by LJ Byrne
“We need to know how he managed to weaponize it so fast,” I say, realizing how bossy I sound.
I sit down after I disconnect, exhaling suddenly. Ryder approaches me slowly in amazement. “You’re incredible, Mira.” When I blink at him in surprise, he gently kisses me. “You’re brilliant.”
Suddenly self-conscious, I flush. “Can we eat now? I have a bad feeling it’s going to be a long night.”
By the end of dinner, we know the sinkhole is working – at least, for now. If my method goes offline for any reason, the worm will proliferate; infected systems will shut down. I leave it to Uncle Robert and Liam’s cohorts to find a way to keep that from happening. I want to keep my name out of the spotlight for now.
Uncle Robert sips some brandy and talks with us right before we hit the hot tub many hours later. “You seem to have an interesting assortment of friends, Mira,” he says, swirling his brandy. The fireplace causes the liquid to glow in his glass.
I shrug. “I met some of them on the dark web.”
My uncle curses. “How old were you when you met this Liam guy?”
“Fourteen.” I wince when my uncle and Ethan start yelling at me. “I knew how to protect myself online.”
Once Uncle Robert calms down, he addresses me directly. “You have a gift, Mira. I don’t think I need to tell you how extraordinary you are.”
Embarrassed, I shuffle a bit, but Celeste grabs my arm and says, “I always knew you were special. And you’re right. It’s not about money. It’s about who controls the net.” She wrinkles her nose. “I hope I said that right.”
Connor chuckles with affection, nudging her into his arms. Ryder holds me from behind, burying his face in my hair. With a suspicious look, Uncle Robert asks Ryder, “And what are your intentions towards my niece, young man?”
Ethan grins while glancing at Ryder expectantly. He’s enjoying my discomfiture.
I expect Ryder to look uneasy or squirm, but he returns my uncle’s gaze calmly. “I love your niece, Mr. De Vries. Before you tell me we’re too young, I’m aware that I’m eighteen and Mira is a month away from turning eighteen. I made some terrible mistakes, and I understand why you dislike me. I promise you that I will never take Mira for granted. Her family is important to her, which means that you all are important to me. I won’t leave her unless she wants me to.” The arm around my waist tightens. “I want a future with her. A permanent one.”
My uncle spews his brandy while I gape. Okay, we have not talked about getting married or anything like that! But Ryder’s face remains calm and sure. “And what if I say no?” I ask pointedly.
Ethan grumbles, “You’re such an arrogant prick, Ryder.”
Ryder closes his eyes briefly. “If you say no…” When he opens them, there’s a fierce determination staring down at me. “I’ll persuade you.”
Celeste leans over to Connor. “I can’t tell if that’s borderline stalkerish or super-hot,” she says.
“It’s both,” I reply, and yet, I confess it doesn’t bother me. Ryder’s lips tilt down for a moment at my comment.
My uncle stands and yawns. “Well, I’m going to bed since I suspect I’ll need to be on my toes this weekend. There’s the possibility of a DDoS attack while we work on security patches. Ethan, don’t let that boy kidnap your cousin and marry her overnight. When I’m more alert, I’ll grill him further.”
I jerk free from Ryder. “It was too easy,” I suddenly say. My uncle looks at me in surprise. “The worm was too easy to stop.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Uncle Robert begins.
But now I’m sure of it. “I would.” The way the worm was put together, the way it proliferated… It was both clumsy and elegant. It did several billion dollars in damage, but we were able to mitigate it within hours. The loophole wasn’t overlooked. It was deliberately left behind.
My eyes are clear when I repeat, “It was too easy. I don’t think this was the real attack. I think it was a trial run.”
011110
I’m flipping through Mom’s last journal when Ryder stops by on a weekend. We’re a week away from the Winter Ball, and I’m about to send my special packet of files out to knock Ingrid down. It might just topple the Queen altogether.
He curls up next to me. “Did I freak you out when I told your uncle about my imagined future with you?” His tone is deliberately casual when I put the journal down.
