“On it.” Zeke cleared his throat. “Don’t you think you should talk to Ava about it? She’s a high-profile hacker in the cyber industry and I’m sure she must have similar triggers set up. It’ll be better if she stays clear of this and lets us handle it.”
“You’re right. Keep working on it, Zeke.” Parker stormed out of the office and headed to the elevator to take him to ground level. Ava had told him this morning that she needed to do further research on the current case she was working on. She was slightly peeved that her resources were limited to the two laptops she’d brought with her. Parker hadn’t told her about moving her into BSE or the offer Stone had made. Danton had gone to New York to bring back all her equipment. He wanted to have the entire room set up first before he surprised her with it.
“Babe, where are you?” he shouted as he walked into his apartment.”
“I’m right here, Parker. You don’t have to shout.”
He glared at her where she sat on the sofa with her two laptops around her. He moved them out of the way and sat down next to her as he scanned the screens briefly. She was on the dark web.
“I have something to tell you.”
“It has to be serious for you to come barging back in here within minutes after leaving.” She smiled indulgently at him but straightened as his expression remained locked in a thunderous frown. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“I take your safety very seriously and for that reason, I’ve put triggers in place on the deep and dark web to warn me whenever Dancer is mentioned.”
Ava frowned. “You did what?”
Parker sighed. “We are both exposed more than the average man on the street because of our cyber and virtual presence, Ava. After what happened with Nesser, I wasn’t going to take a chance that you might be in danger, especially since the Russian mob was also involved.”
“I guess it makes sense but you needn’t’ve bothered. I made sure I’m untraceable and I have my own triggers.”
“I daresay ours are more advanced.”
Ava lowered her feet to the floor. She grabbed one of the laptops and typed in numerous commands. “Are you saying someone is looking for me on the dark web?”
“Yes, under the premise that it’s for a government project and offered ten K for information to make contact with you.”
“Strange that my triggers didn’t pick that up.” She looked at him. “It’s still no big deal, Parker. No one knows where to find me and those who do know how to contact me can only do it via an encoded message. My firewalls are of such a nature that no one can breach them.” She snorted and acknowledged his expertise in finding her where no one else could. “Except you, of course.”
Parker didn’t return her smile.
“You know who it was, don’t you?” A chill traveled down her spine. In the blink of an eye, dread owned her, pushing against her like an invisible gale, attempting to swallow her whole. She always had a suspicion that Chad Nesser wasn’t the brainchild behind the coup, although the Terror Playbook was his idea. Since she’d caused their coup to backfire, it meant those who were in charge would be mighty pissed off at her.
“Yes, I do.”
“Come on, Parker! Do I have to drag it out of you? Who is it and why the devil would he search for me on the web? Anyone who knows I only accept government projects would know I’m not reachable that way.”
“Billy Hewitt.”
“I don’t know him.”
“No reason you should, seeing as he doesn’t work for the government—at least not legitimately. Suffice it to say, it’s not the kind of man you’d like to tangle with.”
“So why is he looking for me?”
Parker took her hand and rubbed her palm. He was struggling to come to grips with the fear that sat tight in his chest. In a noticeably short time, Ava had become particularly important to him. He’d willingly given in to the invisible thread that had weaved its way to bind them together on that first night they met. He’d known then. She was it for him. Now, every time he saw her, it was as if space and time became the finest point imaginable, as if time collapsed into one tiny speck and exploded at light speed. It might have sounded tacky to someone else, but as a man who had a brother who taught him to be comfortable with his emotions, it felt as if his universe began and ended with her. He had given over to the feelings she’d awakened and stopped searching, because he knew, in the end, every path would lead right back to her … to her heart and soul. Since he’d accepted it, losing her wasn’t an option, and he’d do everything in his power to keep her safe.
Even if it meant getting rid of Billy Hewitt. Fuck trying to use him as bait to infiltrate the organization in charge.
“Hewitt is an assassin, Ava. He’s a lot like you. You’re a ghost in the cyber world and he, in the world of crime. He has a reputation as a phantom—no one ever sees him coming.” He shook his head. “He’s the one who shot Stone.”
“But you found him, so he’s not a complete ghost.”
“It took my entire team almost four months to find him, Ava, and only because we got lucky.”
Ava turned pale as the implication of what Parker had said sunk in. She covered his hand and looked at him with fear visible in the trembling of her lips.
“Are you saying … oh god! There’s a hit out on me!”
“It’s what my gut tells me. It can’t be a coincidence that the request came from the same location as Hewitt.” He pulled her into his arms and hugged her so tight she battled to breathe. She didn’t complain though, Instead, she wrapped her arms around his back and clung to him. For the first time in her life, she felt safe and wanted—not to mention the awakening emotions she’d been struggling to understand swirling inside her since they’d met. Losing him so soon wasn’t an option.
“What am I going to do?” she whispered against his throat.
He pushed her back and cupped her cheeks. His smile was warmth and comfort wrapped up in the slow curve of his lips that always tugged on her heartstrings.
“You’re not going to do anything. He contacted my dark web hacker persona and I already reached out to him. I’m going to lead him astray, or should I rather say, exactly to where I want him.”
“No! Please don’t. If he’s as dangerous as you say … I’ll never forgive myself if anything happens to you. Just … let’s just call the authorities.”
“Honey, relax. Part of what we do is exactly this. We protect and serve. If it means we need to eliminate a threat to achieve it, then that’s what we do.”
“I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Hmm … does that mean you care for me a little?”
Ava narrowed her eyes on him as she detected the wicked smile on his lips while doing her best to hide the fear unleashed inside her. For him, for his safety, and for her—to potentially lose him.
“Gmphf, like I’d tell you and watch your head blow up even bigger.”
“That hurts, babe.” He punched a fist against his chest. “Stabbed right through my heart, leaving me bleeding.” He planted a hard kiss on her lips. “No matter, I’ll just have to work harder then, to make you admit it.” He got up and sauntered to the door. He winked at her as he opened it. “Just so you know, my little Cherub, I passed the caring stage a while ago already. I’ve fallen in love with you and I sure as hell can’t wait to hear you say it to me.”