Page 83 of Death Wish

He nuzzled his face against hers. “I’m okay for now.”

“Hurting anywhere?”

“Shoulders.”

She stood and massaged his shoulder joints. “I wish I could do more. I’m sorry, Jesse.”

“I’ve had worse pain in the past. How’s the work going?”

“The program is complicated and Beckett set up a lot of error codes to slow down his progress. I’ll have to undo each trap and correct it before I move to the next. At last count, I saw one hundred error codes, and there may be more. I won’t know for sure until I fix the ones he added in and run the program.”

“Come here.” He needed to prepare her for what was to come. The punishments he’d endure as a spur to Simone’s speed and willingness to work would increase in intensity. She might not be aware of the time but he was. He also knew how much of a sadist Boudreax was.

Simone knelt in front of him again. “What is it?”

“We have 30 minutes until Daley and company check on your progress.”

She paled. “I have nothing finished. I just completed the first read-through of the program.” Tears glittered in her eyes.

“It’s all right, baby.”

“No, it isn’t. Boudreax will hurt you because I’m not working fast enough.”

How could he help her understand? “Simone, Boudreax wants to hurt me. He’ll take every opportunity he can find to test my mettle.”

“What can I do to help?”

“Do absolutely nothing. Every time you give away a weakness, Boudreax will take advantage and push you to your limits. Daley wants you to succeed. He’s only using me as a way of gaining your cooperation. Do your job, sweetheart, and I’ll do mine.”

“Tied up like a Christmas turkey?”

“Told you. You’re the brains of this outfit. I’m the muscle. I’ll endure whatever they dish out. Stay focused on your job.”

“When I fix the error codes, there’s no guarantee the program will work. I don’t know how many hours this will take.”

“Just do your job.”

Tears streaked down her cheeks.

“We’ll make it,” he murmured and kissed her gently. What he wouldn’t give to take her in his arms and hold her against him. He could break the zip tie but Simone needed to do what she could to fix the program, then sabotage it first. Someone else besides Daley and Boudreax was involved in this conspiracy, and he wanted the name of that person before he worked on freeing himself and Simone.

He broke the kiss. “Anything from Fortress?” he murmured against her ear.

“They know we’re in trouble and are working on a plan.”

“Stay focused. The rest will work out.”

She kissed him again and returned to her station. After wiping the tears from her face, Simone focused on the screen. “For the record, I hate this.”

He chuckled. “So do I.”

She sighed. “All right. Now that I’ve completed the first walkthrough of the program, I’m going back to the beginning and working my way down from the top.”

Jesse watched her in silence, marveling at the speed and concentration she brought to bear on the problem at hand.

When 30 minutes had passed, Jesse said, “Simone.”

She glanced up and looked at the clock, scowling. “Maybe they’ll be late.”

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