I consider the question carefully. “No. But I’m not ready to get married or anything. You know that, right?”
His deep blue eyes are serious. “I do.” When I’m quiet, he says, “My life is connected to yours, Mira. You’re worth the wait.” He brushes his fingers over the leather edges of the journal. “Your mother’s?”
“Yes. Been trying to get some insight into her personality before she became a mom.” I start flipping the pages aimlessly. Then I stop. I thought she never finished her last journal. Only the first twenty pages or so are filled. But as I flip through, I note that she started writing again three-fourths in. She deliberately left a slew of blank pages in between the older dates.
Ryder senses that I’ve found something important as I start on the first page in the new section. The date makes it clear that it takes place a year before I was born.
I hesitate to write this, but I have no one else to share this information with. I can’t tell Erika. She just had a baby. Father is upset because I “blew” my chances with E. I wish I never had to see E again. But I can’t separate myself from seeing E because it means I may never see SJ.
I stop, glancing at Ryder. “I think E is Ernest Whitman,” I whisper, my face a tad pale.
Ryder swallows. “Obviously, like father like daughter,” he says with distaste. “But who is this SJ?”
I continue reading.
Father would never approve of SJ, so our relationship remains a secret. SJ thinks that once the money starts rolling in, Father will approve of him, but I’m not so sure. My father is a racist – I am sure of it. I know Erika and R would protect me, but I don’t want to involve them in my drama. For now, everything is secret. I have a secret.
I flip the page and note a tiny square wedged deep between the sheets. I wiggle it free. It’s about the size of a passport photo. It’s old and the quality isn’t great. It’s a picture of three men, one of whom is Asian. I would guess the man is Korean.
Ryder frowns. “That guy in the middle. It might be Ernest when he was young. I’ve seen pictures of him.”
“What if that guy next to him is my father?” I query. “I mean, this is the first picture I’ve seen that has a possible candidate.”
Gently caressing my cheek, Ryder urges me to look at him. “I’ll help you. We’ll do this together and find out who that man is. If it’s important to you, then it’s important to me.”
“Someday you’ll need to explain why you like me so much,” I mumble, tucking my hair back.
“I’d be happy to show you,” he says back to me with a wicked grin.
He laughs when I roll my eyes at his corny line, but he stops when I lean in to kiss him.
“How did you do it?” Daniel screams at our table the following Monday, his eyes frantically jumping from Nate to Xander to Connor to Ryder. Considering they jumped him at the Halloween party, he’s aware they’re responsible for the wipe. He’s been harassing Nate since, but he seems to have hit a breaking point.
I deliberately keep my eyes down as Ryder stands up. “Get out of here, Jameson. You’re filth. You come near any of my people again and what we did to you on Halloween will look like child’s play,” Ryder snarls.
Daniel’s ready hyperventilate. “The wipe was good. The virus on the computers. Who did you fucking hire?! The virus was custom. And what you did to the phones!” He’s shrieking now. “I need to know who you used!”
I pretend to munch on chips, but a side glance at Liam tells me that he’s bothered by Daniel’s words. We both suspect there’s someone here with some skill – how else would a
mock account been created – and Daniel’s description indicates more than a cursory knowledge.
“And you,” Daniel says to Liam. “You and Mira broke up, but now you’re sitting here like friends. So, you played us! You played Ingrid. Was it you?”
That’s too close to the truth. I clamp down on the flare of panic.
“You know that I can hire the best money can buy,” Ryder croons, stepping towards Daniel. Xander and Nate join him and all three Royal boys circle Daniel. Before anyone moves, Ryder punches Daniel in the stomach. “That’s for all the girls you terrorized with your perversions. That’s for touching my girl. Get out of my sight or I will break you right here.”
Ingrid, at the nearly empty Royal table, watches with narrowed eyes as Daniel stumbles, fleeing the cafeteria. Except for that one shouting match with Ryder, she hasn’t spoken to him since. Judy and Victoria mutter angrily, but Ingrid’s gaze is directly on me. She still hates me, but now there is a darkness as she gazes at everyone at our table.
