Page 59 of Wine Whiskey & Lipstick

“My security is tighter than Fort Knox . . . you know that.”

“True. But, knowingly or unknowingly, you triggered something and got into some pretty sophisticated systems. Make sure someone didn’t plant a back door into yours.”

Dillyn’s security was so sophisticated even the best hackers in the world couldn’t penetrate it. It was also programmed to change every three days. She was confident whatever someone may have wanted from her network . . . they didn’t have. That meant not only was she in danger, so was everyone she cared about. The silver car that she and Selah saw the day before popped into her mind. “I’ll go through my metadata and get back to you with whatever I find.” Dillyn disconnected the call.

She leaned back and rested her head on the headrest. Steven was an adulterer. He broke her heart into a million pieces. He was an asshole and had turned into someone she hadn’t recognized, but he didn’t deserve to be murdered. The worst part of it all was that Dillyn began to think his death might have been her fault.

Dillyn was completely frazzled after her phone call. The peace and security she had just ten short minutes ago were gone. She was jumpy and began to wonder if any of the people they’d hired in recent days were not who they appeared to be.Would any of those people want to hurt my friends or me? And, if so, why?Most of Steven’s shady deals had to do with real estate.What did I miss?Dillyn would have to go back through her records with a fine-tooth comb. She needed to figure it out and fast because she couldn’t allow anyone else to get hurt.Dillyn’s business was legit, but no one knew about her role with CyberCom. Not a single soul. CyberCom was one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense. Contrary to what people might think about those roles,Dillyn couldn’t fight, shoot straight, or run fast, but she was one of the bestin cyber warfare and espionage. No one knew about that secret part of her life, which she’d been engaged in over the past twenty years.

A chill went down Dillyn’s spine.Steven knew.Somehow, he must have found out, which is what probably got him killed. Her friends’ and Ben’s faces all flashed before her eyes. Dillyn was going to be sick.

Dillyn rushed to her room, locked, and closed the door. She went straight to her walk-in closet. It had already been outfitted into a secure space. As Dillyn powered on her computers and hardware, she could only thank God Syn was sending over protection. Dillyn would have to come up with a cover story to explain their presence, but her main priority was to make sure everyone was safe. Dillyn grabbed her files marked “Steven,” sat down in her chair, and got to work. The sooner she figured out what the hell was going on, the safer everyone around her would be.

Chapter 25

Lucas popped his head inside Ben’s home office. “Hey. Morning.”

Glancing up from his monitor, Ben sipped his coffee. “Morning.”

“Dude. Have you seen Selah?”

Ben took a quick look at the time on his cell. “She’s probably still in bed. That girl doesn’t rise on a Sunday morning before ten.”

“Nuh-uh.” Lucas shook his head. “Her car was not outside when I got home this morning.”

“What time did you get home?”

“I got back to town around four.”

Ben frowned. “Are you sure? Did you check her room?”

“Of course, first thing.” Lucas rolled his eyes. “Did she stay over at Dillyn’s?”

“Dillyn was with me till around two. I know Selah had a date, but she wouldn’t stay out all night.” Ben picked up his phone and started scrolling through it. “She certainly wouldn’t stay out all night and not tell us.”

“She had a date? With whom?”

“Thomas Markum.”

“Who the hell is that?” Lucas was irritated. “I ain’t never heard of him.”

“It’s a guy she’s been talking to for the past couple of weeks.”

“Ain’t no Markums in Summer. Who the hell is that?”

“He lives in the next town over and moved to the area a few months ago. He’s one of those out-of-towners who came here to work on the bridge.”

“You let her go?”

“Let heris a pretty strong word.” Ben dialed Selah’s number. “As much as I want, Selah is grown, and I can’t lock her up. Dillyn FaceTimed with him. She thought he was cool.”

“Cool my ass. Basically, we don’t know this fucker from Adam or his people, and Selah’s not home. I’m gonna fuck him up when I see him. That’s my sister he’s screwing around with.”

“Agreed.” Ben’s call to Selah went directly to voice mail. “Hey, call me when you get this message.” Ben disconnected. “We don’t exactly have nothing. I made Selah give me his home address and phone number.” Ben had programmed Thomas’s number into his phone too. He quickly dialed it. It also went to voice mail.

“If we know where he lives, what are we waiting on?”

“Not a damn thing. Let’s roll.”

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