Page 19 of Death Wish

Jesse drove another circuit around the block, turning squares to be sure he hadn’t missed a tail. When the mirrors showed no one following them, he turned into their driveway and parked. “Wait here while I check the house.”

“Be careful.”

“Always.” He slipped from the vehicle and locked the doors. Walking around the side of the house to the backyard, Jesse studied the lock. No scratches to announce someone had broken into the place. Same with the locks on the windows.

He unlocked the back door and slipped inside the darkened kitchen. Only the light over the kitchen sink burned.

When all remained quiet, Jesse walked through the house, checking every room for signs of an intruder and using his electronic signal scanner to see if any unwanted electronics had been placed in the house. At the end of his search, he’d found that all was as he and Simone had left it this morning, and his security measures were working perfectly.

He returned to the SUV. “Clear.” Jesse helped Simone to the asphalt driveway and escorted her to the house. “Do you have a preference for supper?”

“Anything as long as it’s edible.”

Jesse chuckled. “That’s easy enough. I’ll change clothes and work on our meal.”

“What can I do?”

“You can be my sous chef or you can start on your night work. Your choice.”

“You won’t mind if I leave it all to you?”

“Of course not. I’m decent in the kitchen as long as you don’t expect gourmet meals. My job is to take care of you and that includes feeding you. I can’t hack into databases and emails but I can handle the rest of this assignment.”

“I’ll help you in the kitchen. If I work before supper, I won’t want to stop.”

“I understand.” He took a chance and curved his hand around her nape. “Get into comfortable clothes, and I’ll meet you in the kitchen.” His thumb caressed her throat. When her eyes widened, Jesse released her and went to his room to change.

Had he gone too far? The last thing he wanted to do was scare her off. He didn’t want to be locked into the friend zone, either.

Jesse changed clothes, washed his hands and face, and returned to the kitchen to find Simone had beaten him back. “That was fast.”

She shrugged. “What can I say? I’m hungry.”

He chuckled as he opened the refrigerator and scanned the food choices. “How do you feel about steaks and nuked potatoes?”

“No vegetables?”

Jesse narrowed his eyes. “Live large.”

She laughed. “I’m in. I’ll handle the potatoes if you want to man the steaks since I’m no good with grilling.”

“I’ve got you covered.”

They worked together to prepare the meal. In less than an hour, they sat at the table to eat. “How was your day?” she asked. “Anything interesting happen?”

“Nope. Just the way I like it. Dragon Alley has a lot of security measures in place, and Bastien is a stickler for following policies and rules.”

“So, you’re not best buds, huh?”

He snorted. “Not hardly. He liked the background Zane created for me but that’s about all he had to say unless he was spouting off orders like a drill sergeant.”

“Any holes in security?”

“They’re lax about checking employees as they leave the facility.”

She frowned. “I noticed that. I’m surprised since the employees are working with highly classified and competitive programs. Anyone can download something to a flash drive or upload things to the cloud and make out like a bandit by selling the programs to the highest bidder.”

“That causes me to suspect there are more security measures in place that I haven’t seen yet. Be careful when you’re poking your nose where it doesn’t belong, okay? Chances are excellent the higher-ups are tracking every keystroke, download, and upload.”

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