He pulled a wicked-looking paper knife from the desk organiser and offered it to me, handle first.
“Just do it.”
I pushed his hand away, and a jolt zapped through me. Anger? I’d felt the same heat when he turned me down almost a decade ago, and that was the last time we’d touched before this moment.
“You could have warned me. I’d have worn a blindfold or something.”
“How was I supposed to know someone recorded…that?”
“Because you didn’t put tape over your webcam like a normal person?”
“What normal person puts tape over their webcam?”
“Literally everyone I work with.”
“If that’s your definition of normal, I think the dictionary would like a word.”
“You don’t even know my colleagues.”
“I know Jerry.”
Okay, that was a fair point.
“Let’s just forget this ever happened.”
Nolan gave a long sigh. No, not that kind of sigh. This was more of an unhappy one. Unhappy and resigned.
“Can you at least fix the computer?”
“I need the encryption key, but that won’t be straightforward to find. I’ll have to approach this problem from another angle.”
“What angle?”
“I don’t think you want to know the answer to that.”
Another sigh. “No, I probably don’t. Should I try paying the ransom?”
“Absolutely not. I’ll set up another laptop, one with appropriate security and backups, and you can borrow it until I retrieve your data.” I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. “And this time, do not use it to watch porn. Understood?”
He slid an inch lower in the chair. “Understood.”
CHAPTER 6
NOLAN
“Are your sliders too dry?” Marielle asked. “Mine are too dry.”
There was nothing wrong with the damn sliders; Nolan just wasn’t hungry. He hadn’t been planning to eat at all until Marielle showed up with a takeout bag from the Doodlebug and lectured him on the importance of good nutrition. Not that chicken sliders were healthy, but she’d served them with a salad, which had to count for something, didn’t it? Now they were sitting opposite each other at the kitchen table, with Nolan wishing he were anywhere else.
“The sliders are fine.”
“Did your little blonde friend manage to fix the laptop?”
“Not yet.”
Marielle swallowed her mouthful and pulled a face. “I figured.”
“What did you figure?”
