Killian found his old tablet buried under investor reports and company profiles on one of the bookshelves. He’d ignored his email and his staff had printed them off. Still, he had let the papers pile up the last few months, too out of sorts to deal with any of it.
They were all the same, nothing new, nothing to spark his interest.
He powered up the device. An older model, it still had a functioning touch screen and a camera. Swiping to open the tablet, he pressed his finger onto the biometric scanner.
The screen was cluttered with apps and notifications of events long passed. A number of updates automatically loaded. “Son of a bitch!” he muttered. They took time he didn’t want to waste.
He drummed his fingers on the table, then stopped because it reminded him of Dizzie. She did that when she was bored or waiting.
The realization unnerved him. How was it possible that he knew her movements so well in such a short time?
A small beep broke into his thoughts. The updates had loaded. Once he refreshed the screen, the app was simple to use. A single dot flickered on the map. Pinching the screen, he zoomed in until the address appeared.
Dizzie and his bike were on the south side of town. Closer than he’d expected, given her head start. The satellite map revealed a cluster of warehouses around the bike’s location. What the hell was she doing there?
He’d warned her that Portia was throwing unlimited resources into tracking her. If she’d wanted to run, Dizzie should have kept going. The warehouses were too close to the city.
Killian threaded his fingers into his hair. It didn’t make sense. Nothing about this whole situation made sense. What was he missing?
Chapter23
Dizzie rousedfrom her doze with a start. The room’s dim blue light was disorienting and the artificial lighting made it difficult to tell what time it was. It took too long for her to recognize her surroundings.
The hacker’s lair.
What had woken her?
She inched to the edge of the bed and stuffed her feet into her boots, keeping every movement as quiet as possible.
Dizzie grabbed a metal pipe she’d found when she’d gone out to retrieve the motorcycle. She swung it a few times, then twirled it around with her wrist. She didn’t want to go exploring, but it beat huddling in the small room terrified.
Barely daring to breathe, she prowled the kitchen and main room. Nothing was hiding under the desks or in dark corners.
Maybe a bad dream had woken her.
She jumped and spun around when booms echoed through the building. Muscles tensed, she held her makeshift club at the ready.What was that?
The sounds came again, but this time she was ready for it. She closed her eyes and focused. Was that…someone pounding on the outer doors?
She should ignore it.
The pounding came again and her indecision was countered by the realization that whoever it was wouldn’t give up.
The hacker would know the code, so it had to be someone who didn’t belong. Tremaine Security? Had Killian sold her out? Her stomach churned. Had sending her here been an elaborate plan to turn her in?
Shit!
Clutching the pipe, she retraced her steps to the front door. Even on her tiptoes, she wasn’t tall enough to see out the windows.
Dammit. This was a bad idea.
Dizzie secured her grip on the pipe, stepped behind the door, and pushed it open.
It swung open with more force than she’d expected.
Blinded by the early morning light, she raised the bat to her shoulder as a shadow fell across the threshold. Not willing to leave without a fight, Dizzie swung the bat.
A solid hit, followed by a yelp of pain.
