ReBoot (MAC Security Series Book 4) Read online

  “No,” I shake my head, looking from West to Seb and then back again before pointing at them. “You started the Nevan thing.”

  “Nope,” West says, popping the p as he crosses his arms over his chest, making all of the colored tattoos dance on his arms. “Quarterback started it, we took it on and made it your name so that people couldn’t sneer it behind your back.”

  “But…”

  “Evan?” I turn to face Ty. “Let’s get this meeting done and then you can continue gossiping, yeah?”

  “Oh, burn!” Kitty sniggers.

  “Shut it, little one,” West replies, chuckling at the outrage on her face.

  I sit back down but not before scanning both of their faces, trying to decipher if what they’re saying is true. If it is then I may have hated them for more than a decade without needing to.

  “Evan?”

  I shake my head. “Right, yeah. So, the painting is being delivered soon; I can’t get an exact date as only a handful of people know this.”

  “Figured,” West says.

  “I’ve been looking over all of Darrell’s recent jobs, trying to see if we can predict what he’s going to do and I think that he may make the switch before the painting gets to the gallery.”

  “Why?” Kay asks.

  I look up at her. “Because he’s a professional, he knows what he’s doing. The run-through at the gallery was for him to see if he was being watched. It has no bearing in what he’s going to do.”

  “Why do the run-through then?” Luke asks, leaning forward.

  I look to my left. “He was trying to catch us out. He may have seen us, but I think it’s unlikely. If he had then he would have let us know that he knows. He’s the type of guy who likes to have the upper hand.”

  Luke nods and sits back, thinking over the information that I’ve given them all.

  “He didn’t know,” Seb announces.

  “How do you know that?” Ty asks.

  “Because I was driving. I saw you, but he didn’t.”

  I frown and look at Seb and then West as they have a silent conversation. There’s something more going on here and I don’t like not knowing.

  “I think it’s time you filled us in,” I command which makes Seb’s brows jump high on his forehead.

  He leans forward, resting his arms on the table and clasping his hands as he looks at me and only me.

  “We’ve been undercover in his operations for three years now, we’ve helped him steal things that are worth more than you can imagine; worth the kind of money that could persuade you into turning to the other side. I know I’ve been tempted. But nevertheless, what he’s doing is pure greed.” I lean back in my seat, taking this all in. “It wasn’t until we saw you following us that we realized who it was. You know we’ve been trying to recruit you for years?”

  “You have?” Ty asks.

  “I’ve had a few people try to get me to work for them, but this is my home, my family,” I tell Seb, ignoring Ty.

  This is why I take every step possible to cover my own ass. Ty thinks his security is tight, but he has no idea the kind of in-home security I have, even my car has its own system. I may have people wanting me to work for them, but I have the same amount who want me out of the game altogether.

  “I guessed.” He looks around and then turns to West.

  “He’s asked us to bring someone else on the team for this job,” West says, raising his brow.

  I frown and watch his eyes, trying to read what he’s silently saying, surely he can’t mean me?

  “You want Evan to go undercover with you?” Ty asks, his voice like thunder. I snap my head up and see the rage boiling in his chocolate-brown eyes. “That’s what you came here for? Because we will be bringing that fucker down. We don’t need your help.”

  Both Seb and West stay silent and when I look back at them, they’re both staring at me. They came here for only one reason: me.

  “Why?” I ask them.

  “Because you’re the best with computers, equipment, that sort of thing. We’ve heard of some of the things you make.”

  “He’s dope,” Dean announces and then winces when Kitty elbows him.

  “Shut up, they’re trying to take him,” she whisper-shouts.

  “From where I’m sitting,” Dean says, his voice a deep rumble as he looks at me and then Ty. “They want his help to put this scumbag away. It can’t hurt. You’re all after the same thing. Surely it’s better to work together?”

  “Did anyone ask you?” Luke sneers.

  Dean holds his hands up, looking down at the table.

  The room is silent for several minutes as we all wait for Ty to come to a conclusion. Ultimately it’s up to him what happens from here on out. If he says no then I have no choice but to not help them, no matter how much I want to.

  “I have conditions,” Ty announces, pushing his chair back and standing up. “You can borrow Evan and his skills, but I’m having two men on him at all times. I’m not taking a risk without eyes on him.”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem,” West says, looking at Seb and waiting for the slight nod of his head.

  “Good.” He scrapes his hands down his face and then turns to Luke and Dean who are sitting on either side of Kitty. “Luke, Dean? You’re on Evan watch.”

  “Yeah?” Dean asks at the same time Luke says, “Fuck no.”

  “You want in on the team for a while?” Ty asks Dean. “Consider this your in.”

  “Fuck yeah!” He holds his hand up to Kitty and she high-fives him, a big grin on her face.

  “I ain’t working with him,” Luke thunders, scraping back his chair and standing up, his fists clenched by his sides.

  “You don’t have a goddamn choice. I’m the boss, not you.”

  Luke and Ty stare each other down, neither one of them willing to back down.

  “This is bullshit, we don’t know who the fuck he is and you’re letting him on the motherfucking team!”

