Page 3 of Kiwi

"We need those files, Prez," Wick blows smoke in the air from the cigarette he just lit.

Shifting in my seat, I lean back, realizing I can help, or at least try. "I need a computer." The two of them eyeball me. "You want my help, right?" Wick moves across the room into the shadows. I briefly hear a rustle before he returns, holding a laptop. Wick holds it out to me. Opening the computer, I get to work. What I'm doing is technically illegal. Back in high school, a buddy of mine taught me how to hack into damn near any computer-operated system. I've never used the knowledge personally, but I'm damn happy now that I paid attention.

"What are you doing?" Riggs asks as I type away.

"Trying to hack dear old dad's files," I inform him, which is proving to be more challenging than I thought. He must have plenty of security measures in place to keep unwanted threats out. I run through every trick in the book before finding a backdoor. My window of opportunity is small, so I act fast. Creating an export point to an encrypted file on the laptop, I download whatever files I can, mostly what looks to be money transfers.

Riggs and Wick stand behind me, looking over my shoulders. "Impressive. I knew you were good with computers but I didn't know you were a hacker."

"I'm not," I pull up the download of the files to the hard drive.

"Sure as shit looks like it to me," Riggs states. He grabs the computer and starts scrolling. "Shit, kid," Riggs says with amazement. "Look, brother," he shows Wick. "Send this shit to Cowboy. Have him comb through everything." A hand clasps my shoulder. "Thanks."

The guilt of everything starts weighing on me, more so than before. I swallow hard, my mouth suddenly dry. The screech of a chair knocks me from my thoughts of regret and turmoil to see Riggs has pulled his chair beside me.

"Listen, after tonight; you'll need a place to lay low for a while."

"I'll go back home," I tell him.

His heavy sigh makes me uneasy. "I strongly advise against it. If shit goes south, hell, even if it doesn't, you could potentially put your family in danger."

I run my hand through my hair. "I have nowhere else to go," I admit. "But, I could definitely use a change of scenery."

"I don't have much, but I can offer you a room and a job," Riggs offers, and I'm shocked.

"Why would you do that for me?"

Riggs shrugs. "You're helping me, so I'm helping you. Plus, I have a good feelin' about you, kid."

"That simple?"

"Yep."

What other choice do I have? Once I help them apprehend Donovan and whoever else he is involved with, I won't have a place to lay my head in Las Vegas. Donovan was the only person tying me to the City. And I'll do whatever it takes to keep my family safe. I won't let Donovan Black or his filth stain any part of their lives.