The Ghost and The Hacker (Dark Fire Book 3)

by Ivy M. Jones

  "That's about right," she says, drying her tears.

  "So what do you need him for?" I ask, motioning to Justin.

  Andy and Justin break into laughter. "I know, right? If this guy," she points at Justin, "wasn't such an amazing daddy, I might have to toss him over for Norm over there." Andy rubs her baby belly with her free hand.

  I glance at Norm but he's taking the whole thing in stride, like he's heard all this before. Who knows? Maybe he has.

  "There are other reasons that you like me, Pussycat," Justin growls into her ear. Too loudly. We can all hear it.

  I press my head against Zach's chest, trying to escape.

  "And we'll all go the rest of the day imagining that we never heard that. Thank you, Mrs. Moreland," Norm quips.

  My jaw drops. "You're married? I didn't think you guys... That you..."

  Andy and Justin laugh again. "No, it's Norm being funny," Justin explains. "He knows we're planning on getting married, but we can't seem to settle on a date with the upcoming CD release and Andy's morning sickness and the upcoming trial."

  I nod, though I have no idea what trial he's referring to. If they wanted me to know, they'd tell me. "So what's up? What brings you two - I mean, three - over this evening?"

  Andy stands up. "Nicki called. She has a crisis at work and won't be able to go shopping with us. She's going to be working crazy hours until the reception, I guess, in order to make sure she can go on her honeymoon. She called Griffin, Griffin called Justin and Justin told me. And I didn't have your phone number, so I thought I'd come over and maybe the four of us could get dinner and then you and I could hit Ninety Nine East after."

  It hits me that this will be my life. For as long as Zach and I are together, this will be my spare time: shopping for dresses at exclusive designers' boutiques, dinner with members of Dark Fire, coming home to Zach after work. Living the way the Beautiful People do.

  "Sure. I don't mind. Let me change my shoes though, okay?"

  I end up changing into a pair of flats and we split into two cars to get to the restaurant. Norm drives Justin and Andy, and once we park at Saliso, Zach shakes his head in dismay, watching Justin and Andy while they get out of Norm's SUV.

  "Don't you miss Lourdes?" he asks Justin.

  Justin has another woman? Is that what this is about?

  "Good memories, bro, but my life is with Andy now and that means leaving Lourdes behind; she's waiting if I need her."

  I recall that one of Dark Fire's songs is Lourdes Gets Me There, and I want to cry for Andy. Justin's talking about throwing her over for a woman he's had a relationship with, and apparently, he's still stringing Lourdes along, too.

  I have my angry face on and when Andy catches it, she starts laughing. "This is why people need to know about your relationship with Lourdes," she laughs at Justin, still holding his hand and walking toward the front doors.

  "Lourdes is the car I've had since I was, like, sixteen," he explains. "Sometimes I miss driving."

  "So he's not throwing you over for another woman?" I'm so relieved I say it aloud.

  Justin, Andy, and Zach all crack up. "No," Zach chuckles. "They're soul mates or something," Zach says. "Not even Andy's crazy-ass dad could pull them apart."

  I turn to Zach. "So you believe in soul mates?" I try to ask the question casually as we sit.

  People can't see us. We're in our own private dining room. I'm grateful because Justin still hasn't heard back from Juliana or Asplundh about the warrant and the last thing we need is reporters and fans with cellphones getting our faces.

  Zach stares into my eyes and Justin and Andy disappear. "Of course. I would look pretty stupid denying the concept when I'm staring at mine."

  Later, I try to remember the meal, or shopping with Andy, or even coming home. But all I remember is staring into Zach's eyes when he told me I was his soul mate. In the closet, there's a dress in plastic next to some of Zach's dress clothes, fresh from the cleaners and still in plastic, too. There are leftovers in the fridge from Saliso. But none of that evidence means a thing compared to how Zach looks at me when I come home from work on Tuesday. That's all the evidence I need.

  Zach

  The reception is awesome because it's so small. It's just the band and our significant others; Juliana and Nicki's secretary, Landis; Nicki's dad, Griffin's dad, Nicki's aunts and uncles, and her best friend, Sarah Jean. There are a couple of extra folks sprinkled in, but I don't bother to get names.