  “Think of it this way,” Ty grinds out, stepping toward Luke. “You get to keep an eye on him.” He raises a brow, letting it sink in and smirking when Luke inclines his head in a small nod.

  “We need to start planning,” Seb announces.

  I look down at my watch and close my laptop. “It’ll have to wait, I have a class to teach.”

  “Class?” West asks.

  “Yep.” I smirk at him. “Self-defense.”

  “Well damn, little Nevan grew up and grew some balls.”

  “Yep,” I say, popping the p as I stand up and walk toward the door. “And they’re really fucking big balls too.” I wink and open the door, leaving a trail of chuckles in my wake.

  I pull up outside of the community center, looking over at the precinct briefly. Normally when I’m early for teaching my class, I’d go and see Geena. But today, for some reason, I don’t want to. No, that’s a lie, I know exactly why I don’t want to.

  Things haven’t been right with us for a while: at first, I was okay with her asking me not to wear my favorite t-shirts, her telling me not to drive her around in my car. But lately, I’ve started to resent her; I’ve started to see the way she’s always trying to manipulate me and the way she huffs if she doesn’t get her own way. It’s getting old.

  I can’t help but compare her reaction to Lexi’s when she said she liked my shirt at the diner. I was gobsmacked when she said that, not sure whether to believe her or not.

  A few months ago, I would have gone along with everything Geena said and not argued back, but now I’d rather avoid her than face her. I thought it was a woman thing, Geena not liking the shirts, but I’m starting to realize it’s not: it’s a control thing.

  Voices catch my attention and I turn to face them. I tilt my head as I see Lexi talking to someone who is lying down on the bench outside of the center.

  I frown as she shakes his shoulder and doesn’t get a reply. Pushing out of my car, I walk around the front, pressing the button on the fob to lock it.

>   “Sir?” she asks, shaking his shoulder again, only this time she gains his attention and he shoots up into a sitting position. I recognize him right away, knowing that it’s the same homeless man who tries to take shelter in the precinct every day. The same man that Geena brags about kicking out and sneers that he smells like a pile of shit—her words, not mine.

  “What? This is public property, I’m allowed to be here,” he sneers, his voice gruff, but it doesn’t faze her. I come to a stop several feet away, watching it play out.

  “Oh, I know that, sir. I was just wondering if you’d like to come inside in the warmth? Maybe I could make you a cup of cocoa and you could use the restroom to freshen yourself up?”

  He stares at her for several seconds, his gaze roaming over her before finally settling on her eyes again.

  “Why?” he asks, but I can see the hope in his dull eyes.

  She looks down at the ground and bites her lip, an action that renders me speechless. I’ve never seen anyone quite like Lexi. She’s awkward but kind at the same time. She looks like she’s uncomfortable in her own skin but also comfortable too. It makes no sense, but then I don’t think she makes any sense either.

  I may have only known her for a few weeks, but I feel like I’ve known her all of my life. I need to pull myself together, I can’t keep thinking of her as anything other than what she is—was—a criminal. No, that’s not right, she’s nothing like I thought she’d be. Dealing with criminals in work, I guess I had a preconceived profile of how they act and behave. Lexi couldn't be further from fitting that profile.

  “Well, I could do with the company,” she finally says, looking back up at him.

  He hesitates for a second and then stands up slowly, his dirty clothes crackling as he moves. “I suppose, only to keep you company though.”

  “Of course,” she replies, walking ahead of him and then turning her head back to make sure he’s following.

  I step back into the darkness, my heart in my throat at the kindness this woman shows. I have to keep reminding myself that she’s not long come out of prison, that she’s adjusting to the new world around her. The more I’m around her, the more I realize that she’s just a young woman who has been dealt a bad hand. She needs someone to take a chance on her, to believe in her.

  Why do I want that to be me?

  I take a deep breath and push my shoulders back, forcing myself to go inside and to be the normal me and not the choked-up version that I’ve suddenly become.

  I swing the main doors open and drop my bag in the room I use, switching on the lights and the aircon before I go to the kitchen where I hear their voices drifting from. I’m two steps from the door when Lexi flits out of it. I come to a complete standstill, my eyes on hers as she steps forward, putting her hand on my chest, begging me with her eyes as she backs me up a couple of steps.

  My gaze flits down to her hand, my body on high alert and my skin breaking out in goose bumps. I open my mouth, ready to say something, but nothing comes out.

  “I’m sorry,” she says, her voice low. “I couldn’t leave him out there. I don’t think he’s had a proper meal or a wash for a long time. I just wanted to help.”

  Her voice brings me back out of the trance that she seems to have put me in and I watch as my hands come up and frame each side of her face.

  “You’re one of a kind, Lexi.” I grimace at the sound of my voice and the words that have vomited out of there. What the hell am I doing?

  She looks up at me, her eyes finding mine as I get lost in her hazel orbs. I could stare into her eyes for hours and never get bored.

  “I am?” she asks, apprehension in her voice.

  “You are,” I answer, my eyes flicking between hers as my fingertips tighten on her face slightly. Her skin is so soft. How the hell did I get here? Holding her face in my hands?

