How to Hack a Hacker (Unholy Trifecta Book 3)

by AJ Sherwood

The responsible adult part of him agreed. But the rest of Brannigan hoped they had their asses in gear and got there quickly. After the insanity of the past two hours, Brannigan wanted a little one-on-one time with his lover.

  15

  Kyou

  The next day proved Ghostshot was good as his word. He quietly left after being paid, and Kyou tracked his exit from Boston with a sigh of relief. The police were in an uproar about the explosion, of course, but most of the neighborhood celebrated, as the plague in their area had disappeared in a shower of smoke and fire. Brannigan got more than a few questions about why he’d pulled out his employees. He’d skillfully answered, with (mostly) the truth: That he’d been worried about his people. The O’Conners had sent thugs over to harass people several times in the past two weeks, and he’d gotten an anonymous tip that something bad was going down that day, so he’d sent everyone home as a precaution.

  The police believed him, as there was a long paper trail of Brannigan reporting problems. The questions were more a courtesy than anything. Kyou got the distinct impression they believed whoever had bombed the O’Conners was another Mob family trying to move into the area. Or it was some territorial dispute. At any rate, not because of the upstanding and very generous real estate developer who wasn’t even in the neighborhood at the time it all happened.

  He also gathered the impression the police were secretly glad the O’Conners were gone, and weren’t looking a gift horse too hard in the mouth.

  They spent one more full day tying up loose ends and making sure that the contract was down, that no one else was still operating under bad intel and was after Brannigan. It didn’t look as if things were going to have a neat and tidy ending just yet. Someone was nosing about; Kyou was picking up whispers of it. He was set to pack up, go back to his own apartment, but with this going on, he didn’t dare. He set up web crawlers for overnight investigation and went to bed with the hopes he’d have a firmer answer in the morning.

  The hopes were dashed the next morning. Instead of a firm identity, he instead had a dozen or so mentions of his name and Brannigan’s.

  The whispers were subtle; little questions on forum boards here, a hint of a suggestion on a website there—nothing he could put a face to. Or even a single handle to. Kyou kept going back to the first hint he’d seen, the first post in the forum. It wasn’t a good forum by any means—even Kyou was careful what he posted there because the admins let basically anything go. Most of the time he didn’t even post.

  Whoever had posted here first seemed to know that as they were careful in their phrasing. If not for Kyou’s very well-programmed web crawlers, he’d never have picked up on this to begin with.

  This wasn’t good. They were all due to pack up today, clean up the safe house and get ready to go back to their own places. Right now, that three-hour delay of packing up, moving over, and setting up again gave Kyou hives. He didn’t want to spend that time moving about when he could be searching for a concrete answer. And was it even safe to move until he’d figured this out?

  So, he sat down instead of packing up, pinging Brannigan via text to request for them to linger a bit longer so he could tie up loose ends. Brannigan responded with a simple ok. With that done, Kyou sat down and really dug in.

  It should have been simple with the information he had, but it really wasn’t. Sometimes the person seemed to be looking for him, sometimes Brannigan. Kyou honestly couldn’t figure out if he was the actual target and they were using Brannigan to find him or…? Maybe they wanted to find both?

  Shit, shit, shit. This was exactly what Kyou feared. As much as it had thrilled him, hearing Brannigan claim Kyou as his own, that might backfire quickly. If Ghostshot decided to sell that info, he could get a pretty penny for it. Kyou didn’t think the man was a tattle-tale and frankly, Ghostshot seemed determined not to piss him off, but things could change. Things could change for the worst in a split second, with no warning.

  Kyou should know.

  Kyou kept digging, but for every passing hour that he didn’t find an answer, his anxiety ratcheted up. He had three screens up, searching, his web crawlers doing the same. He kept tweaking the search parameters, kept altering them with keyword choices here and there and still, no answer. Whoever was searching was crafty, oh so crafty. Dammit. Kyou wanted to tear his hair out and scream.

  Of course, it was at that moment that a little chime went off. His eyes darted down to the bottom right of the screen, where an alarm window had popped up. Stop working, time to go play with Bran! it read.