I’m not done with Ingrid. Not by a long shot. With access to her social media accounts, I compile a list of all the mean things she’s done. This includes carefully redacted screenshots of her blackmail attempts, her bullying of friends and enemies alike, the list of boys she’s slept with – this one is a doozy – and copies of her emails.
On top of this, I locate the messages she sent to Daniel where they spliced images and hacked the video feed the night I was thrown onto the roof. I even find the original video. This isn’t even the worst of it. Her computer, before my virus, was a treasure trove of horrors: sex tapes, audio recordings, etc. I won’t allow the sex tapes to go public. I don’t keep any copies.
After compiling it into a neat little package, minus sex tapes, I spoof Daniel’s email account and send the file to the school. I do this on a lovely Friday afternoon to ensure students have all weekend to stew.
011111
Since the email goes out without me alerting anyone, most of the immediate reactions come via text messages.
Celeste: OMG. I think Victoria just peed in her pants in the parking lot.
Xander: School accounts are flooding with demands that Ingrid be expelled.
Darcy: I wish I could see this in person.
Ryder: That was beautiful.
Ryder’s father is in town, but I’ve been told that he’ll leave Saturday. I know Ryder wants to keep me as far from his father as possible, so I figure it’s safe to stop by on Sunday.
Going to Ryder’s home makes me sad. It’s such a large place. When the butler lets me in, I consider texting Ryder to tell him I’m here but memories of the last time I arrived without warning flood me. I’m frozen until a voice breaks me out of my reverie.
“So, you’re the one.”
A man about Uncle Robert’s age approaches me. His hair is black with fine threads of silver. You can tell a lot about a person by a smile. This man wears no smile. In fact, there is no joy about him. He walks around me like I’m a car he might buy.
“I can see why my son is fascinated by you. You’re pretty,” he says with a faint leer.
Creepy older men – not my thing. I don’t balk or flinch as he circles me. Even without names, I’m guessing this is Ryder’s father. There’s a similarity in their noses and jaw, but Ryder must have inherited the wideness of his eyes from his mother.
“Mira Bell.” The way he says my name I can tell he’s making all sorts of internal jokes. “I’m Clark Cabot, but I’m guessing you already know that. Tell me, Mira, what exactly do you think will ever happen between you and Ryder, hmm? You think he’ll inherit the Cabot fortune and give you a life of luxury?”
Ryder and Connor have told me enough about this man. “No,” I say firmly. “I intend to make my own way in the world. I won’t need to rely on anyone.”
Ryder’s father laughs mockingly. “If you think for a moment I believe you…”
“I don’t expect you to,” I retort. “I’m certainly not going to waste my breath trying to convince you.”
“Mira!” Connor rushes into the room, his eyes filled with worry. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought Ryder would be free today.” With a calm glance at Mr. Cabot, I add, “I presume I’m wrong.”
“Oh no, I’m enjoying this conversation, Miss Bell,” Mr. Cabot sneers. “Ryder will end his relationship with you, or I’ll disown him. I won’t let my family name go down the drain with trash like you! If you have any sense, you’ll end things now. You think he knows anything about surviving in the world without the wealth he’s become accustomed to?”
“Father!”
The tension in the room rises when Ryder enters, anger on his face. He comes to my side and I expect him to be angry with me, but he isn’t.
“She’s certainly easy on the eyes, son,” Mr. Cabot says. “Sleep with her and be done with her or be prepared to learn how the lower classes live. I will leave you with nothing if you continue to prance around town with this harlot.”
“Don’t talk about her like that,” Ryder says through gritted teeth. The way he avoids my eyes tells me that he’s hiding something.
“Well, Miss Bell?” Mr. Cabot questions me. “He gets nothing if you stay with him!”
Here’s the thing about my life. Sometimes I meet people like Ingrid, and I can’t help myself. Hacking into the school and hacking her accounts – not ethical but I’m willing to do it. I wouldn’t, however, go after her family’s wealth or harm them in any way. Mr. Cabot makes me want to cross all the lines I won’t cross. But here’s the thing – there’s no going back if you abuse the power you have.
