Almost home?
After waiting for a few moments for a reply that never came, he tossed the phone on the couch beside his leg. Tess wouldn’t text and drive, even if she were sitting in traffic.
Half-convinced that she’d be home at any minute, he tried to focus on his laptop.
He flicked over to one of his favorite coding forums—usually a rabbit hole he could lose hours in. A new thread on network tunneling lit up the screen, half the replies full of cocky one-liners and messy code snippets. Normally, he’d be diving in, arguing in the comments, picking apart every line like candy.
Instead, the words slid right past him, all of it tasting too close to what Diego had asked him to do.
His inbox pinged with a new email—a confirmation from Cyberline about a preorder he’d put in. The sight of their logo twisted something in his stomach.
Diego’s smirk flashed in his head.
You’re smart. Really smart... Which is why I picked you...
His fingers tightened on the edge of thelaptop. He’d blocked Diego’s number. Deleted the texts. Told himself it was over.
But the echo of “Everybody’s got a weak spot...”wouldn’t leave him.
“Arrgghh! What have I gotten myself into?”
He let out a heavy, exasperated sigh. The house felt too quiet, and it was getting on his nerves. No jangle of Tess’s keys at the door. No voice calling his name, no grocery bags dropping on the counter. Even the hum of the fridge sounded louder.
His phone buzzed on the cushion beside him, startling the crap out of him.
For a heartbeat, he hoped it was Tess.
Unknown Caller.
It was from the local area code, but wasn’t marked as a business or potential spam by the robocall app on his phone.
His throat tightened.
The last time he’d seen that, it had been Diego. Except he’d blocked that number. The guy could have others. Maybe it belonged to another gang member, or it was a burner phone.
He stared at the screen. The ringtone sounded loud in the quiet house.
Let it go, a voice in his head urged.Let it go to voicemail. If it’s important, they’ll leave a message.
The ringing cut off. He exhaled—too soon. It started right back up.
His thumb hovered over the red “Decline” button.But after two more rings, he swore under his breath and hit “Accept” before he could talk himself out of it.
“Hello?” His voice came out sharper than he meant, higher at the end.
For a second, there was only the hiss of air on the line.
“And—Andy?” Tess’s voice was thin and shaky, like it had been pulled through a tunnel. But it was hers.
Relief slammed into him so hard his knees actually went weak. He sat up fast, fumbling the laptop onto the coffee table.
“Tess? Where are you? Are you okay?”
“Listen to me.” The words tumbled out in a rush, jagged around the edges. “Do what they say.Don’tcall the police.”
The room tilted.
“What? Tess, what are you talking about? Who?—”
