“Whatever I did, I–”
“Shut up,” Lai said cheerfully. “Sit down. Open Al’s laptop. Follow my instructions.”
Robyn blinked at Lai, then at me, then back at Lai. “You haven’t even told me what I need to do yet.”
Lai stared at the boy, unblinking.
“Okay, okay.” Robyn threw his hands up, exasperated more than afraid now. “You don’t have to threaten me. I’m not an idiot. I can tell you two are doing something you’re not supposed to, I don’t need the details.”
“You can tell?” I asked, curious as to what gave it away.
“Yeah,” Robyn said, like it was obvious. “Dad left at six this morning; he never gets up before quarter to nine. And at breakfast, Hawk and Wren said you hadn’t been home since yesterday.”
I closed my eyes briefly. Of course, my two idiot sons would volunteer sensitive information like they were being paid by the word. Loyalty clearly wasn’t hereditary.
“Just do what your father says,” I said, waving a hand before this turned into a full interrogation. “We’re short on time.”
Robyn sighed and sat down, pulling the laptop toward him.
It was strange to look at Robyn like this. A lot of people assumed we were related; he looked nothing like Lai or his partner. With his dark hair, olive skin, and gray eyes, Robyn was surrounded by rumors about his adoption that he steadfastly ignored.
I’d deliberately kept my distance from him, hoping it would make his life a little easier, and avoiding questions I didn’t want to have to answer.
“I need you to access the local police files,” Lai said.
Robyn turned slowly in his chair, fixing his father with a flat, unimpressed stare. “What do you think this is, a movie? You want me to open a five-year-old laptop and hack into a secure system by aggressively tapping the keyboard for tenseconds?”
Lai nodded without hesitation.
Robyn looked at me, waiting for me to tell Lai that wasn’t what was happening here. I took a sip of my drink and nodded towards the laptop.
Robyn looked back at Lai. “I hate both of you.”
“Noted,” Lai chuckled.
“It’s going to take time,” Robyn continued, already slipping into problem-solving mode. “I’ll need a different system, probably route through a couple of proxies, and even then it’s not guaranteed to be clean. You’re talking hours, minimum. What exactly are you looking for?”
“A car,” I explained. “A very specific one. It got impounded last night.”
Robyn paused, then leaned back slightly. “Okay. That’s actually easier.”
Lai blinked. “Easier than hacking a police database?”
“Yeah.” Robyn gestured vaguely. “What city were you in? We can just go and look for it.”
Silence sat in the room for a second. I didn’t like how Robyn’s suggestion made me feel, like I was about to look really stupid.
“What do you mean, go and look?” I asked, already irritated with how simple he was making it sound. “There are dozens of impound yards in the city.”
“So?” Robyn shrugged. “A dozen yards? That’s what, a day of searching? Two if you’re slow about it.”
I stared at him. Then at Lai.
Lai stared back at me.
There was a long, uncomfortable moment where both of us realized we had completely overcomplicated this.
“Right,” I muttered.
