“You think really loud, you know.” Standing in only sweats, he rubbed his face.
Ari’s eyes flashed to his toned stomach, then, feeling guilty, focused only on his face. “I didn’t want to wake you.”
“My door senses people lurking outside of it. How can I help?”
“I just wanted to thank you for bringing my family back. It means a lot to me.” Her throat tightened and didn’t let the words out easily.
“You’re welcome. I did take care of some work on our trip too.”
Ari lifted a brow since he never mentioned anything about work while they were gone.
“Every few months, I usually go to different cities and reach out to contacts from different electronic servers. Money to transfer, supplies to be secured. Nothing big. I just didn’t have a chance to leave since you got here, so you didn’t know. I would have done it for anyone here. We’re a family. That’s what we do.”
Ari nodded, feeling stupid for Marco getting in her head. “Whatever the reason. I’m grateful. Um, goodnight.” She spun around and headed off, a little embarrassed.
Several steps down, she faintly heard a “goodnight” in reply. Turning back, she saw the door close. They were friends, that’s all. The way it began in a pretend relationship in a virtual world had complicated things, but she was sure where her heart remained—with Reed. Back in their room, her mother knelt on the side of her bed praying while Ari climbed into bed.
Settling in to sleep, her thoughts wandered. Part of her dreaded the guilt every time she thought of Reed, and the other half relished the sweet memories of their dates and kisses on the beach. Her thoughts transferred over to her dreams that night. She caught glimpses of Reed as he walked away, always too fast to catch. His words floated on the wind yet felt empty without him by her side. Every time she turned to catch him, he vanished. He dissipated in the darkness. As she woke in the middle of the night, a deep ache pained her chest. She wondered how long she could cling to fading memories and empty hope.
Chapter 11
The following day, everyone was working like a well-oiled machine by ten in the morning. Early on, Ari had asked Harini how everything ran so smoothly here. “Patrick,” was her answer. Ari saw that today. He motivated people by working just as hard, if not harder than, everyone else. His kindness and intelligence saw not only what people could offer, but what people needed.
Granted, his team all had financial holdings all over the world, including even Ari now. Paying people well helped too. But this felt like a family or team that strove for safety in a world where warpers never had much.
By lunch, even Marco was impressed from his time with Blur. He sat across from Ari, while their mom helped Sue serve up enchiladas, a traditional dish from home. “He’s insanely fast. I can’t even begin to keep up.”
“They call him Blur for a reason.” Harini sat next to her. “How could your mom cook this from what we had in the kitchen? It looks amazing.”
“My mom can make almost anything from scratch. She took frugal to a new level when we were growing up.” Ari took another bite, letting the flavors of home take her back. Even while at home, her mom never had time to really cook. Not when working two jobs with two kids and a dead-beat husband.
Looking over to the kitchen, Ari saw her mom laugh as she talked to Sue over the large dishes of food. Ari couldn’t remember the last time she saw her mom so happy. It felt good to finally make a good decision.
“Ari, you never told me your mom could cook,” Harini said. “This is fabulous. Much different from the European food I’ve tried.”
“This is what heaven tastes like.” Marco scooped up some beans with his fork.
Patrick walked by and stopped behind Harini. “Marco, we’ll keep you in the guest room for now if that works. We have most of what you’ll need here, but if not, it’ll be another week before we do another supply run.”
“I appreciate the room.” The previous animosity in Marco’s voice had disappeared.
“It’s not much bigger than a water closet, but you’re welcome,” Patrick said. Blur called his name down the table, and Patrick strode off in that direction.
“How’s Tricky?” Harini asked.
“Good,” Ari said. “She has tracked down some of Maxim’s buyers and is determined to steal his money, destroy his company, and ruin him completely as a person.” Ari smiled as they often joked about Tricky’s bloodthirsty nature. Ari spoke loud enough that Tricky, who was approaching, would hear too.
“We all have personal goals.” She sat next to Harini. Tricky’s long blond hair hung in a straight ponytail from on top her head. Her piercing blue eyes were beautiful and hard.
Marco watched her a little too carefully. “Ari, you were pretty vague when you told mom what you guys do. She’ll need a new string of prayer beads.”
“It can’t be that much worse than what you were into back home,” she told her brother. “We’re going after an international arms dealer. I’m sure Mom would say a couple prayers on our behalf.”
“Not that I believe in that God stuff, but I’ll take anything that helps tip the scales in our favor.” Tricky took a bite, thought for a moment, then dug back in again.
“Mom already denied me second helpings, so I’ll head back to work with Blur.” He turned his attention to Tricky. “Are you as fast as your brother?”
“No one is as fast as my brother, but don’t worry, I make up for it in other ways.” She gave him a wicked smile, and that accent took it up to another level of sexy without even meaning it.
Ari wasn’t sure if she should be more worried for Tricky or her brother.
The week continued smoothly with Marco and her mom getting along with the others better than expected. Her mom worked mostly with Sue in running the day-to-day meals and cleaning. She enjoyed becoming a mother hen, and most people would make extra trips by the kitchen whenever she was in it to see if they could sneak some food. Her mom was a lot more lenient with “snacks” than Sue was.
