No. We have to get this done.
“Lead the way,” he said with a hoarse voice. “I’m with you no matter what.”
Chapter 37
Willow
She pushed the door open to the abandoned office they had chosen as their base. It had been vacant for months, so the likelihood of anyone prying was very slim. Plus, it was the perfect distance between the rival loan sharks.
“How’s it going?’ she asked her friend, who was seated in a very uncomfortable-looking spot on the floor near a window. There were no office chairs or desks in the space, so their laptops and wireless devices remained near windows where they could get the best signals.
Landon registered the additional company and stood up to greet him. He stuck out a hand. “Uh, I’m Landon. I don’t know what she told you, if anything. We’ve been friends for a while.”
Ryker took his hand without hesitation and gave him a firm shake. “Ryker. And uh… same. Not sure what she’s told you about me either. Or Ezra for the matter.”
Landon snorted. “I have no interest in details. I’m just here to help, and then I’m back on a plane headed south. I’m ready for the sun.”
“We’ll be done soon, I’m sure,” Willow replied. She pulled up her laptop and checked a few things before opening their program again. It had taken some time, but it wasn’t that complicated.
Ryker’s eyes darted between them. “So, what are you doing exactly?”
She gestured for him to join her and pointed at the screen. “So, you know how you can just connect to whatever wi-fi hotspot?”
“Yeah?” he replied.
“Well,” she continued, “It’s really easy to set up fake ones that look real.” She tapped a few times.
Ryker raised a brow. “And what do you do with the fake ones?”
“Once connected, you can infect the devices with malware pretty easily,” she said with a shrug. “I really like ransomware. It’s when you lock down everything so it’s unusable. Then, you make them pay to release it.”
He leaned in and planted a firm kiss on her temple. “You are something else, pretty girl.”
The open affection in front of someone else sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Her eyes flicked to her friend seated nearby, and she caught a faint huff escaping him as he typed away.
“All right, love birds,” he groaned. “I’m knocking out their current system, so they connect to the phony one, and then I’m going to head out to take a leak.”
His fingers flew across the keys before he stood and stretched his arms. “Back soon.” Then he made his way to the door andexited with a subtle wave. This whole thing was going way too smoothly for comfort. Just in case, she set up her contingency, the one thing that could potentially put an end to this whole thing if necessary. But it was a risk if she had to deploy it, and it didn’t work.
Willow set it up. If she pressed the keys, then all of their collected data would go to the feds. On both of the sharks. Maybe she wouldn’t need it, but she was so on edge.
Obviously, you’re on edge, you’re hacking a fucking dangerous criminal who chops people up.
Now that they were alone, Ryker scooted closer until their thighs were touching. If Landon was going to be gone longer, she might’ve considered letting out some of her current sexual frustration. The way he’d pressed her to the brick and threatened to fuck her in the alley had made the building ache inside almost unbearable.
“You’re cute, all focused like that,” Ryker teased.
She snorted. “Thanks. You’re cute all,” she gestured with one hand but stayed focused on her program to see if they had connected yet, “being mister dangerous and brooding.”
“Brooding?”
“Oh yeah, you get this grumpy expression that makes you look way meaner than you are.”
“I’m not mean?” He took the laptop from her and set it on the floor before pushing her onto her back and settling in on top of her.
Willow tried to stifle a giggle. “Not really, no.”
His brows lifted, and his messy hair fell into his face. “Pretty sure I fucked answers out of you in that cabin.”