“Whether or not Ryder and I are together has nothing to do with you,” I reply calmly, Mr. Cabot scrunches his face in surprise. “My choice is him – not his money, not his name, and certainly not his father. The world is changing, Mr. Cabot.” Ryder turns to me, lips parted. I guess he likes me claiming him.
Mr. Cabot raises his hand – whether to hit me or grab me, I never find out. Ryder’s there, twisting his father’s hand back with a snarl before flinging the older man to the floor. “Don’t touch her! I’ll kill you if you touch her!” Ryder looms over his father threateningly.
Connor comes to stand in front of me – cute, but unnecessary. I’m done hiding in the shadows. I swipe my phone and call RReagan – the fact that his name is Ron Reagan still makes me laugh.
He recognizes my number when he picks up. “Angel.” According to Liam, he believes using Liam’s nickname for me makes him young and hip.
“I need a favor,” I say with my eyes pinned on Clark Cabot. “Remember all those jobs I did for you?”
Ron and I have an amicable friendship. “Just tell me what you need,” he says.
“How much pain can you inflict upon Clark Cabot? The one who owns a home in Royalton,” I clarify sweetly.
Mr. Cabot gets to his feet, his eyes narrowing on me.
I hear a hum in the background as he types a few things. “How much you want? Just need to press a send key and he gets added to several lists,” he adds with a chuckle. “But this is your only big favor.”
“I’m guessing you’ll owe me another one soon enough,” I reply. “Make sure it hurts and don’t let up until I say so. Tie everything up.”
“Oh, it will. Bureaucracy and red tape go hand in hand.” I hear him laughing. The thing about the government is that they’re a mess and abuses are easy to hide.
I pocket my phone. “Mr. Cabot, the real power lies in who can manipulate the net,” I say with wide-eyed honesty. “When you’re ready to talk, let Ryder know.”
Clark Cabot sneers. “What are you talking about?”
Ryder’s puzzlement is obvious. “Mira?”
“You’re going to find that your funds are frozen,” I say, ticking items off my fingers. “You’ll have the IRS looking into you and be subject to an audit. And that’s just the beginning.”
Ryder’s father laughs at me. “You can’t do that! I have lawyers tha
t will come after you!”
“Really? A girl with no name?” I give him a skeptical look. “The government is a pain to deal with. Good luck sorting this mess.” I smile at Ryder and Connor. “Why don’t you pack a few things and stay with me for a few days?”
By the time they return, packed and ready to go, Mr. Cabot’s learning how quickly the government works when they want something and how slowly they work when they’re asked to fix something. We walk away to the sound of him shrieking into his phone.
It doesn’t take long to convince Aunt Erika to let Ryder and Connor stay. Uncle Robert scowls a bit, but even he is a softie.
“What’d you do?” Ryder asks as he puts his things away in the guest bedroom. It’s on the other side of the house because Uncle Robert doesn’t want Ryder being next door to me. Since the guest bedroom has two beds, he’ll be sharing the room with Connor.
I bounce on one of the beds. “You’re not mad?” I ask.
Connor chuckles. “I’ve never seen my uncle so horrified.”
“I have a friend in the government,” I say. “I’ve helped him with a few projects.” I shrug. “And I haven’t even started. There’s a lot you can do to someone with the Internet.” Ryder knows more about my connection to the government, of course.
Ryder brushes my hair back. “It won’t get you into trouble?” When I shake my head, he kisses my forehead. “You’re amazing, Mira. I don’t care about the money. You’re the only thing that matters.”
“You stood up to him, Ryder,” Connor remarks. “You’ve never done that before.”
Ryder rubs his side slightly, wincing when I lift his shirt to stare at the bruise. I gasp. “It isn’t as bad as it looks,” Ryder murmurs, pulling his shirt down. He brings me closer. “If he’d touched you, I would’ve killed him.”
“You defend me but not yourself?” I query sharply. “That’s messed up.”
