The Ghost and The Hacker (Dark Fire Book 3)

by Ivy M. Jones

  He opens his briefcase and pulls out a stack of papers. He drops them into my hands.

  "You're father was killed while committing a robbery, were you aware of this?" he asks, settling on the wing chair and crossing his leg over his knee.

  I give him the date and the name of the bank. As much as I tried to separate myself from Zach Coffield, I still kept tabs on the local news in Lakemont. The death of the local bar owner in a robbery-gone-wrong made big enough headlines that even I heard about it. The Lakemont Press went digital years before and just like the Wall Street Journal, you can read the highlights of an article and then decide if you want to pay to read the rest. I only needed to read the first paragraph to know that my father was dead.

  That was the night I got trashed with Griffin.

  "I've really tried not to think about it since then," I explain. "But yeah, I heard."

  "And what you didn't hear is what the local police found in his home. It took some time, obviously, to go through all the paperwork. Insurance on his business, a will, contact information for relatives... In cases like this, they have to look for all that stuff," Mr. Brown explains. "They were also looking for some sort of explanation as to why a bar owner would be robbing a bank."

  I duck my head down. "The bar," I mutter. It's the same reason he used to hit mom. A bad night of tips on Saturday meant bruises on her arms and face by Monday.

  "That is what they found, yes. Specifically, they found this," he says. "Page three."

  I flip the page but I'm not sure what I'm looking at.

  "Why would my dad be shopping at Village Decor?"

  "Check the date."

  It's a register receipt - the kind that you put in the register when someone else makes a purchase. The date and time stamp show a late evening transaction. Several hours later, I was leaving Lakemont behind, running away from my asshole father. That night was the first and last attempt he ever made to hit me.

  "I don't understand."

  "Flip the page."

  There's another register receipt, this time for Rita's Hair Shop for the same date.

  "What are these?"

  Mr. Brown clasps his hands in his lap. "Those are register receipts, taken along with the cash in the registers, the night you left town. They were found with your father's papers. For some reason, he put them in a file with his taxes for that year."

  I point to the photocopy of the register receipt. "This is proof..." I can barely make a sentence, so I stutter out, "He had evidence in his files..."

  "Yes. Whoever searched him missed the money and those credit card receipts somehow. It was looked into, but your father must have hidden it well because the officer did his job right. But the fact is, there is solid evidence that your father committed those robberies. Turn the page."

  The next page is another photocopy. This time, a page from a bookie's journal. In my dad's handwriting.

  "He made a bad call and lost a lot. When the bills came in for the bar, he probably decided to hit stores down Main Street until he had enough to cover his losses."

  I look at the total payout. Two thousand, five hundred dollars.

  I drop the papers to the floor.

  "This is evidence to clear me, sure. But I can still be arrested. There's still a warrant. This can still hurt Dark Fire," I say. I go for stoic, but it sounds resigned to my ears.

  "Actually, if you'll turn the page..." He waits until I pick up the stapled pages. I flip to the second receipt and then once more.

  It's a copy of a form. Some kind of notice?

  "This is a copy of the report sent from Police Chief Jennings to the prosecutor, notifying them of the new evidence in the case. At the bottom, Chief Jennings recommended dropping the warrant against Zachary Miles Coffield."

  I hear the words coming from Mr. Brown's mouth but I can't make sense of them.

  Sarah's voice is quiet. I can barely hear her through the tunnel I'm in. "He didn't know how to contact you, Zach. He alluded to it, but my mom never realized what he was talking about." Sarah's hand is on my face, but I'm lost. I can hear everyone talking now, but I don't know what to say.

  Sarah finally says it for me. "It's done then?"

  Mr. Brown stands and dusts off his spotless pants. "The Prosecutor's Office filed the paperwork that week. There was no warrant to find when you turned yourself in to the New York City Police Department. Not as Zachary Moore, nor Zachary Miles Coffield."

  Mr. Brown walks to the door and I watch Sarah run up behind him to hug him before he can put his hand on the knob.

  "Thank you," she says. Her words are tight and thick.

  I understand. I feel the same way.

