Page 28 of Suspicious

I hear his car engine dying down and then to a stall. “Okay, I’m off the side of the road. What the fuck is going on, Bea? Has Loki found something?”

Just tell him, Bea.

“Yeah… he’s still working on analysis and trying to piece it all together, but it looks like those spam emails I got had spyware embedded in them.”

Theo huffs down the line. “But that wouldn’t matter unless you clicked on a link…” There’s a long, hesitant pause. “Oh fuck, Bea, you didn’t?”

That same sinking feeling takes hold, and my body starts shaking again. “I can’t be sure, that’s the thing. I might have by accident. There was one day, I received one of those emails, and I was flicking through everything so fast that I… I just don’t know.”

“Dammit, Bea!” he yells down the line at me. “How could you be sofucking stupid!”

Sniffling, my bottom lip trembles as I pick up the tequila glass. “I guess you’re right… Iamfucking stupid.” I end the call, sliding the cell across the bar, then let out a long breath. “Well, tequila, old girl. Guess it’s just you and me tonight,” I mumble, then finish the drink with a tilt of the glass.

With my brother and Loki more than a little annoyed at me, I only have myself to blame.

Because, quite simply, I might have completely ruined us all.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Loki

A Few Hours Later

With the party in full swing out in the clubroom, the continual thumping of heavy rock music is interfering with my work. That, plus my rapid-cycling thoughts on what happened between Bea and me isn’t helping me concentrate. So, I pull on my headphones, turning on the only thing that helps me focus.

It might sound strange, but the originalThorsoundtrack by Patrick Doyle, which was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, is the only thing that puts me deep in the zone. Somehow, it elevates productivity, enhances focus, and stimulates creativity. It’s a known fact that techies like to listen to music that lacks lyrics or contains minimal vocals while coding to help reduce distractions and keep us focused on the task at hand.

It makes me feel like my brother, Jason, is here with me, with his hand on my shoulder, guiding me through whatever tech problem needs solving. Which, right now, is trying to solve who the fuck sent Bea these damn emails. I’ve been trying like crazy to find some kind of trail. Somewhere the sender has fucked up, but whoever it is, they’re good at hiding their tracks.

Slumping back into my chair, I slide my hands onto the back of my head and let out a long exhale. “I could really do with your help right now, Jase,” I murmur, my stomach clenching as my eyes dart up to a picture of my younger brother and me on the wall on Halloween when we were teens.

Jase dressed as Loki.

Me as Freddy Krueger.

Groaning, I scrub at my face, letting out my frustration, thensit back again, just staring up at the ceiling, feeling the weight of this crushing down on top of me. “I don’t know what to do next, Jason… tell me what to fucking do,” I mumble, knowing full well he can’t hear me.

Clenching my eyes tight, I shake my head, shoving my keyboard away from me in frustration. “You’re losing your damn mind, Loki… just think. What would Jason do?”

Letting out a deep breath, I try to focus on how my little brother would have worked this problem. He was always much better at tech than I was. When we were younger, he was the nerd who did all the computer shit.

I only took it up, so I can emulate him.

Follow in his footsteps.

But no one was like Jason.

He would have already had this figured out, recaptured all the clientele information, and then sent a virus or something even worse back to whoever the asshole is that did this to Bea.

Goddammit! What if I can’t figure this out?

What if I fail her after everything we’ve been through?

A sinking feeling flows through me, and I can’t help but feel like I’m going to fuck this whole thing up.

The health and wellness app.

Bea.

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