he leaned forward in his seat, I realized they had him on the hook.
Jackson gripped the back of the seat in front of him and leaned in further. “Okay, I think you’ve done a good job figuring out what the problem is. So, why can’t you stop the hemorrhage of information? You have an entire staff of techies. What can I do that they can’t?”
“The only thing we think we have figured out for sure is that the person that is responsible for all this trouble is one of our own. So, we need an outside source to get around the blocks we can’t, look where we haven’t.”
Jackson nodded and stood up, pacing between the rows of seats as a few people started to wander in. “I can be fresh eyes, but I won’t make any promises that I’ll find something where an entire workforce of techies couldn’t.”
The woman with Carey nodded and stepped forward, speaking for the first time. “I already feel better about having you do some research about this problem for us, for the fact that you aren’t making empty promises,” she said as she reached a hand out to him. “I’m Kennedy, Director of Marketing for Bandai U.S. and this has been a thorn in my side for almost a year. I’m ready to eat a little humble pie and accept help, no matter what anyone else thinks or says.”
I shook her hand and Jackson followed suit.
“When and how did you want me to start?” he asked, glancing around him at the audience trickling in around him.
“What do you mean? I thought you could get into our system from anywhere.” Kennedy looked a little green around the edges, but Jackson just rubbed his face stubble with his palm.
“Well, I can, but I want to make sure y’all are okay with that before the FBI shows up at my girlfriend’s door,” he reminded her. “Usually, I prefer to do my looking from inside the building the system is being run in, for the sake of security. In this case, peeking in from a doorway without anyone being able to tell I’m coming, is probably best. But,” he cauti
oned, “you should understand that it’s going to look like an attack, and I need y’all to call off the dogs when I give you my safe word, you understand?”
Both Carey and Kennedy nodded, and Kennedy swallowed hard. Jackson shook their hands again, and took Carey’s card, promising to be in touch before he tried to sneak a peek at their system, and they disappeared into the wings as the auditorium filled with makeup artists, cosplayers looking for tips, and fans, particularly Shelby’s. It made me happy knowing that my own popularity as a streamer and cosplayer had helped her get the visibility she deserved, and grown her fan base to the point where she didn’t need me at all anymore. It felt good to be part of the recognition of her success. Now, with Jackson helping me to grow my own brand, it wouldn’t hurt that she might move on to other collaborations.
Shelby walked onto the stage and sat front and center behind the placard with her name. I texted her just to let her know I was in the audience, but as I hit send, Nick sat down next to me with a heavy thud, and grinned at Jackson and me.
“Isn’t she the most gorgeous thing you’ve ever seen?” he whispered so loudly Shelby might have heard him from the stage.
“Almost,” Jackson replied as I nodded. I elbowed him and he laughed. “We are two very lucky dudes,” he told Nick as he leaned over me so they could talk. I offered to trade seats, but Jackson just pinned me down with his hands as he leaned over me to talk to his new buddy. I flicked his knuckles and he yelped and rocked back, and I moved to the other side of him so he and Nick could talk. Within minutes, the panel had started, and I had to hush them so we could listen to Shelby talk about her work.
“You two are like a couple of chickens in a henhouse, for Christ’s sake.” I whispered to Jackson with a smile. “I’m glad you’re making friends. Now shush, so I can hear mine.”
“If I’m good now, do I get a treat later?” he whispered back.
“If by treat, you mean deep fried food, I think we can manage that.”
“I was thinking something more like, you know, sex. Or sex-type acts. Or a private lap-dance,” he rambled on, getting a little louder with each suggestion.
“Yes, if you shut up, you can have sex. But, if you don’t shut up, you’re sleeping on the floor… at Nick’s place.” He snickered, but quieted down for the remainder of the panel, even when Nick tried to complain about a heckler in the audience.
Shelby was amazing, and got great applause. The house lights came up, and I was surprised to see how many people had attended, even more than I would’ve expected from the cosplayers. Shelby and the artists like her, were elevating cosplay to a whole new level, and it thrilled me to see that people were paying attention.
We made our excuses for not going out and celebrating with everyone else, and I let Jackson drive us home after picking up my costume from the locked office the convention officials had lent to me after the break in. I still didn’t know what had happened to Lacey, but with my part in the convention over, and another big win under my belt, it was hard to care too much about her bad choices.
I searched for local take out joints that Jackson would like on my phone, and once we had a hit, we went through a drive through for carne asada, fries and flour tortillas, and the biggest foam cup I’d ever seen, filled with creamy, fragrant horchata. When we got home, I fed Stiles an extra dish of food, and Jackson built burritos from the fries and steak. One look at the enormous burritos and I was already full, but he promised they would be amazing if I tried them.
I got out of my borrowed clothes and into some cutoff shorts and a tank top so thin I could see the dark outlines of my nipples through the fabric. When I rejoined Jackson in the kitchen to grab my plate, he noticed too. When he finally let me pull my shirt down and eat, the food was like ice. I took a bite anyway, and he was right. Even cold, the damn thing was good. I warmed it up in the microwave, and it was almost like I hadn’t been subjected to ten minutes of nuzzling and a make-out session on the kitchen counter before I could eat.
