She didn’t want to be nosy, but her eyes were glued to the two large monitors on the wall as information scrolled by at a rapid rate.
Matteo kept typing, and it was Jack—standing nearby—who answered, “The call that came in was actually from Auntie Athena. She’s worried about a Little who frequents her nursery.”
“Yeah,” Ace said, taking over the explanation. “Some other Littles overheard her saying the club she works at has some shady stuff going down. She didn’t feel too comfortable about going, but she needs the paycheck. Athena was hoping we could come up with some concrete proof that the club’s owner is dirty so we can take him down and potentially save an innocent Little from being harmed.”
“Ifthe club owner really is shady,” Isaiah added. “We don’t want to take down an innocent man just on hearsay. We need proof.” He turned to look at Annika. “If we get proof, we’ll hand any and all evidence over to the police. We aren’t vigilantes.”
Still clacking on the keyboard, Matteo chuckled. “Are you sure about that? Because it seems like I’m trying to hack into the club’s system. That’s not exactly legal.” He shook his head with a sigh, and Annika could tell he was frustrated. “I just can’t seem to do it.”
Annika stepped closer. She didn’t even realize she had her left hand on his shoulder until it had already been resting there a few seconds.
He didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he reached up and patted it, sending waves of excitement and joy coursing through her body.
“You hack?” she asked him.
“Not really. I’ve been trying to learn. Stryker is pretty good with it, but he’s tied up tonight. He has a friend in Mountainville—Stella—who’s an expert. But I don’t know how to get ahold of her.” He sighed again. “I need to improve my skills. It would sure come in handy in our line of work.”
“Mind if I try?” Annika asked.
“Uh. Not at all. Be my guest.”
Matteo rolled back a little in the chair and stood. She took his spot.
As she started pounding on the keyboard, she realized this would probably raise lots of questions she didn’t want to answer.But she couldn’t just sit back and not do anything while another Little was in trouble.
Matteo and the Daddy Guard had rescued her that very evening. Now it was time to pay it forward.
As she began to move her fingers at lightning speed, her inhibitions faded away. The dirty alleys off Hollywood Boulevard and her hungry, grumbling stomach seemed years ago.
She was in her element. She was doing what she did so well.
“Oh my gosh. Their security system is so basic.”
Matteo laughed. “What does that say about my hacking skills?”
Still working her fingers, Annika turned her face away from the monitors long enough to flash Matteo a grin. “You’re good at lots of other things. Like saving girls like me.”
He winked at her.
She giggled.
There wasn’t time to keep up the banter, though. Not right now. A Little needed help!
Annika turned her attention back to the task at hand.
“This is just off-the-shelf security software. Like something you would have picked up off the shelf from Best Buy or Walmart back in the day.”
A few minutes passed before, with a few final taps of the keyboard, she said, “And… I’m… in.”
On the monitor, images from the nightclub’s security camera feed created six smaller squares. One part of the screen, though, was dedicated to something else—the club’s financial records that they had stored on a local server.
She swiveled around in the chair to see all eyes on her. Several jaws hung slack.
“What?” she asked, suddenly feeling bashful.
A few seconds of silence ticked off the clock before Matteo said, “Where did you learn to do… that?” He pointed at the screens.
For the briefest of moments, Annika thought of telling them all about her past and what had led to these tough times.