  Of course, Andy cries through the whole thing.

  At our table, Cy's seated next to Juliana and between bites of steak and mashed potatoes, Sarah asks if there's something going on between them.

  "He's never said anything," I answer, shrugging. "But he probably knows her better than the rest of us do. We put Cy in charge of the band, so he's our liaison to Juliana's office. Usually, we deal with a guy named Will Martin, but his wife's in the hospital, so we've gotten to know Juliana in the last few weeks. Will was there that night at The Tap. He, uh, helped us offstage?"

  She blushes and I know that she can't remember. Hell, I barely do and I was there. I watch her clear her throat and take a bite of green beans.

  Justin gives a hilarious Best Man speech, implying that Griffin might not have been able to land Nicki if he hadn't kidnapped her to Vegas and sprung the whole wedding thing on her. We all laugh, including Sarah, and it feels like the first time she's in on one our jokes. She's usually so lost when we talk about our lives. She hasn't been around since the band began, like Nicki, or dropped into our lives like it's her own personal nightmare, like Andy.

  I smile and let out a breath that I didn't know I had been holding. It feels real. Sarah can be a part of my life, a part of all of our lives.

  I lean toward Juliana. "Did you hear from Asplundh yet?"

  Juliana tilts her head in confusion. "Didn't they call you?"

  I shake my head and she pulls out her phone. Her fingers fly over the screen, texting so fast, I wonder if the person getting the text will be able to understand it. Her face scrunches up in concern and then she's standing up.

  "Excuse me a moment. I need to make a call."

  Cy watches her leave very intently and I make a note to ask him later about Juliana. I have no idea if she's as good as Will Martin, but I do know I've been waiting forever to get some information about this whole warrant situation. Will would have been right on top of that.

  Sarah Jean gives her Maid of Honor speech and we're all laughing again. Then she says, "And now, I want to thank you for not getting married in the traditional way. You have saved me from having to wear a hideous bridesmaid's gown in front of the hottest band on the planet. To Nicki and Griffin." She lifts her glass and takes a long swallow of champagne for the toast. When the applause dies down, she added a quick, "Let me know if I need to leave my number on a napkin, alright sweetie?"

  Sarah shoots me a look. "You will never see that napkin."

  I grin and peek over at Cy. But Cy's not paying attention to Sarah Jean's veiled come-on. He's watching Juliana through the glass exit door as she stands outside, just on the other side. Her image is partially blocked by an etched logo and the door handle but Cy doesn't seem to care. He stares as her frustration becomes evident- jerky movements and shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

  I'll ask him about it later. Maybe Sarah's on to something.

  Griffin proceeds to rip off Justin's family t-shirt idea, giving Nicki her very own Rupert version. There are cheers and clinking glasses and eventually Griffin and Nicki climb into their limo.

  Sarah wipes away happy tears as I help her into my Dodge Magnum after the celebration finally ends.

  "Did you have a good time?" I bend down so I'm even with her, framed by the open car door before I close it.

  "It was wonderful, Zach. Thank you. I'm so happy for your friends."

  I lean in and kiss her and in the darkness outside the car, I see a quick flash. I'm up and chasing after whoever just took t
hat picture, heedless of my dress shoes as I splash through chilly puddles. I ignore that I'm wearing a suit when I push my body over a dumpster to chase the guy down. He drops over a fence and my coat catches on the metal links at the top. I'm stuck and he's getting away.

  Finally, I tear the coat free and head back. Sarah's inside, shivering, huddled down in the dark car, waiting for me.

  "He got away." I slam my palm against the steering wheel.

  "He probably just wanted pictures of the reception, Zach," she tries to console me.

  "Nicki and Griffin left over an hour ago. This guy was hanging around, waiting to see what else he could get."

  "Did they see me?

  "Yeah. He probably got a couple as we were coming out but we didn't see the flash. Then I kissed you."

  She blinks rapidly. "Okay. What did Juliana say when you asked about Asplundh?"

  I have to think about it. "Nothing. She made her phone call and then came back in, grabbed her purse, said goodbye and left."

