After that message disappears into the ether, I open the backup copy of the camera control module. The whys aren’t important now. Oversight has to be my priority. “Okay, baby. Let’s find a way to make you wholeagain.”
* * *
Each minute stretchesout longer than the next. Other than the hum of the servers and thetat-tat-tatof my typing, I’m surrounded by silence. West hasn’t called, I haven’t seen Lucas, and even Royce has been quiet since I told him I found the problem and will have a fix and a report for him before I go hometonight.
The clock taunts me: 5:59 p.m., 6:25 p.m., 7:12 p.m. When Lucas trudges in, the look of pure anguish on his face stays my tongue until hespeaks.
“I’d much rather go home and open a bottle of chardonnay,” he says with a hitch in his voice. “And before you say anything, I finished the cabling on both thirteenandfourteen. I didn’t touch the camera control module after you approved it, so what the hell happened?” A lone cobweb hangs from one of his dreads, and a rip in his t-shirt exposes a sliver ofshoulder.
I’d give anything to not be here right now. To be back on the battlefield, elbow deep in some car bomb with Royce in my ear. I turn my laptop screen so Lucas can see the problem subroutines. “Whatisthis?”
He narrows his eyes, bending down to scrutinize the offending function calls. “I have no idea. That’s notmycode.”
“Well, I know I didn’t write it.” Shaking my head only aggravates my headache, and I curse under my breath. “The truly sad part? Some of the functions here are fucking brilliant. Better than I could have done. But then I find shit like this. I had to shut down the whole system to stop the memoryleaks.”
Lucas unzips his messenger bag. “Let me help. Between the two of us, we can strip out all of the bad code in a few hours. And then we can bothhavewine.”
“There’s nothing left for you to do.” I shut my laptop with a little more force than necessary, then blink hard to battle my watery eyes as I push myself to my feet. “I fixed the last module ten minutes ago. I’ll test everythingfromhome.”
“Goddammit, Cam. Why won’t you let anyone help you?” Lucas pulls hard on handfuls of his dreadlocks. “Can’t you see what you’redoing?”
“I’m doing my fucking job. I’vebeendoing my fucking job ever since LaCosta moved up the deadline.” Shouting does nothing for my nerves, but I can’t help myself. “I’ve given up nights, weekends, time with West, and even swimming, just so I can finish this project on time. And what have you done? Interview with half a dozen companies so you canleave.”
Lucas’s voice drops to a whisper. “I put in fifteen hour days this weekend. Ten hours cabling, five hours a night debugging. All to try to save you fromyourself.”
Squaring my shoulders as best I can with the exhaustion weighing me down, I can’t help my harsh tone. “I don’t needsaving.”
“The hell you don’t.” With a huff, Lucas grabs his messenger bag. “You’re so wrapped up in your own shit that you can’t even see that Royceneedsyou.”
“Wh-what? Royce doesn’t need shit. He’s made that abundantly clear.” All I can see is Royce’s face as he slaps down the flames searing my skin. The horror in his gaze as he tosses aside the car door that landed on my leg, the plea on his lips I can’t hear because the explosions shattered my ear drums. My knees turn to jelly, but for once, my injuries have nothing to do with thesensation.
Lucas snorts. “Royce called me last week. Broke down, begged me to talk to you. But you don’t let anyone in, Cam. You know every fucking thing about me—down to how many times I ended up in the prison infirmary. But you? I don’t even know your mama’s first name, your high school sweetheart…or how you got hurt other than ‘diffusing a car bomb.’” He shakes his head, lets out a heavy sigh, and wrenches thedooropen.
“By the way…TechLock ran a background check. The reason they wanted to meet today? The recruiter thought there’d been some mistake. When I told her I’d served my time, she tore the offer up right in front of me. Thanks forasking.”
My world shatters as the door slams shut, but I can’t muster a single tear. Instead, I sink down to the carpet and start to shake. Lucas was the one person I knew would never leave me. Except…now he’s gone, and there’s a gaping maw where my heartshouldbe.
I don’t know that I can survive thisagain.
* * *
West
A rare summer rain shower slicks the empty streets, the lights reflecting off of pools of greasy water alongside a road that’s seen better days. This section of south Seattle doesn’t stir after 9:00 p.m., unless you count the drug dealers and the occasionalprostitute.
Ryker’s warehouse looms ahead of me, a dim glow from the large windows on the third story the only sign of life. Below, the building’s nothing but cement and steel, a fortress—unbreachable if I know himatall.
Cam’s message weighs on me as I shut my phone off. I should have replied, but hearing her voice right now might send me running in the opposite direction of the one hope I have to save the Horizon program and keep my business afloat. Shoving the phone into my glove box, I roll my eyes at the precautions he demanded. No electronics. Nothing traceable. Hell, he wouldn’t even tell me the address of this place until he verified my texting app wasencrypted.
A whiff of Cam’s delicious scent—coffee and lilies—surrounds me as I lock my car. She borrowed one of my t-shirts on Sunday morning, and I’m wearing the damn thing today. Why’d I have to fall so hard and fast? I’m not even sure she wants me—wants a relationship long term—but damn if she isn’t itforme.
The steel warehouse door opens a crack as I raise my fist to knock. “Clean?”
“No one followed me.” My foul mood doesn’t leave much room for stupid questions. “Also, in case you’ve forgotten, we’re in Seattle. Nothinghappenshere.”
Ryker jerks the door wider, grabs my arm, and yanks meinside.
Anger flares, and I can’t help the growl in my voice. “Put your hands on me again and I’m out of here. I don’t care how much you pay.” I shake off his grip, then level a glare at him. “Let’s get thisoverwith.”
