36
WREN
“Done with Mika’s stuff?” River asks when I lean up from my laptop on the kitchen counter in the ranch house. “Jackal and Shade are in the family room waiting for all the equipment they need to destroy.”
I look at the equipment, wishing I could keep it all for emotional security reasons, but I nod. “I’ve mirrored everything and created some gateways in case I need to get back into Chase’s accounts again. The package of evidence is built. It states clearly where all this incriminating information is on Chase’s own drives.”
He brushes his knuckle along my cheek. “You look exhausted.”
“I feel like I might actually sleep tonight.”
River wraps me in his arms and smushes my face against his chest. “It’s because it’s nearly over.”
I reach out for the wooden chopping board and hit it twice. “Knocking wood for good luck, seeing as that feels a lot like a jinx.”
River chuckles. “You know, saying words doesn’t actually bring things into being. Otherwise, everyone who ever playedthe lottery would be millionaires by now. You can’t really speak bad luck into existence.”
“And today is the day you want to test that theory?”
He cups my cheeks and kisses my forehead. “Fair. I’ll go tell Jackal and Shade they can come grab all this stuff.”
I’m just closing my laptop when they come in with some large packing boxes.
“You got everything you need?” Shade asks.
I nod. “There’s more than enough to bury him. The only thing better would have been if he’d had some kind of location finder we could track him by.”
“Where would the fun in that be?” Jackal says, shoving the drives into the cardboard box he carries.
“I have this digital folder. I feel like more than just me should have it. I’m going to send it to Vex and Calista, but can I send it through to the three of you?”
“What are we supposed to do with it?” Jackal asks.
Maybe it’s because I know, but I see the loving way Shade looks at him when he speaks. “Insurance.”
Furrows line Jackal’s nose. “What?”
“We don’t know when or how we’re going to have to send the information out into the public,” I say. “Too soon, before we even know where Chase is, and he will know that we’ve been in his files. He could speak out against it. Make it look like someone trying to blackmail him, meanwhile, rubbing all his files from existence. Too late, and we miss the chance to send it before he’s dead. A coroner might think it too coincidental.”
“I think you might be overestimating just how capable we are at making sure our personal setups are unhackable. I buy my internet connection the same way the majority of the population does,” Jackal says. “Doubt it would be hard for someone to hack it. You give me the files or ask me to send them, chances are I’llleave a giant neon sign in the ether that points to me saying I did it.”
“He’s not lying,” River says. “You know you joked about how Lucy’s dad uses final and final v2 and most final as file names. I do that.”
I can’t help but chuckle. “Jesus. Maybe I should come in and give each of you a tech cleanup, install some better software.”
Shade nods. “Probably wise.”
“Fine. I’ll set up a new profile on the dark web and make sure all one of you will have to do is hit send. This way, if you all have access to this account and the file, someone will be in a good position to push the button when we need to. I’ll send you the details.”
“Done,” Shade says with his usual brevity.
River shows them out and then comes back to me. “I need to go check on Mom and Willa before the world gets even crazier than it is right now. Just to make sure they’ve got their own protection. You wanna come for some air?”
“God, yes. Gimme two minutes to throw on some warmer clothes.”
“I can wait. I’ll just go get the truck running to warm it up.”
It’s seven in the evening, but it’s already fully dark by the time I join him in the truck and we leave the ranch. I stole one of his hoodies and smile to myself that he didn’t notice, yet. Out of habit, I have my laptop and phone. The truck heater is blasting warmth as sleet spits against the windshield.