  "All I did was make some photocopies." He starts to move away from Sarah, but stops to add, "And come out to a client's apartment in the middle of the night to advise a client on the best course of action."

  He just stopped her from committing a crime and he knows it.

  Sarah drops her arms and wraps them around her body. "I appreciate you making the trip."

  "Of course."

  Cy stands and helps Juliana to her feet. They walk to the door and Juliana gives me an aggravated look. "As it turns out, I've fired Dylan, my assistant. It's a long story, but I'm going home now." She turns her head to Cy. "I appreciate the call."

  "No problem. I appreciate you getting here so quickly, and bringing Mr. Brown with you. I'll walk you to your car."

  Juliana hesitates and then I see her shoulders relax a bit. She goes through the door Cy holds open for her.

  The door closes behind them and I pull Sarah into my arms. I'm so exhausted.

  "Just let me hold you tonight?" I lift her into my arms and carry her to her bed.

  She nods and I strip her down to her panties, drop my own clothes to the floor, and tuck us both in.

  True to her word, she lets me hold her all night long.

  When we wake, she's still wrapped in my arms.

  There's something I have to do, and I think Sarah can figure it out.

  "Can you get the day off on Monday?" I ask, pressing my lips into her hair. Her shampoo or conditioner has this amazing smell. Sometimes I find myself sniffing her when she's not paying attention to see if I can figure out what it is.

  "I'm sure I can just call in sick. It's flu season and I've been working at least a half an hour of overtime each day to impress my boss," she explains.

  She stretches in my arms. "Are we leaving before breakfast?"

  Yup, she's figured it out.

  "Coffee first," I take one long, deep breath in through my nose, letting her smell infuse into me. I feel like I'll need it later. "I'll look up flights."

  "I'll make the coffee," she says, pulling on some yoga pants and one of my t-shirts. It's the one I got when we went on tour with Breaking Benjamin and the Gaelic-style interwoven Bs fall right between her breasts.

  I'm staring. She smirks and wanders away.

  Cy's laptop is next to Sarah's computer. I log in as myself and bring up flights to Pittsburgh. We'll have to rent a car when we get there. Lakemont is about twenty minutes from the airport, but I don't want to cab it. We'll need a car.

  When I've finished typing in all the information for Sarah and myself and picked a car, and realize I've spent more on tickets and a car rental in five minutes than that two thousand, five hundred that caused all this trouble to begin with.

  I'm in the shower and back out again as fast as possible. We need to be at the airport in less than an hour and a half.

  Sarah hands me a cup of coffee when I enter the kitchen.

  "Are we good?"

  "Quick shower. Then pack for an overnight. We can get a hotel in Pittsburgh if we have to," I say, sipping my coffee as I follow her back to the bedroom.

  She's loading an open duffel with clothing but she stops to give me a look like I'm stupid.

  "Really?" she asks, stuffing a bra and some panties in.

  "What?"

  "You know my mom still lives there,
right?"

  I think about this. The thought of ever seeing Sarah's parents had always filled me with terror. Despite having left under the impression that Sarah had broken things off between us, I know now that I hurt her. Seeing her parents again will be tough; I broke their baby girl's heart. That hasn't changed, but I wonder if their impression of me is any different now that I'm not wanted.

  "I guess we can stay with your parents," I say, shrugging. If they say no, we can always use Pittsburgh as Plan B.

  "Just mom," Sarah says sadly.

  "Did they get divorced?" I'm flabbergasted. Being the wife of a cop couldn't have been easy, but her mom always pulled it off so well. I never would have seen that coming.

  "Dad had a heart attack less than a year after Roger died." She takes a sip of coffee. "You know, I talked to mom a few weeks ago. That's when she told me about dad solving your case. But it was like a code."

  She gives me a sad look and wanders into the bathroom. I follow.

  "I'm sorry about your dad. Despite the whole warrant thing, he was a really nice guy."

  She laughs, but it's sad. "Yeah. He was."

  "We'll visit him, too."

  "Okay. Thanks, Zach."