  “Hey, girl!”

  Lexi jumps back, severing the connection that we had and looks down at the floor, her shoulders slumping and her feet shuffling on the floor.

  “I better…”

  “Right, yeah, erm… me too.”

  I count to three in my head before we both spin around and go our separate ways. Berating myself as I walk back into the room and over to the mirrored wall, leaning my back against it and sinking down to the wooden floor.

  Why did I do that? Why did I let myself get lost in her again?

  From the moment she scared the life out of me a couple of weeks ago, I haven’t been able to be in the same building as her without thinking about what she’s doing or how she is.

  I have enough on my plate as it is. Geena, my job, and now West and Seb being back in town. The next month I’m going to be so busy it’s unreal. I see less sleep in my very near future and more arguments with Geena: she’s not going to like the fact that I’m going to be working extra hours, leaving little time for her.

  I rest my forearms on my knees as I let my head drop to my chest, feeling like I have the weight of the world sitting on my shoulders.

  I know relationships are full of ups and downs, but I shouldn’t be feeling like this: like I have no way out. That isn’t what love is about; not to me anyway.

  I may have had a bad start in life, but my dad and pops showed me what real love is. They may have been two gay guys who started a family, stepping outside of the norm and losing family and friends over their decision, but the fact of the matter is, they were the best parents I ever could have asked for.

  They never asked me to talk about what happened to me before I lived with them: they never pushed me.

  Even now, all these years later, they still don’t know the full extent of what I had to put up with as a child. It wasn’t ever physical—not from her hands anyway—only ever mental, which is so much harder to prove as a social worker.

  “Evan?” I jump and squeak at the sound of my name being called and look up at Lexi where she’s crouched down in front of me. “You okay? I’ve been saying your name for a few minutes.” Her eyes shine with concern.

  “I… yeah, I’m good.” I lift up and look down at her as she stands slowly.

  “Your class has been waiting for the last five minutes. I… just… never mind.” She spins around and walks over to the door.

  “Lexi?” I call out as she puts her hand on the door handle. She turns her head slightly, not quite meeting my eyes. “Thanks.” I don’t even know what I’m thanking her for but she nods anyway before pulling the door open and letting the class file in.

  Switching off the lights as I walk out of the center leaves the whole place in pitch-black darkness. The only light as I step outside is the lone one that sits opposite the police precinct. It’s creepy, and scary. I tend to speed up locking the door and do a weird walk/run down the path to get in more light.

  The only thing I love about this time of night is the stars that twinkle like diamonds, flashing and then disappearing behind the clouds that skim across the sky.

  It’s somewhat of a routine now for me to find as many constellations as I can on the walk home. There’s never many people or cars on the road as I do this, so at least I don’t look crazy with my head tilted toward the sky. I’ll be lucky if one car drives past me all the way home.

  When I get to the end of the road, I find the big dipper and smile. That’s the one I always find first.

  A pair of headlights flash in front of my eyes and I speed up a little as the car slows down, making my stomach flutter with nerves and my hands start to shake.

  Tilting my head down, I wrap my arms around my waist and steady my breathing as they pull up alongside me.

  “Lexi?” I shiver at the cold—or is it that voice?

  My head snaps up to the driver’s side window and I meet Evan’s eyes. They look so different shadowed in darkness: there’s something both terrifying but enthralling about those eyes.

  “Evan?”

  He unclips his belt and pushes his door open, leaving the engine running as he slides out of the car.

&n
bsp; “Where are you heading?” he asks.

  “Erm… home?”

  He chuckles. “Is that a question, or a statement?”

  I frown and shuffle my feet. “A statement.”

  I look down at the ground, focusing all of my attention on the front of my Chucks; they’re so fascinating right now.

  “Lexi?” His voice is a mere whisper, floating on the wind as the front of his shoes come into my line of sight. “Why are you hiding?” I gasp as his hand cups my chin and lifts it gently, bringing my gaze back up to his. “You never have to hide from me.”

  “I—” I swallow at the intensity in his eyes. Why is he looking at me like that?

  The only sound that can be heard is his engine and our breaths as our chests move in sync. Each time I inhale I nearly touch his chest, and just the thought of contact with him has me breaking out in goose bumps.

  “You cold?” he asks, not waiting for my answer as he lets go of my chin. I feel the loss like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I can’t explain the feeling, but all I know is that I wish I would have been able to open my mouth and tell him that I’m not cold, it’s him: he’s the reason why my skin feels like it’s both hot and cold at the same time.

  I shouldn’t be feeling like this. I don’t have the time nor the headspace for him to take up. I’m trying to get my life back on track, I can’t afford any distractions.

  I watch with eager eyes as he leans into his car, his hand gripping the top of the door as he does. I can’t stop looking at his arm, the way the muscle flexes with his movements. He pulls something out and leans back out of the car, spinning around and holding it up in the air with a grin on his face.

  “What’s—” I’m cut off when he steps behind me, wrapping it around my shoulders.

  “It’s my leather jacket.” He stands back in front of me. “It’ll keep you warm.”