  "Something's going on," she says, wringing her hands. "With Juliana and Asplundh. Does Will Martin know anything about all this?"

  I'm driving now, focusing all my effort on driving safely. I want to hit the accelerator and take off. This time, I'll take Sarah with me, though. We'll be gone and no one will find us. I've got enough in the bank; we can get ghost by tomorrow.

  "Yeah, he was looking into it when his wife got sick. He handed it off to Juliana. I guess the lawyers have been trying to get in touch with me, but I haven't heard anything and now Juliana's acting like they should have already called me or something."

  "Zach, I'm scared. I don't want you to get arrested." Her voice wavers.

  "Would you run with me?" I ask. I have to know.

  "Anywhere," she says on a sigh.

  Arrested. Jail. The end of Dark Fire.

  When I called that night, Sarah's dad tried to convince me to come back, to turn myself in. It wasn't all that much money. Two thousand, six hundred and eighteen dollars.

  It's spare change to me now, but it was more money than I'd ever seen back then. If I had stolen it, that much money would have kept me warm that first winter. It would have kept me fed.

  That kind of money means nothing to me now.

  I should have let them arrest me when Andy got kidnapped. Instead, I pulled Sarah back into my life and now she wants to run with me. There's no taking it back- I'd rather go to jail than leave her behind again. It would kill me.

  I got lucky, I suppose. No one bothered to look into my alias when Justin and I explained everything to the cops that day. Why not, I have no idea. I admitted there was a warrant out for my arrest and twenty minutes later, Justin, Cy, Griffin, Nicki, and I are sitting in a lobby waiting for word on Andy. They never even took me in for questioning.

  "That's odd," I say quietly.

  "What's odd?" she asks. She sounds tired and forlorn even in those two words.

  I help her out of the car and we eventually make our way to the elevator.

  "So, you know about Norm, right?"

  "Yeah."

  "Well, Justin hired him when Andy got kidnapped. It happened right after The Tap and she was only missing for a day, but it freaked Justin the fuck out. He hired Norm while she was recovering in the hospital."

  "Oh! The cast."

  "Yeah. So... We're at the Police Station, filing the report and we show them the note we found in her pocket. They used my background to lure Andy away, threatening to send me to prison if she didn't show up, all by herself."

  "Oh my god!" Her hand flies to cover her mouth.

  "But they never even questioned me." I unlock the door and let her in.

  "Wait, what?"

  "I know. Weird right?" I pull off my wet shoes and toss them away. Then I peel my damp socks off and carry them into the closet to leave over the edge of the laundry hamper.

  I turn and Sarah has the oddest look on her face.

  "What?" I ask.

  Sarah's brows scrunch in thought and then she looks up, her gaze swinging around. "We need a keyboard, right now Zach!" She's plowing through to Cy's room. His laptop is plugged into the wall at his desk and Sarah deftly unplugs everything and shoves it under her arm. She grabs me by the arm and pulls me to the front door where she snatches her purse in the other hand and then we're waiting for the elevator.

  "Call Cy. Ask for his password. I need admin access. I could hack it, but it's faster if I don't have to," she commands.

  I call Cy, tell him there's something crazy going on and ask for his password. Then I mention that he might want to call Juliana. If I'm clear on what's about to happen, Sarah and I are about to break some laws.

  Cy's screaming in my ear. "What!?! No way man, tell her to stop. Whatever it is, just hold on. I'm calling Juliana. We'll figure this out. Hold on. I'm on my way home."

  The elevator dings and I follow Sarah out. "Sorry man. I go where she goes." I hang up and follow Sarah to her apartment. We don't hear the shouting until the door is open.

  Lucy looks all dressed up, but her hands are on her hips and she looks livid. Teddy's standing by the door looking guilty as sin.

  "Just get the fuck out, asshole!" she yells, staring Teddy down.

  I pull my shoulders back and make a space for him to go by. He creeps past, his tail between his legs, and Sarah puts the icing on it when she slams the door behind him.

  "The apartment's yours, Sare. I'm moving out first chance I get." She spins on her toes and stalks off to her room. I'm grateful when the door doesn't slam shut.

