“Same.” Jason nodded. “We have a world class hacker who helps us find the weaknesses in our clients’ systems, but even the most locked-down system can often be penetrated with a little social engineering. Humans are the weakest link.” He gave her a self-deprecating smile. “But you already knew that.”
Right. And she’d used it on Jason earlier today to great advantage. She offered him an apologetic smile.
He shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but quickly looked away, reverting to hyper-vigilant mode. “I’ll live.”
With luck, they both would.
CHAPTER NINE
ELEVEN P.M. IN Lucerne was only two in the afternoon in Hermosa Beach, where Dallas stood under a massive ficus tree that hung over the wall of someone’s front yard. The pedestrian-only “walk street” that led to the beach was quieter than Hermosa Avenue or the Strand.
Nolan would be proud to see him outside, except Dallas was here because the team might be compromised.
He’d spent the last few hours both searching for Emma—thank fuck she was alive—but now that she’d alerted him to a breach of some kind, he was running diagnostics on the computer systems. The bug could be something as impersonal as a malware injection, or as painful as a turncoat team member.
He hoped like hell it was the former, but until he knew for sure—
“Hey,” a deep voice said from behind him. “Put this one in the record books. You’re actually outdoors, during daylight hours, without a fire drill. Or pastry.”
Shit. Of course Nolan would find him here. Dallas spun to face him. “Ha ha. Guess I’m not a vampire after all.” His sister liked to tease that he was pale enough for the role.
Nolan removed his aviator sunglasses and moved close enough to make the dark stubble around his downturned mouth visible. “You okay?”
Dallas inhaled the other man’s intoxicating aftershave, or whatever, and took a step back. There was too much at stake to let Nolan’s soft lips and olfactory perfection screw with his ability to think. “What are you doing out here?”
“Coming back from lunch. I saw you down here and figured I’d check in.” Nolan plunged his hands into the pockets of his charcoal slacks. He looked like something straight out of aGQspread. Crisp white shirt that set off the hint of color in his skin, a maroon-and-white striped tie, and perfectly windblown hair that curled up on the ends.
“Oh. Um, thanks.” Dallas wanted to wrap that tie around his fist and tug Nolan closer, breathing deeply as he pressed his lips to the bare spot just above the man’s collar and dip his fingers into those silky black strands.
Instead, he took another step back. “Gotta go.” God, could he be any more of a loser? As far as he knew, Nolan wasn’t even into guys. Bad enough that Dallas was pining for someone so far out of his league. Far worse that the man played on an entirely different field. Lusting after him was not only a distraction, but a complete waste of time.
Too bad Dallas didn’t know how to stop.
“Dal, you okay?” Two little lines formed between Nolan’s dark brows.
“It’s Dallas,” he snapped. The nickname was too intimate, and beyond his capacity to handle right now.
Nolan’s head jerked back and he held up his hands in surrender. “Okay. Sorry, dude. I didn’t realize it bothered you.” His expression was all confusion and concern.
Dallas sighed. “Look, it’s fine. I just have to… I need to leave now.”
“Hey.” Nolan reached out. “You know you can talk to me, right? Whatever’s going on, I’m here.”
The other man’s grip on his forearm jolted Dallas like a live wire. He winced and Nolan released him, his frown deepening.
“Yeah, sure,” Dallas said. “It’s all good.” He could feel Nolan’s inky gaze on his back as he strode toward the Strand with an awkward awareness of his own body. When he reached the concrete boardwalk, he turned right and walked several blocks under the warm sun to a small park that mostly got used by dog walkers and slack-liners.
He sat on a palm-tree shaded bench facing the ocean. Twenty yards away a woman in tight shorts and a jog bra did a headstand on a yoga mat.
Dallas looked around to make sure Nolan hadn’t followed him, and then turned on one of the prepaid smart phones he normally kept locked in his desk drawer for emergencies. Today definitely qualified.
After installing a VPN app, he loaded the gardening page the team used for covert communications and sent LateBloomer2 a private message checking that it was really her.
TexasTom: What’s your favorite flower?
LateBloomer2: Peonies. What’s your favorite herb?
He breathed a sigh of relief and tapped out the response that meant he was also not under duress.