  Kyou stared at it without comprehension for a full ten seconds. Then his eyes darted to the clock just underneath it. Shit. It was six o’clock, right at dinner time. He’d planned to quit well before now, in fact, but he’d set an alarm just in case. Because Kyou lived with himself and knew how well he could get sucked down the rabbit hole. With them so new to dating, he wanted to start off on the right foot. Spending time with his lover, having dinner with him, was a good first step.

  But how could he possibly quit right now when Brannigan was in danger and he didn’t have a face for the enemy?

  Looking up, he saw that the living room was empty. Brannigan had gone upstairs to make his phone calls, leaving Kyou to work in silence. It had been very thoughtful of him and might buy Kyou some more time. He wasn’t down yet, anyway. Kyou went back into it with increased focus, chewing on his bottom lip as he looked. He shifted to the edge of the chair, as if getting closer to the monitors might somehow let him see the crucial clue he’d missed. It had to be here somewhere. Some slip-up. Some mistake. Just one vital clue to who this was.

  His heart was racing like he was running a marathon, sweat dotting his temples even in the cool air conditioning. Kyou ignored his body’s signals of discomfort. He was too frenzied, too anxious, to stop now. He needed an answer first and foremost.

  A pair of hands landed on his shoulders, and Kyou about leapt out of his skin. He did jump in the chair, head snapping around.

  “I’ve been calling you, didn’t you hear me?” Brannigan leaned sideways to look at his face, brows drawn together. “You look worried. What’s wrong?”

  “Someone’s searching for us. I’m not sure if their target is you or me, but they seem to be looking for a way to come at me through you. It looks that way. But I can’t put a face to them.”

  “Okay, slow down. I’m pretty visible, so why would it take any effort to find me?”

  Right, Kyou hadn’t explained that well enough. He fidgeted, wanting to go back to his search, not explain this. But Brannigan needed to understand. “It’s not so much that they’re trying to find you. They’re trying to figure out if you have a direct connection to me. They’re looking for the link so they can find me through you.”

  “Ah. That makes more sense.” Brannigan frowned at the monitors. “When did you pick up on this?”

  “Shortly after I sat down to work.” Whenever that was. Morning?

  “So you’re saying that you’ve been at this for nearly six hours? Did you get up, take a break, stretch, eat?”

  Kyou hadn’t even been aware of time passing. “Why are you asking me that? Why aren’t you concerned that I haven’t found this guy yet?”

  “Oh, I’m worried about that. I’m more worried that you’ve worked through lunch without a single break. I think you’ve been staring at the problem so long that you’ve lost all perspective on it.” Brannigan took his hands, pulling him forward. “Come on, get up. Take a break from this.”

  Kyou stubbornly stayed planted in the chair. “Not until I know who this is. I can’t risk you, Bran. If they don’t get an answer soon, they’ll go the direct route—they’ll go for you and get the information out of you.”

  That stopped him for a moment. Brannigan stared at him, evaluating. “I understand your concern. But I’m also in a safe house no one else knows about. I’m safe for now, caro. We have time to figure this out. But you need a break. Some food, water, an hour away from a screen—”
>
  Balking, Kyou shook his head frantically. “What? No! I can’t possibly step away from it that long. This could escalate in a second—”

  “Even if it does, we have security everywhere. Have you alerted the rest of the guys about this?”

  “No, I…” Kyou faltered, realizing the oversight. “I wanted to know who this was first. I’ll tell them, that’s a good idea, but I can’t step away right now.”

  Brannigan was losing patience, Kyou could see it in his face. It was that expression that tipped him over. Kyou absolutely could not handle Brannigan being in danger with any equilibrium. That alone stressed him out. But coupled with Brannigan’s impatience, it was like knocking kindling into a burning fire. On the one hand, Brannigan’s safety was paramount and superseded everything else. On the other, his lover’s wants and needs demanded attention as well. Right then, there was no way to reconcile the two, and Kyou’s anxiety spiked, then went into overdrive.