  I head upstairs, throw some clothes in a bag, toss in my toiletries and return Cy's computer. I leave a note telling him, vaguely, where we're going. Then I'm back downstairs, fully dressed and carrying my coat, waiting for Sarah.

  She comes out of her bathroom carrying a toiletries bag. On a whim, I wander into her bathroom and take a moment to read her shampoo bottle.

  Pear.

  About an hour later, we're at the airport, waiting to board, and I catch another hint of her shampoo. I bring her face to mine and kiss her. I need the connection, the reminder that I'm awake and this is all real, and I'm about to get on a plane and fly an hour and a half to another state so I can make peace with my past.

  Maybe that's why Sarah's with me- she needs to make peace, too. Her father lied to her and now that she knows the truth, he's dead. It's only been a couple of years, but I could have come home a week after my father died.

  I'm still not entirely sure what we'll do when we get there, but I know that with Sarah at my side, I'll get through it. We'll make our way back to where all of this started, finish out that chapter of our lives and move on. I know there's closure to be found. I'm just not sure how.

  We're sitting in first class, ten minutes into the flight, and Sarah twines her fingers with mine.

  "What do we do after this?" she asks quietly. We've both been quiet, caught up in our own heads.

  "I move in with you. I report Teddy and get him fired. We find a new place for Lucy. We live happily ever after, just like everyone at school always said."

  She smiles, but it's tense.

  I turn her face, forcing her to meet my eyes. I ask, without words if she's okay, and she answers me with a peck on the lips, and then dips her head to rest on my shoulder.

  We haven't had our closure yet. I'm not going to push because there's no point. We're both quiet until we land and I find our rental car. Then it's another quiet twenty-plus minutes to downtown Lakemont. We drive past the mountain of Lakemont - really just a high hill that overlooks the lake - and I drive the route to Sarah's home by memory. Or, I guess it's just her mom's house now. It's not Sarah's home... Sarah lives with me. She's home at her apartment in New York. She's home with me.

  I hope.

  Because I'm home when I'm with her.

  Her mom's car is in the driveway and I pull in next to it. We never called to warn her we were coming, so it's good that she's home. I have a feeling we're about to shock the hell out of her.

  Sarah asks me to wait outside for a minute and then goes in. I can hear her mom, excited, surprised, and then quiet. The door opens and Sarah beckons me in.

  "Oh dear god in heaven. You found him, Sarah." Her mom drops to the couch when she sees me, her hand over her mouth.

  The gesture reminds me of Sarah. She may look like her dad, but she's so much like her mom, it's jarring to see. They both use their left hand to cover their mouths when they're surprised. They both sit on a couch the same way, and they both smile with the same smile- bright, like the sun is coming out.

  "You knew I was looking for him?" Sarah asks, her mouth open.

  "Of course, Sare-bear. I may not know anything about computers, but I'm not stupid," she chides. "It's good to see you again, Zachary." She finally gets her wits gathered and stands.

  She surprises me with a hug. "Good to see you again, too, Mrs. Jennings. I'm sorry to hear about Chief Jennings."

  She sighs. "Thank you, Zachary."

  "Zach is fine, ma'am," I correct.

  She gives me the same look her daughter does, lifting her right eyebrow the tiniest bit and tilting her head.

  "Always so polite. It always made me wonder if you were really Roger's son." She blushes and pats at her perfect hair, then turns and walks to the kitchen. "Will you be staying for dinner?"

  Sarah follows her mom, and I follow Sarah.

  "Can we take you out to dinner, mom?" I'm surprised to hear Sarah ask that. It will mean going out in public, in Lakemont, with me at the same table.

  "Are you sure?" I ask under my breath.

  "Are you mine?" she asks in return, doing the same eyebrow thing her mom just did a moment ago. I'll have to point that out to her some time.

  "Always," I tell her, kissing her hair and squeezing her against my side.

  "Then let's go make a statement."

  Downtown Lakemont has two really nice restaurants: Clary's Inn and The Bicycle Club- a surf and turf kind of place. When I ask, Mrs. Jennings waves me off and tells me to pick one. She eats out a lot with her friends, has done so a lot since her husband passed, she explains, so it's my call.

