Page 39 of Buried Too Deep

“Cora,” Burke said. “I hope you slept well. We tried to be quiet.”

“I did.” First things first. “How is Joy? Have you heard anything?”

Burke smiled. “She’s awake and irritable. Demanding they send her home.”

Relief swamped her. “Thank God. I’d have checked my phone, but I’m not sure where I left it.”

“You left it on the table next to the sofa,” Phin called from underneath the sink. “It’s on your charging pad now.”

A glance at the countertop revealed her phone, exactly where Phin said it was. Blue was asleep on the rug in front of the kitchen door and SodaPop was sitting next to where Phin’s very nice ass poked out of the cabinet. She wondered what he was doing under there, but there were other more pressing matters.

“I see you’ve been busy.” She aimed a pointed glance at her computer.

Antoine lifted his brows. “ ‘John Robert twenty-five exclamation point’ is not a secure password.”

Phin backed out of the cabinet, a smudge of grease on his cheek. It made him look even better than he had before, which was ridiculous. “Sorry,” he said, sounding like he meant it. “We considered waking you up to ask for your password, but you looked like you needed the sleep.”

“Plus I wanted to see how easy it would be to break into your system,” Antoine added. “It took me less than five minutes.” The censure in his tone was clear.

Cora winced. His criticism was fair. “You’re right.”

Antoine’s expression softened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that to sound harsh. But if I could break into your system, your mysterious intruder could as well.”

The blonde rose. “Hi. My name is Molly Sutton. I apologize for what must seem like an ambush. These guys can get carried away when they’re protecting your security. Your house is clean now, but Antoine found twelve listening devices planted throughout your house, and someone had broken into your computer and planted Trojan software to monitor your keystrokes.”

Cora felt the blood drain from her face. “What? Seriously?”

What had she done on that computer the past two weeks? In the past two years? What had the intruder found? What had he stolen?

Oh God. The accounts. All the bank accounts. Her grandmother’s trust. Everything she was and owned was on that machine.

My research. The jobs she’d taken, the clients she’d supplied, all of it swirled through her mind in unrecognizable bits and pieces.

I’m going to be sick.

Phin was at her side just as she slumped against the doorframe. He gripped her elbow gently, his quiet voice grounding her. “Hey. Breathe. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

She did as he instructed, breathing, allowing him to lead her to the kitchen table. She lowered herself into a chair next to Antoine as Phin crouched beside her.

“Some water, Molly?” he asked, and the blonde opened cabinets until she found the glasses.

The water appeared in front of her and Cora dutifully drank it all.

Feeling more like herself, she nodded at Phin. “I’m okay.”

I am not okay.

He clearly didn’t believe her any more than she believed herself, but he took the chair beside her, at the opposite end of the table from Burke.

She closed her eyes. “I’ve meant to change that password for months, but…” She felt tears sting her eyes and willed them back. “I couldn’t make myself change it.”

“He was your brother,” Antoine said, his words full of compassion. “I understand. I have brothers myself. Phin told us that John Robert passed last year. His obituary was easy to find.” His voice remained so gentle. Too gentle.

Cora wished he’d go back to sounding harsh, because her eyes continued to sting.

She exhaled. “Anyone would know that he was important to me. Anyone could guess my password. His name and his age when he died.”

Leaving her lost and so alone.

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