  “Kyou—”

  “You can’t do this,” Kyou blurted out, overriding him. “This is exactly what I was afraid of, why I said dating was a bad idea. I have to protect you, and that means time because I can’t always find an immediate answer, but that always means there’s days where I can’t spend any time with you and you have to let me do that, you have to let me work, I can’t spend quality time with you and find who’s after you at the same time, there’s only so much of me to go around and I just can’t—”

  Brannigan pulled him around, then knelt between his legs, cradling his head with both of his hands. He maintained eye contact firmly and spoke in a low, soothing tone. “Caro. Name three things you can see.”

  The request didn’t make sense. It stopped Kyou dead in his tracks, and he stared at Brannigan, not understanding what he was asking. Or why. “W-what?”

  “Name three things you can see.”

  His hands were shaking. Kyou’s hands were shaking, he could feel them now for some reason. His breath was high and frantic, his heartbeat so loud in his own ears that he couldn’t hear Brannigan’s voice properly. Was he hyperventilating? A cold sweat poured down the center of his back.

  “Please, caro. Three things.”

  “Y-your eyes.” Kyou blinked his own, trying to focus. “My hands. Your shirt.”

  “Good, that’s good. Three things you can touch.”

  Grounding. That’s what Brannigan was trying to do for him. Kyou recognized the technique; he’d researched and used it a few times on himself, preventing himself from having an attack. His mind dreamily reported all of this, but the information didn’t seem to make it through the wall of panic surrounding his emotions. “My jeans, they’re rough. Your skin is smooth and warm. The desk is cool.”

  “Good. Three things you can smell.”

  “Your cologne. My stale coffee. Mint?”

  “I had mint chocolate earlier.” Brannigan flashed him a quick there-and-gone-again smile. He leaned in to press a chaste kiss against Kyou’s forehead. “Alright. Better?”

  Kyou no longer felt like the world was spinning out of control. He couldn’t say that he was feeling much better about the situation otherwise. And having an anxiety attack right in front of his lover was beyond embarrassing. “Yeah. I guess. Bran—”

  “Shh. I can see the apology already on your face and you shouldn’t be the one apologizing. You were very clear the night we started dating what your needs and fears were. I wasn’t listening to you properly, and I should have been. We’ll talk more about this, and I swear I’ll do a better job the second time. But for right now, I want you to call your friends in. If for no other reason than to tell them that something is wrong.”

  That was fair. And Kyou felt better for having something constructive to do.

  He turned back to the computer and texted everyone at once. Someone’s targeting me. Don’t know who. Return to safe house ASAP.

  The response was more immediate than he’d planned for, as he had Ari, Carter, and Ivan all in the living room in under ten seconds. Then again, everyone else had been resting after last night’s shenanigans and leisurely packing the place back up. Kyou would have thought they would be gone by now, but as previously demonstrated, he hadn’t been paying attention to the outside world.

  “What do you mean, someone’s targeting you?” Carter was the first to demand. He strode in barefoot, making it clear he hadn’t even left the house that day.

  Not seeing Remi with them, Kyou asked, “Where’s the princess?”

  “She’s watching Togo; she won’t even notice we’ve left the room, trust me.” Ari moved to stand at Carter’s side, watching Kyou with alarm written all over his face. “Targeting you?”

  Kyou ran a hand over his face, loath to repeat his explanation but not seeing a way around it. “I’ve caught whispers on multiple forum boards and a few websites. Someone is trying to hunt me down. The first foray failed, so now they’re trying to figure out how I tie in with Bran. I’m afraid they’re going after him next as he’s the more visible target.”

  All three shared a speaking look with each other, as if they knew precisely what this was really about.

  To Brannigan, Ari said, “No offense, but can you give us fifteen minutes?”

  Brannigan searched his face for a moment, then glanced back at Kyou. Whatever he saw in the men’s expressions settled it for him, and he gave a nod. “I’ll go watch Togo for a bit.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  Kyou’s shoulders hunched in defensively. “Is this an intervention?”

  “Looks like one, doesn’t it?” Ivan agreed. He came around to put his hip against the desk’s edge.

  “It’s fine, I just need more time.” Kyou found himself strangely reluctant to share that he’d had a minor panic attack and his lover had needed to talk him down.