On Friday, Tricky asked Ari to go on a hike with her. They were all expected to keep up their health since they were warpers, and most didn’t need reminding as their sanity was on the line. Tricky invited Ari not because they were close, but because their competitive natures pushed them both to go a little farther when they were together.
The scent of the thick trees surrounded them. The security around here was top notch, and somehow being out in nature brought Ari a peace that little else did. They kept a steady pace as they hiked the loop around their cabin.
“Let’s try up there.” Tricky pointed to the top of a large boulder. There were enough footholds to make it easy. It was a good thing Ari didn’t care much for her nails.
At the top, they both took a seat, panting heavily as they sucked on their hydro packs. They looked over the small valley in the distance, pristine with the partly cloudy weather.
“I want to go back online soon,” Tricky kept her gaze forward. “Are you up for it?”
Tricky asked because no one was forced to go on jobs in the VR realms. Sketchy was proof of what could happen. The mental illness usually came slowly, but if something pushed them hard enough or stressed their minds their sanity and memory could be cut short. There wasn’t a magic number of how many hours a person could withstand. Exercise and supplements helped, but they all knew there was a line they shouldn’t cross, and might not know where it was until they were standing right in front of it.
“Did we get new intel on where Maxim’s going to be?” Ari asked Tricky.
“Not really. I want to search for him in some of the government communities. There are rumors that he’s been in and out of VLEX and VRUN. We shouldn’t have to use our abilities, just watch. He’s up to something, I’m sure of it. The money transfers we’ve been tracking proves it, but without eyes on him we simply don’t know what he’s planning.” Tricky turned to face Ari. “I just can’t figure out what. More weapons? Sex trade? I know it’s dark. That bastard’s o
nly been a bane of society since his existence.”
“I’m in. I’ll help.” Ari wanted to pitch in where she could here and using her abilities for a worthwhile purpose helped. Maybe she could even check up on VisionTech as well. “Hey, Tricky. How did Maxim first appear on your radar? Not that he isn’t a total piece of scum, but that is common in our world. Why Maxim?”
Tricky remained still for a moment, focusing on the horizon, and it told Ari this was more personal than she thought. Patrick varied their jobs and never focused too long in one area, except for Tricky. She’d been on Maxim’s tail ever since Ari arrived, and with the mountains of data she had on this guy, she must have been following him for a long time.
“We all have baggage we don’t talk about. You’re more open about your past because we found you and now you have your family with you.” Tricky tried to smile, but it came out sad. “Blur and I ran as far as we could from our past and we found Patrick almost two years ago. He offered us a haven, no questions asked.”
“I didn’t mean to push.”
“It’s okay. Since you’ve been helping me, you deserve to know,” Tricky said. “Maxim killed my mother. I never knew my father, but he may have worked for him. Either way, I will kill him one day. After I tear apart his livelihood piece by piece.”
“I’m so—”
Tricky lifted a hand. “Don’t say it. Blur thinks I just need to drop this and move on. He does just enough to appease me. I don’t need your pity, just someone to watch my back on the inside.”
“I will,” Ari promised.
After another moment of silence, Tricky stood and stretched her legs. “Race you back?”
Chapter 12
After talking to the team, Ari and Tricky decided to go into VLEX at the beginning of the following week. They decided on VLEX because Ari wanted to check in on VisionTech. When she worked on the island with Reed, she had a long job inside VLEX posing as a government agent. Maybe she could find some information about them.
Before Ari left VLEX though, she made a threat to the whole program that the warpers were watching them. It was a statement to prove herself to the team, and to tell the governments who played by their own dark rules to watch themselves. People like Maxim shouldn’t have free rein on the international virtual community that was quickly taking over world politics.
After they laid down the plan, Patrick approved it. “You two will need to be careful. Blur will have a couple of profiles that you can take on to blend in. Remember, this is to observe and collect, only.”
“Of course,” Ari said.
With her family back, it had helped with things between her and Patrick. They got in a good rhythm of a friendly professional relationship. Granted they didn’t have much time alone anymore. And seeing Marco constantly reminded her of his other half growing up, Reed.
Monday rolled around and Ari was finishing up breakfast with Harini when her mother came over an angry scowl on her face.
“What did you do?” Harini whispered.
“I was hoping it was you.” Ari forced a pleasant grin on. “Hey, Mom.”
“Don’t hey me. I just heard what you’re doing today. Going in a program, again.” All five foot two inches rose in anger, which made her appear surprisingly bigger. “I know you have to from time to time. You told me that when we got here, but does it have to be so often?”
“It’s my job.”
“A job that’ll leave you just like Sketchy.” Her voice rose, heavy with her accent, which happened when she was mad, and the others began turning towards them.
Standing, Ari lowered her voice. “Please. Let’s take this outside.”
“Why? They all know.” She motioned to the others.
Ari noticed Patrick in the back, with a kind look on his face. He wasn’t going to help. She couldn’t find Marco anywhere though. Ari turned back to her mom, pleading for some privacy.
Her mom nodded and they moved into the currently empty kitchen.
