“Fine.”
The single word answer doesn’t leave her any room for follow up, and she frowns. “Well, then, Evianna, I’m glad you’re there,” she says with a tiny huff. “I’m going to share my screen as I fill you in. I hacked into the traffic cameras all around your house for the half an hour after you were attacked, and couldn’t find any evidence of the guy.”
The small bit of hope burning inside me fades as the split screen shows my house in the dark and her smiling face. Wait. Why’s she smiling?
“But since we don’t know when he broke in, I couldn’t match up anyone with a before and after. So, I went back to searching for information on Kyle. Those emails you forwarded, Dax, were extremely helpful. The first two were put through a handful of email anonymizers. Like one on top of another on top of another. Those might be untraceable. Even for me. But once the emails started turning more…violent? I’d bet the farm someone else sent them.”
“You don’t have a farm, sweetheart,” a deep, raspy voice says from the background.
“I could get one. Then bet it. Shut up. I’m working.” Wren grins and throws a pillow off screen. “Sorry about that. Ry’s going a little stir crazy with no jobs to do.”
With a snort, Dax drapes his arm over the back of the couch. “Unsurprising.”
I don’t know what’s going on, but whatever it is, Wren gets herself under control and pulls up the first email that actively threatened my life. The little animated graphic of a woman being stabbed with a bloody knife makes me shudder, and Dax sits up a little straighter. “What is it?”
“That email had a rather…violent graphic in it,” I whisper.
“So, this message was sent from a pathetically easy-to-hack account. The original source was the Boston Public Library on Boylston. The fifth email was from the same account, but the idiot was sitting at a coffee shop on Newbury. Using his own computer.”
Her excitement is infectious, and I grin as she shows me the backtrace. “Tell me you know how to spike him.” Even as the words leave my lips, Wren arches a brow in a “you can’t be serious?” expression. “Sorry,” I say with a laugh. “I just don’t meet many women who geek out over this shit like I do and speak my language.”
“Oh, we’re going to be friends, I think. This guy was outside the Boston Public Library and the coffee shop.” The split screen switches to another traffic camera view, this time during daylight hours. With a shot of a guy who looks like Johnny Depp went on a year-long bender. I suck in a sharp breath and grab Dax’s knee.
“That’s him. I think. It was dark and I was a little…terrified. But I think that’s the guy.”
Wren’s expression sobers, and she leans closer to the screen. “I can find him, Evianna. It might take me a day or two, but I’ll have his driver’s license, date of birth, and mother’s maiden name before long.”
“Good work, Wren,” Dax says. “Keep running searches for Kyle. Even if he’s not directly responsible for the attack on Evianna, he’s still got some sketchy behavior to answer for.”
“Will do. Now…about your security logs?” She scribbles something in a little notebook next to her, then looks right at me. “You need help figuring out why your system didn’t tell you about the break-in?”
“Can I get back to you on that? I wanted to start searching last night, but I wasn’t really…able to focus. As soon as we’re done, I’m going to start debugging.” I don’t want anyone else poking into Alfie’s code…yet. Because even though Dax trusts this woman—and so do I—Alfie’s my baby. No one knows her better than I do.
“Sure. I’ll be working all day, and you know how to get in touch with me now. Or just go through Dax. Either one.” She glances behind her and nods. “Boss, you have another minute? Ry’s here, and we were wondering if you’d heard anything from Ford.”
I start to get up, but Dax grabs my hand and tugs me back down next to him. Tension rolls off of him in waves. On screen, the biggest man I’ve ever seen sinks down next to Wren. The difference between the two of them…he has to be almost seven feet tall, and half of his face looks a lot like Dax’s arms. Ry. This is the guy he told me about. Ryker.
“I pulled Royce and Cam in for some electronic detective work,” Ryker says, his voice deep and raspy. “Searching for any mention of Americans up for sale on the dark web. Any update on your end?”
“It’s only been twenty-four hours. I doubt Trevor and Ford have even left Turkey.” Dax’s fingers tighten on mine, and I look between the man on screen and the one next to me, wondering what the hell’s going on between them that Dax didn’t want me to leave.
As if Ryker’s just noticed I’m there, he blinks hard, his blue—or are they green?—eyes focusing lower than Dax’s face. Our hands. “Evianna, right?”
“Y-yes. Did you say…’for sale’?” Turning to Dax, I sputter, “Ford…he said…a family emergency. This…what the hell sort of emergency is this?”
“Someone Ford cares about went missing in Turkmenistan,” Dax says quietly. “She was with Doctors Without Borders.”
“Turkmenistan is a hotbed for human trafficking, Evianna.” On screen, Ryker leans forward, his elbows on his knees. Thick ropes of scar tissue wind up his forearms, along with ink so dark, I can’t make out all the designs. “If Joey or the other two women are listed for sale anywhere, we’ll know about it. I’d feel a lot better if you told me to go to Turkey, though.”
“Not yet. If you show up and Ford’s not expecting you, it could derail whatever infil plans Trevor put in place. Hang tight for another twenty-four hours. After that, if I haven’t heard from him, I’ll give you the green light. Tell me what you need from me—how much—and I’ll make it happen.” Dax tightens his grip on my hand, and a vein throbs at his temple. “And…thanks, Ry. I…owe you one.”
“No, you don’t. You don’t owe me a damn thing. Ever.”
A moment I don’t understand passes between the two men, and then Dax nods. “Thanks, brother. I’ll be in touch.”
Wren hangs up the call, and Dax sinks back against the cushions. “Don’t ask, Evianna. Not…yet.”
With a sigh, I give his hand one final squeeze. “Not yet. But soon.” He’s not going to get away with hiding much longer. Not if I have anything to say about it.
