Page 10 of Property of Booker

Placing my headphones on my head, I activate my mic and answer, “I’m here. How did things go last night after I had to sign off?”

“Wanted to ask about that, why did you exit so fast?” he questions, no judgment in his eyes which makes explaining things to him easier to digest.

I adjust my headset, the cord brushing against my bruised collarbone. “I had to go dark, Booker,” I say, my voice low. “My system got flagged. Jerome started hovering over his other tech, Branson, forcing him to search for a breach in our system. I had to scrub my tracks so no signal led back to you.”

Booker stiffens in his chair. “You were under surveillance?” he asks, his eyes wide on the screen. “You could have been caught.”

“I know,” I reply. “But something changed. I had a quick, encrypted conversation with Branson. He knows exactly what I’ve been doing now. Once I made it clear that backup is on the way, he flipped. He is on our side."

Booker exhales a sharp breath, the sound hissing through his headset as he stares intently at the screen. “Branson? The same guy who was ripping our firewalls to shreds yesterday? You have to be absolutely certain he isn't setting a trap for us.”

I lean closer to the monitor, wanting him to hear the unwavering confidence in my voice. “He's providing cover for me right now. Every digital trace that connects us is being wiped clean by his hands. I promised him the freedom of his family alongside Kolter. That was enough to get him on our side.”

Booker rubs a hand over his face, looking exhausted but determined. “We would have handled his family regardless of any deal, Kendall. This isn't a tit for tat situation. We're in this together.”

“I know that,” I reply, my expression softening as I watch his tired face on the monitor. “But he needed a reason to believe there's a light at the end of this tunnel. Jerome has him paralyzed by fear, and he needed a guarantee before he'd risk his life.”

Booker leans closer to his own screen, his eyes burning with a tired intensity. “He's got that guarantee now. You both do. Tell me how I keep you safe until the strike hits.”

I trace the frame of the monitor with my fingertip, wishing I could reach him. “Stay dark. If Jerome catches a whisper of the Kings moving, he'll scramble. We need him to be arrogant and confident until the final second.”

“That's a hell of a gamble,” he mutters. He taps a key and his board lights up with cascading code. “I'm rerouting our server traffic through three proxies now. It'll mask your login time. That should buy you enough space to move without him noticing.”

“You're doing too much,” I say, my throat tight. “Save your focus for the raid. That's when I need you sharp.”

He finally looks up from his keyboard, his intent look locking onto me through the camera lens. “I'm not slowing down until you're out of there. I don't care if I crash when this is over. You're the priority.”

I bite my lip, fighting the surge of emotion. It's the first time in years someone has put my safety above their own. “Just stay focused, Booker. We're almost there.”

“I'm locked in,” he promises, his voice dropping to a low rumble. “Keep your head down.”

“Always,” I murmur, my hand hovering over the screen. “Bye, Booker.”

“Bye for now, Kendall,” he says as the screen turns black.

A tear rolls down my cheek as my lips tremble in absolute shock. “He knows my name,” I whisper, my eyes widening. I had intentionally kept it hidden from him to ensure both of our safety. Now that he possesses this information, I can't help but wonder if he has searched the web to uncover the person I used to be before my identity was stolen from me.

A light flashes from my screen and I scramble to see who’s connecting with me now. When I see it’s Branson, I quickly connect. “What’cha got for me, Branson?”

“Well, hello to you too, Kendall,” he teases, but the black circles under his eyes say he’s in anything but a teasing mood.

“You aren’t sleeping,” I chastise.

“Jerome has me on a punishment protocol, so sleeping isn't an option,” he reveals. “Whenever I begin to nod off, rock music blares through the surround system, jolting me awake.”

“What did you do to get in trouble?” I ask, my voice biting, full of anger on his behalf.

“Yesterday’s accusation from Lester has him in a panic, Kendall. He suspects it’s one of us, but he lacks any proof. I can promise you that I won’t be the only one facing his punishments.”

“You came on to warn me,” I declare.

“You’re his main suspect. You need to watch your every move, Kendall,” he cautions.

“And yet, he defended me to Lester yesterday,” I muse.

“Of course he did, Kendall. He can’t let it be known he has a traitor in his midst. He needs the syndicate to believe he has a stronghold over us or he’ll be considered a loose cannon.”

“But it is essential that they see him that way, Branson,” I scoff.