“Okay. What do you need?” he asked.
She blinked. “These computers are all I need.”
He planted a heated hand on her shoulder. “Did you eat dinner?”
“Wasn’t hungry.” Had she eaten all day? She couldn’t remember. “I’m fine.”
He sighed. “I’ll go get food and coffee for you. It’s going to be a long night.”
She couldn’t help it. Tears welled in the back of her eyes, so she kept her gaze averted. “Thank you.”
“I need your mind clear so you can work.” He leaned away. “In fact, tell me what you’re going to do.”
His distance hurt. She’d gotten accustomed to being part of the team, and that had been a huge mistake. She tried to clear her head and answer his question. “How much do you know about classical ciphers, Python, and working the reverse?”
“Nothing.”
“Then I don’t have time to get you there. Someday we’ll chat about public key cryptography and then my programs.” Concern washed through her as he wavered. “Go rest, Angus. You need it.”
He stared at her for a moment and then turned to limp from the room, his movements painful to listen to.
She took a deep breath and got to work. If the last thing she did at Deep Ops was to save those girls, she’d be okay. The night flew by as she worked all three computers. Coffee and food appeared at her elbow a few times, and at some point, the dog ended up on her feet, keeping her warm.
After midnight, the outside office grew quiet, and she kept pushing, unraveling somebody else’s work. A challenge that thrilled her in a way most people would never understand. But after several hours, her hands ached, her butt had gone numb, and her vision began to blur. She drank more coffee, trying to keep herself awake.
Angus poked his head in around one in the morning. “You need more coffee, food, sugar?”
She blinked and turned away from the computer. Her legs ached. She’d been tensing them while working, again. “What are you doing here?” The guy could barely stand.
“Nari and I have been here all night,” he whispered. “She just fell asleep in the bigger chair in my office. What do you need?”
“Nothing.” She had a sports drink somewhere, she was sure of it. “Go home.”
He shook his head, and that odd purple-striped bruise shimmered. “I wouldn’t leave you here alone.”
Exhaustion and frustration took her, and tears filled her eyes. “Oh, Angus. I’m so sorry.” She sniffled.
He took a step back, his eyes widening. “I know, and I figured we’d talk about it later. While you were working, I got my hands on all the reports you filed about the team. They were positive and didn’t reveal any of our, well, idiosyncrasies.”
She chuckled on a sob. “I want you to trust me again. This is the best team ever, and I’d never do anything to hurt you. I’m just so sorry.”
He frowned and gingerly limped toward her, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder. “It’s okay, and I’ll let the rest of the team know the truth. We’ve all been undercover, and we get the job. If I didn’t trust you, you wouldn’t be sitting here right now with my only family spread across your feet.”
Her heart burst, and she quickly wiped away the tears. He was just so funny—the tough guy couldn’t handle tears. “I’m forgiven?”
He patted her harder, and her teeth rattled. “You’re totally forgiven. I promise.”
“Raider is still mad at me.” She sniffed, her attention already caught by the second monitor. “So is Wolfe.”
“I’ll make sure they know all the facts,” Angus said, backing toward the door. “But it’s up to them, you know?” He closed the door quietly, obviously running from the emotion in the room.
“Well, at least he isn’t mad any longer. Right, Roscoe?” She pivoted, already lost in the scrolling code. The dog started to snore louder, and she fell back into the challenge of the hack.
* * *
Raider shoveled in the cheeseburgers and fries that Wolfe had found for lunch, sitting at the small round table in their crappy motel room. The place was probably owned by Eddie. “I can’t believe you let me sleep that long,” he said, reaching for another burger.
“You were seriously drunk.” Wolfe munched contentedly on a chicken sandwich. “It’s good that you and Eddie bonded. Did he tell you anything of use?”