  Carter put a hand on his shoulder, leaning in with a gentle smile that looked strangely sad. “You’re aware that you have sweat on your forehead, and your breathing is a little off?”

  Fucking shit. That would be a dead giveaway.

  “Kyou,” Ari sighed, and he looked disheartened. “God knows we all demand too much of you, but dammit, can’t you tell us when you’re at your limit? And it’s obvious that Brannigan’s worried but not sure how to handle you right now.”

  Reluctantly, he admitted, “I may have had a minor melt down in front of him.”

  “Ouch. Yeah, no wonder he’s worried. What set you off? Not knowing who’s looking for you?”

  “Not just that, I bet.” Ivan was in that scary mode where he wasn’t joking for once. He eyed Kyou with the wisdom of a sage, not a trace of the joker in his face. “I’ve only seen you in that chair now for two days. He came to pull you out of it, da?”

  Kyou winced and hunched in a little further.

  Ivan shook his head, not even surprised. “Aiden expected this to happen. He warned me it would. Kyou, my brother, I think it’s time we put stop to this madness. You’re working yourself into the ground.”

  Throwing up his hands, Kyou demanded, “What do you expect me to do, here?! I can’t just magic up answers!”

  “We expect you to use your fucking head,” Carter shot back, exasperated. “You’re taking on the world, and you don’t need to. You know what I did before I had you to run intel for me? I delegated. I contacted two different information brokers to dig up what I needed, compared their notes, and used the intel.”

  Ari gave his fiancé a nod. “Same. Kyou’s spoiled me, I think; I forgot I used to do that. But that’s exactly what we should be doing.”

  Kyou wasn’t following. Or rather, it sounded bad. “So you’re replacing me?”

  “No, you doofus.” Carter shook him gently. “We’re saying you need to learn how to delegate. Don’t you want to have time to spend with that gorgeous man?”

  “Of course I fucking do, I’m not a moron. But his safety is first on my priority list.”

  “No one ever said that you have to be the sole line of defense.” Ari gestured to all of
them. “We’re all willing to help you, you idiot. I know we’re not the only ones you trust to give you information. Wouldn’t creating an information web give you all the intel you need and free up the bulk of your time?”

  Kyou’s mouth was open on a hot retort that never quite materialized. Actually, it would. He could think of three or four people off-hand who might be able to help with this very situation. “You mean for this problem or…?”

  “Permanently. Or for however long you’re in the game.” Carter pointed to the other side of the townhouse, where Brannigan had gone. “I know you want to protect him. I understand why, as he’s a great guy. He adores you to bits. You’re not going to lose him if you depend on other people to help you protect him.”

  Ari tacked on smoothly, “But you will lose him if you don’t start delegating. Your relationship will not only break down, but you’ll get so tired and stressed you’ll make a mistake, and it might end up with him taking the brunt of the fallout. Taking everything on is a sure-fire way to ruin.”

  Wincing, Kyou muttered, “That was brutal.”

  “Truth hurts. Suck it up, buttercup. There’s always going to be people after him, and you. Using that as an excuse is just giving in to your fears. You’re better than that, Kyou.”

  Kyou hunched even farther. Really, at this rate, he’d need a turtle shell soon. “Maybe I’m not.”

  “You are. I had this fear with Aiden, da? I was wrong then. You’re wrong to think it now. We’ll help you,” Ivan promised him, his smile warm and sincere. “You deserve that good man, and he deserves the chance with you. The chance you promised him. Do not let fears get the better of you.”

  Kyou swallowed hard. “You’re saying even though I’m afraid, do it anyway?”

  “Fear of the thing is often worse than what it is.” Ivan shrugged, hands splayed. “Trust me, I know. We’ll set this up with you so that you’re comfortable with it. We’ll help you figure out answer to this, too. You’re not alone in this, Kyou.”

  Sometimes, Kyou honestly forgot that. He looked at all of his brothers, who were worried but determined to help him, and felt a little stupid for not reaching out to them before this point. Why did he always have to learn things the hard way? “I think I know who I want to start with. But I need to talk to Bran first.”