  Clary's is a little less snobby, Sarah tells me. The Bicycle Club wasn't around eight years ago, so I have nothing to compare it to. I pick Clary's and we go inside. It's the first time in a long time that I don't have people staring at me when I enter a public place. I haven't really left the City except to go to my house upstate.

  We make it through the whole meal uninterrupted. When the waitress brings the bill and I go to take it, she finally looks at me.

  "Zach Moore?"

  I look up and see a familiar face. I can't remember her name.

  "Hi," she says. I see Sarah smiling as the waitress continues to prattle. "I'm Sophie Lemieux. I went to high school with Sarah. How do you know her?"

  I put out my hand to shake hers and she blushes like crazy. "Hi. Zach Coffield. We've met. You took a picture of me and Sarah in high school, at a football game. For yearbook."

  She drops her hand and her eyes get buggy. "But you're... You are..."

  "Zach Moore. Dark Fire," I fill in. "Yup."

  She goes pale and then red and I ready my legs in case I have to catch her. Justin's had to catch Andy when she passed out; he said it was easy because they were next to a couch. If Sophie goes down, she's going to end up hitting the table.

  She manages to get herself together and I slump back in my seat.

  "Would you sign this?" She holds out her order pad. "I never knew..."

  I smile and look around. Mrs. Jennings is smiling, taking all this in. Sarah's beaming- with pride? Happiness that the secret is out? I'm not sure.

  I sign Sophie's notepad and hand her my credit card. "Maybe hold off on telling everyone until we leave, okay?"

  She nods, biting her lower lip like she's trying to hold it in, and turns to Sarah. "It's good to see you again." She wins points for including Sarah and I watch her scurry off to run my card.

  When she returns, she hands the receipt to me and spends a minute talking to Sarah. "It was good to see you both again," she says as we leave.

  I saw a cellphone in her back pocket. My money says she's tweeting or posting to Facebook the minute the door closes behind us.

  It's too dark to go anywhere by the time we get back to the house.r />
  Mrs. Jennings puts sheets on the couch for me. Sarah has a twin bed in her bedroom and I would have preferred to be cramped in it with her, but I won't push the issue. At dinner, Mrs. Jennings explained that she'd just gotten home from a church social before we showed up, so I'm not going to ask if I can sleep in the same bed as her daughter while we're in her house.

  The point is moot. An hour after we're all in bed, Sarah slips her body under the covers, spooning against me, her ass against my crotch so she doesn't fall off. Her mom finds us like that in the morning and I have to cover my erection on the way into the bathroom.

  After breakfast - a full buffet spread that takes her mom about an hour to put together - her mom shocks the hell out of us by pulling out a laptop.

  "You own a computer?" Sarah says, her eyes wide.

  "I had to learn eventually," she chides. "Use it to find out where his father ended up."

  She doesn't have to hack anything. It's public information. It just takes time to find out where the coroner sent the body after the robbery. I learn that his ashes went into a common site, location unknown. But there is a small plaque at one of the two cemeteries in Lakemont. It's all that's left of the man, besides his bar, and that sold at public auction.

  I want to be sad, but all I feel is relief.

  Sarah

  Zach drives me to my dad's grave first.

  I stand there, staring at the headstone. I was away when he died, but I came home for the funeral. In the days that followed, I realized how hard it would be on my mom if I hung around a lot. I went back to my college apartment less than a week after the burial.

  "Hi dad." I'm not religious like my mom. I have no opinion about the afterlife or heaven, but as I stand at the foot of my father's grave, mentally tracing the words Called To Serve, Passed in Grace which are etched onto the stone, I wonder if maybe he's aware that it's finally over.

  "So, I found him, Dad." A tear rolls down my cheek and Zach wraps his arms around me from behind.

  There's a place next to my dad's grave, waiting for my mom. I don't want to lose her, but I want to hope someday they're together again. I look back at the dark engraved marble.

  "I love him, Daddy. I always have. Thank you for everything. I get why you didn't tell me about the warrant, but he's safe now. You can finally sleep."