Once the door shut, Ari started. “Mom, this is my job. I’m careful. We all are careful. But if we don’t make it safe, then others will force me to do this for them.”
Her mother exhaled with that realization, her anger deflating. “I see Sue worry and wish things were different. I don’t want you or I to do the same in twenty years.”
Ari couldn’t tell her the average life span inside would leave her much less than twenty years. “I wish things were different too. But we are together, we are good, and I’m doing my best to be safe. I can’t promise any more than that.”
Biting her lower lip, her mother’s eyes glistened with tears.
Ari pulled her into a hug. “I love you.”
After a few moments, her mom pushed back and wiped at her eyes. “You need to get back and finish eating. It’s one of the few ways I can keep you healthy and around here, so eat.” She turned on a heel and started on the dishes in the sink.
“Okay.” Ari watched her mother fill up the sink with soapy water.
Before she could leave, her mother paused but kept her gaze forward. “Marco told me how much they were paying you. Are you sure you’re not doing anything illegal?”
Ari didn’t quite understand everything going on with the investments Patrick had the team running, but she didn’t think it was anything too bad. “We’re not hurting people, Mom. We’re trying to protect them. To make the world a better place.”
“It’s a lot of money.”
“It is. I’m saving for us. Maybe we can even move Dad to a better place.” Ari’s throat tightened at the mention of her father.
It sounded like her mother was struggling as well. “When you have kids, you’ll know. I love you both so much, it hurts. Please be safe,” she said then began to attack those dishes with fervor.
“I will.” Ari realized right then she had no intention of ever having kids. Her heart hurt too much as it was.
After breakfast, Ari met Tricky, Patrick, and Marco in the VR room. Ari pulled back at the sight of her brother. “What are you doing here?”
“I invited him. I needed some help watching you two and Marco knows his way around this tech.” Patrick motioned to the computer.
What he didn’t say was that Blur didn’t like watching his sister go under. Ari heard that rumor before she knew about their back history with Maxim. And while she understood why Tricky had to do it, Ari also understood why Blur couldn’t stand to watch.
“Is this where you were hiding out when Mom ambushed me over breakfast?” Ari asked.
Marco smiled. “It’s about time someone else gets yelled at besides me.”
“I liked it the other way better.”
“You would.” He turned back to the screen. “You better sit down, if you want to catch the lunchtime rush.”
They couldn’t see inside VLEX without being there—one of the security measures of most realms. They couldn’t even see who was there unless they hacked the realm’s main server which was protected beyond belief. They could monitor the filtered real time political feed from the VLEX and sometimes the amount of people going in and out. It wasn’t much, but they worked with what they had.
“That it is.” Patrick watched the screen over Marco’s shoulder. “You two better get ready.”
Tricky and Ari took their places in the reclined chairs and inserted the cable into the port in the back of their heads.
“Ready in three, two, one.” Patrick counted down. “Be safe.”
With his usual command, Ari closed her eyes and the program began.
Marco placed Ari and Tricky at the corner, near a coffee shop. Tricky didn’t miss a beat but started walking down the narrow road. Ari wondered how she did that.
It took Ari a minute to acclimatize to her surroundings. She remembered this corner and the lunch and coffee shops lining the street. Working for VisionTech, she spent several months here. She took in Tricky’s profile first, as to not lose her, which was difficult as it was created to blend in.
Trick
y took on the skin of a beautiful Italian women with brown wavy hair and olive-toned skin. Most people looked beautiful in here. Even if people kept their own physical makeup, they often cleaned up any blemishes and amplified certain features. For example, eyes. Why have blue eyes when they can shimmer like sea glass? A person with hazel eyes passed, and they shone like expensive gemstone.
Looking down, Ari took in the profile that she had read about last night. This skin was darker, a deep chocolate, with petite hands and lightly painted nails. Her business suit kept her more serious than Tricky’s profile. Ari became the skin for the lunch hour, as the woman who it belonged to had already signed out. Staying in for an extra lunch hour, hopefully wouldn’t attract undue attention.
Once comfortable with her skin, Ari turned down a different street. She continued with her detour for several minutes then met up with Tricky in a small cafe. Since food wasn’t a necessity inside here, these restaurants and shops were more set for meeting. With a nice drink, comfortable food, and a good atmosphere to play a backdrop in whatever meeting that was to be had.
Ari spotted Tricky across the room and turned to head to the bar, each playing their separate role. Ever since Ari’s declaration last time she was in, there were too many eyes in here to take one step out of place.
Tricky looked tense though, which set Ari’s nerves on edge. Did Tricky sense something that she didn’t?
Ari ordered an espresso and tried to look bored. Behind her expression, she pulled back slightly from the intricate world around her and into the code beneath. While manipulating code felt as natural as coloring in a child’s screen, searching thousands and millions of code without alerting authorities wasn’t as easy. She watched for any mention of Maxim or VisionTech. Nothing popped up with bright red flags screaming “here I am, come get me,” and Ari realized she could sit here for hours and still not find anything. Tricky was faster at scanning code, probably since she shared genes with Blur.
Hard Wired Trilogy Page 59
