Page 48 of Rugger: The Huntress

“What?” She sighed, unable to match my gaze.

“You, too?”

“I didn’t have a choice,” she explained, tilting her head toward Royce and Roulette.

“Say no more.”

I released her, understanding the predicament she was in. I was in the same one, but there were four of them on my case. I followed the girls to the Sprinter and took my rightful seat in the back.

They quickly began to settle down as the day’s activities began to take a toll on their bodies. Roaman’s mouth was the first to part with a yawn. One by one, the others followed. I was unmoving. Sleep wouldn’t be visiting me anytime soon. Repetition had taught me that. Almost every night it was a struggle.

Sealed lids followed the inkling of exhaustion. The silence was welcoming. Royce was the last one standing by the twentieth minute of our journey. Her computer screen was the brightest thing on the bus, drawing me in as I tried making out the words on the screen. It didn’t take long for me to figure out she was on the backend of a website featuring our family.

“Work? At this hour?”

“Any hour is a good hour to complete the task I’ve been unsuccessful in completing for the last two years.”

“What is that?”

She quieted and sat up in her seat.Hersilence was alarming. I cleared the path in front of me and took the seat next to her.

“What’s the matter?”

“I– we’re– our–” She couldn’t make out a full word. Her mouth hung and her eyes attempted fleeing her skull.

“I– we’re– our?”

“The– the uh– the database.”

“Database?” I shook my head, letting her know I didn’t understand what she was referring to.

“With every detail of our case. The database I’ve been trying to access and erase for two years.”

“Did you just crack it?”

“No. No I didn’t. Someone else did.”

I pulled her computer in my lap as if I knew what the hell was happening on the screen. I was clueless. Still, I stared until she snatched it back.

“What do you mean, Royce? What do you mean someone else cracked it. Is that a good thing or is it–”

“I don’t know, but it feels like a good thing. It seems like a good thing. I’m jus– I’m just trying to figure out how the fuck!”

“Or why the fuck,” I inserted.

“That, too, but how? Seriously. That thing had so many fucking layers. One trip and they’d know someone was trying to wipe their entire system.”

“Completely?”

“This system was designed especially for us. If they wipe it clean, they wipe our existence from their database completely.”

“As if we never existed?”

“As if we never committed a crime and were on their radar.”

“Royce– are you sure?”

“Look at it, Rugger. It’s empty. There’s nothing. Someone might’ve done us a solid.”

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