Wylan curses. “That’s hardly enough for one person to live on in the sticks, let alone on the west coast, let alone two bloody people. Even I know that.”
“There wasn’t much left over after making sure Elsie was taken care of,” I admit. “When I brought that up to him, that I wasn’t eating, but one meal a day to make sure she was eating, he told me it was good for me, that I’d lose weight.” I shrug. “I assumed Aria Tech wasn’t doing well. I’m no stranger to struggle. But. . . to realize he had so much money the entire time is. . .” I blow out a puff of air.
“Fuck,” Wylan finally says after my words, and I glance up at him. “Don’t worry, crumpet. We’ll make him pay for that.” He looks over at the robot. “Drain that wanker’s offshore account, hacker boy.”
I can’t see an expression on Otto’s face with his mask, but I imagine he scowls. I can feel his irritation coming through the screen. “Fox?” When Dagen nods his head, Otto hits a key on his keyboard, the sound echoing around us. “Done.”
“Just like that?” I ask.
“Just like that,” he repeats. “We can also tip off the IRS and the FBI about his other assets when we’re ready. If that’s something you’d like to do.”
“Wow,” I breathe.
Dagen leans forward and meets my eyes. “How badly do you want him to hurt, Ava?”
“Well. . . I don’t want him to die?—”
“That’s not what I asked,” he says, his expression serious.
I bite my lip, considering his words. “More than he hurt me,” I admit softly. “I want him to leave us alone, to never consider coming after me or Elsie again.”
Dagen smiles and it’s the most dangerous smile I’ve ever seen. “That’s what I wanted to hear,” he says, pride in his voice.
Something inside me sits up at attention, like he’d just patted me on the head and called me a “good girl.” That’s more dangerous than his smile. But he’s looking away before I can lose myself completely in his eyes, so I look over at Wylan instead. He doesn’t wear the same pride. His expression says it’s better that Ric die, but that wouldn’t make me any better and I have a daughter looking up to me. Still, I’ll do what I have to in order to protect her. That’s all I care about. If at the end of all this, he has to die. . .
My chest tightens, but I’m not afraid. Not when I’m sitting in a room with Dagen Fox, an assassin, and Otto_Bot. Never would I have thought I’d find myself in this position.
And I don’t hate it. Fuck me, I don’t hate it at all.
Thirteen
Ava
We didn’t discuss much of anything else about the plan after that. Instead, Dagen insisted that we eat and then proceeded to purchase a small fortune worth of five-star food, which just means you get a lot less food for a lot more cost. There were at least ten courses to the meal, each more intricate and strange than the last. My favorite part was the dessert. The place definitely knows how to make a chocolate cake, even if it came inside a chocolate ball I had to melt first.
Ultimately, Otto and Wylan both agreed to join in our plan, though I hadn’t realized they weren’t already in agreement before they ever showed up. Mostly, I think because Dagen is paying them a ridiculous amount of money, they’re prepared to help me. Part of me keeps forgetting that fact. Dagen is getting some sort of sick satisfaction out of doing this. He openly admitted he doesn’t like Ric and was looking for ways to cut ties with Aria Tech anyway, so he’s not exactly doing this out of the kindness of his heart. Still, despite knowing that, part of me can’t help but be flattered that he’s willing to help me. Most people wouldn’t do something like this, drop this sort of money, just for a single mom to get revenge. Then again, Dagen Fox isn’t most people. I need to remember that.
When I come home, there’s a buzz and a voice saying, “open,” as I step inside, telling me that the new security system is alive and well. Every window and every door have been wired in. There are cameras all around the outside of the house, including one for the front door. Elsie had commented on the new security, about how it makes her feel safer. She really likes that the system sends an automatic call to the police if the alarm isn’t disabled. That alone, her feeling safe, makes all of this worth it. I’ll do anything for Elsie.
Including letting the security guards Dagen hired accompany Tonya and Elsie to school.
The other security guard goes with me when I leave for work. Neither one of us is alone if we’re outside of home, work, or school. We get escorted everywhere. Dagen has seriously outdone himself with our security and it’s easy to see why he’s as successful as he is.
After Elsie goes to bed, I stay up to flip through the marketing plan we’ve worked on and make sure there’s nothing that can cause problems with the Fox Industries tech release. My team is hard at work on implementing all of our plans and I’ve overseen each step of the process. Right now, we’re waiting on the graphics team to come back with the pamphlet designs. Once we have that, we’ll go through the process of making marketing packets meant to be handed out to potential clients. Everything is going according to plan.
As I flip through the pages of information, my phone beeps with a notification. I ignore it at first, mostly because I can’t imagine anyone important would be messaging me this late at night, but when another one comes through, I sigh and set down the small glass of wine I’m nursing to reach for it.
The number isn’t one I recognize but it’s already tagged in my phone with Otto_Bot. Ah. I don’t even have the energy to be confused. I know who Otto is, or at least who his handle is. I know what he’s capable of. He’s a world-renowned hacker, responsible for multiple government panics. His name is behind huge information leaks, including the high-profile court case with that governor and the child trafficking ring that was sealed to protect the other elites listed in the case. It had the government and Hollywood in an uproar for months. Apparently, Otto doesn’t believe in that kind of information being hidden from the world. I have to agree. It’s hard to think badly of a man willing to inform us about the true corruption in control.
The message that comes through only has a location, a date, and a time. It’s for this weekend and it’s clearly supposed to be instructions. I can do that. Whatever it takes to make Elsie safe. Sighing, I close my laptop and put all my papers back in my briefcase before going up to bed. This week will be a long one.
“What did you even do all day?” Ric sneers, his face twisted with anger. “The house is a mess.”
“It’s hardly a mess,” I counter, glancing around the room. “Elsie built a fort is all. I was planning on cleaning it up before?—”
“And dinner isn’t even ready!” he continues, looking in the kitchen.
“We. . . we didn’t have any extra money for new groceries. I got Elsie’s food, but couldn’t get anything else,” I admit.