  Sarah glances at me, then at Lucy. Her gaze drops to the laptop in her arms, then back to me.

  "Talk to her," I offer. "It can wait twenty minutes. The pictures won't go out until tomorrow anyway." I still don't know what her plan is, but we'll have plenty of time to pack and run by tomorrow if we need to.

  Sarah hands me the laptop, wrapping the cord around it, and runs down the hall to knock softly on Lucy's door. I hear them exchange words through the door, then it opens and Sarah slips in, closing it behind her.

  I shiver and look down.

  I'm barefoot.

  I look back at Lucy's door. This is going to take awhile.

  I put the laptop down on Sarah's desk next to her desktop. I'm pulling my shirt off when someone starts pounding on the door.

  Is Teddy back? Really? What the fuck? Didn't he get the message earlier?

  I open the door ready to beat the shit out of the guy, but it's Cy. He pushes his way in, then stares at me.

  "I think I got the wrong impression from your call, dude."

  I look down. Now I'm barefoot and shirtless. Next time someone knocks on the door, I'm liable to be naked.

  "No. You've got the right idea. We just got waylaid and I was about to hop in the shower."

  "So you're not about to commit a felony with your girlfriend?" He looks down the hall to the closed door.

  "Actually, we probably are. I'm just waiting for her to comfort her best friend who just had a giant fight with her date. Felony will likely occur in the next few minutes; we're just on pause right now."

  Cy drops onto the couch and lets his head fall between his knees.

  "Any chance I can talk you out of this?"

  "I'm not even sure what this is," I admit, landing on the couch to splay like a starfish opposite him.

  "You're girlfriend's a bad influence," Cy says, chuckling. "She's gonna drag you down and you're just hanging around waiting until she can come back out and finish the job."

  "No way man. Where she goes, I go. Where I go, she goes. She's not dragging me down; I'm going down and she's got my hand."

  He forces me to explain what's going on, from the day at the police station during Andy's kidnapping until now.

  "So, all this time, you were willing to just walk away from Dark Fire? From me?"

  "Believe me, it wasn't Plan A," I groan.

  "Stupid."

  "Thanks, Dad." I toss a pillow from the couch at h
im.

  Catching it, he follows through and deflects it to the floor. "Don't you get it yet, Zach? You're like a brother to me."

  I look at him sideways.

  "That apartment isn't your home because you pay rent there."

  "All my shit's there?" I offer.

  "Also not the reason."

  "The commute from upstate would be killer?"

  "Dick." He uses his toe to kick the pillow on the floor back at me.

  There's quiet between us, though I can hear voices in Lucy's room.

  "So. Brothers, huh?" I ask, looking at him sideways again.

  Cy clears his throat. "You're all I've got, man. I figured the same was true for you. My brother's girl needs help? I'm here," he points to the floor, "because she's family."

  Cy and I sit on the couch in silence for another minute before I shiver again.

  "I'm gonna hit the shower. I'll be back in five."

  Cy nods and pulls out his phone.

  Despite all the shit from the evening, I'm smiling a huge fucking smile as I get under the hot water.

  It takes nearly an hour for Sarah to leave Lucy's room. When she does, she doesn't look happy. She walks straight through into the living room where Juliana, Cy, and Alexander Brown - no relation to Justin's relatives - are all waiting. Juliana introduces me to Mr. Brown.

  It's late, nearly one in the morning, but Mr. Brown is dressed in a full suit, briefcase in hand, looking like he just came into the office for the morning, fresh as a daisy. When the two of them arrived a few minutes ago, I told them to wait for Sarah before they said anything.

  "Sarah, this is Alexander Brown of Asplundh Law Offices. They handle Dark Fire's legal needs- contracts, libel, the occasional stalking fan... Mr. Brown here gets called if we get arrested."

  Sarah doesn't shake his hand or even offer. She looks terrified.

  "I'm not getting arrested tonight," I explain. I see her shoulders loosen a bit. I pat the couch next to me and she walks slowly, never taking her eyes off Mr. Brown.

  "Okay. Now that we're all here, tell him what you found." Juliana motions for Mr. Brown to get moving.