I wanted Jackson to get me naked, but I was bone-tired and achy from my hair to the soles of my feet. He had pulled out the bed for me again, and we huddled on the blankets with our burritos and a tall glass each of the cinnamon flavored rice milk, and stared at the television without speaking until the food was gone, and my feet were numb from being tucked under me for so long.
“I’m really glad you were there today,” I finally said as he took our plates to the sink. “It was good knowing that you had my back.”
He nodded and refilled my horchata, then emptied the last of it down his throat in one long swallow. “I’m glad I was there too. I knew you would win your competition, and that you would look great on your interview, and that you would be the most amazing and original costume there today. But, seeing you do it, was a whole ‘nother story.
I sighed and set my glass to one side so I could put my head in his lap. I wanted to tell him how I felt, that I would always be there for him, and that he had made me want to be a different kind of person, just to be the one he wanted. He kissed my temple and stroked my hair, which hurt from being forced in a direction it wasn’t used to. The more he ran his fingers through my hair, and gently rubbed my neck, the hard it was to stay awake and alert, and Jackson played me like a children’s toy. Tomorrow, we’d hide from the world. What would follow though, was the question on my mind. I couldn’t afford to stay off-stream for much longer, but I didn’t want to leave Jackson all alone until he faded out of my life for good.
For now, I let him make me feel safe and warm, and watched the video he’d taken with his phone so I could see the rest of the convention. He apologized when I realized almost every frame of his convention hangouts was of me, and laughed when I saw he’d inadvertently got a shot of Lacey being led from the convention in handcuffs. I asked him to save it for when my eyes didn’t burn so much, and I’d be able to see better what was going on in the background of the video.
My eyelids drooped, and I snuggled deeper into his lap. I turned on my side and held the hand he put in front of me. There were so many things I wanted to tell him, but the words wouldn’t come, and finally, understanding that not saying dangerous things like, “I love you,” was better for us until Jackson knew what he wanted, and where he wanted to be. So, I bit my tongue, and set aside my desperate declarations of love and loyalty. I held the knee under my head like a pillow, and asked sleepily if we could stay in and hide from the world for one day together. He promised me a day all to myself, to do with him whatever I wanted. I smiled up at him and kissed him when he bent down kiss me, and let him stroke my hair until I fell asleep.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jackson
I let C.J. sleep until my legs fell asleep and the pins and needles got too painful to stay still any longer. I moved her gently to the side, but the bed springs squeak roused her. I heard a giggle as I shook my legs out by the side of the bed, and saw her squinting at me.
“How you doing, there, Big Boy?” she snickered as I tried to shake the tingling sensation out of my limbs.
“I’m okay. You hungry? I’m a little freaked out by today. I could use a beer or two.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand what’s wrong. I thought you’d be happy to get such important clients.”
“Are they clients, C.J.? I don’t know about that.” I backed down on the edge of the bed and ran my hand over Stiles’ silky side as he laid stretched out between us. “You heard them cll me a ‘black hat.’ Do you know what that is?”
“Yeah, they’re malevolent hackers. They steal credit card numbers, shut down city transit systems, hack into government servers, the works. But, you said they were wrong to call you a black hat.”
“Well, there’s also white hat hackers, who are usually found on cyber squads, protecting consumers and helping to catch bad guys. Then there are the grey hats, like me. We don’t steal, but we usually operate outside the socially accepted rules. Like that guy from Anonymous. He uncovered a huge cove
r-up of a rape, but he got time for hacking the system that was being used to transfer the information between the conspirators. So, grey hats? We tend to keep a low profile.”
“And when I made my little announcement, I outed you.” She made it a statement not a question, and sighed, covering her face with a pillow.
“No. No, I don’t think you did. I did something when I was at school. I covered my tracks, the bad guys got caught, and I was real proud of myself. So much so, that I got cocky. The next thing I knew, there were grumpy old men in suits at my dorm, flashing their badges and asking me a whole lot of in-depth questions about the ‘incident.’” I exhaled deeply enough that it sounded like a sigh before I continued. “I was tailed for the rest of the school year.” I rubbed my hands through my hair. “There were people watching me everywhere I went. I got paranoid enough that for a little while I was even sweeping daily for bugs at the ranch after school ended.”
“Jesus Christ. Did the government follow you to LA?” C.J. sat up in the bed and gripped her pillow to her chest, her face flushed and excited. I wished I could’ve felt the same way about my life being sliced onto a slide and put under an FBI microscope.
“I can’t imagine that they would’ve. Yes, I broke into a bank. No, I didn’t steal anything. So, my older brother suggested that the tail was to make sure I didn’t go any further, with a side order of ‘Scare the stupid kid hacker straight.’ It worked, if you were wondering.” She glanced around, eyes wide and round as plates. “When you made your announcement, it created an opening to approach me, to see if I was still walking the straight and narrow, ya know? What better way to catch someone, than to pretend you’re hiring them, then arrest them when they do exactly what you ask them to?”
C.J. jumped up off the bed and grabbed us each a beer from the fridge. “So, you are definitely, positively, not taking the job?”
