Page 9 of Duplicity

“Didn’t I just say I’d take care of you?”

Justice asked, “You wanna be my lieutenant when I take over, Hayden? Is that it?”

“You think I’ve been watching your butt for years for my own amusement?”

“Like you didn’t get something out of it?” Justice chuckled.

“That’s why I’ll make it good for you on your birthday. That way it’s good for me. We both get what we want. And when the time comes, yeah, I wouldn’t mind being your lieutenant. If it works out that way.”

Justice said, “Then report in. Tell him I went to school like a good little boy.”

A power tool buzzed across the audio feed, breaking through the filter. Simon winced and turned down the volume.

The person Justice was with would be contacting the old man. Did that mean he also had a phone connected to Simon’s system?

He checked for a reply to the photo he’d sent Peter, but his brother had seen the message and didn’t send anything back. At least, not yet.

It was a risk doing this whole thing. Trying to fly under the radar. Peter had as much skill as Simon did with computers even if he’d chosen to be an operator instead.

The bubble would burst eventually. His brother would figure out where he was, and Vanguard would know he’d gone off on his own to solve this. But it didn’t have anything to do with them. This was about righting what he’d done wrong so he could be the person he wanted to be without the stain.

If he wanted redemption, Simon had to get it for himself.

His father had attempted to beat sinlessness into them, all the while corrupting others and making money from it. He’d had Simon’s mother murdered when she found out what he was really doing. And it certainly hadn’t been God’s work.

Simon had left all that behind, and now he decided for himself. No one got to tell him what to do, not even God. Peter might have resolved the question enough to give his life to the Lord, but as far as Simon could see, that just meant being told what to do, how to live.

He had freedom now.

For the first time in his life, he had control over what he did and the choices he made, and he wasn’t going to give that up to anyone.

The burner phone he’d bought under this new alias rang in his pocket. He only had it because not having a cell phone in this day and age would be more obvious.

He looked at the screen. Local area code—for the west side of Washington state. He knew that number…

Simon pulled out one earbud and answered it. “Hello?”

“Boy, you’re not foolin’ anyone. What do you think you’re doing?” Her voice rang in his head, attachment and friendship, care and mutual respect. Talia was the one person who could call him on his crap and get him to at least think about changing his mind.

“T—”

“No.” She cut him off. “Don’t make me hike all the way to Benson in these heels. I’ll miss putting my kids to bed tonight, and it’ll beyour fault.”

Simon closed his eyes. “I know what I’m doing.”

“I sure hope so. Traipsing around in that system, poking. Someone’s gonna notice.”

“I’ll be done by then.”

Talia sighed. “I hope you’ll not be done because you got dead.” She muttered something and hung up.

Simon stared at the phone. It was just Talia who had noticed. Considering who she was and the fact she gave him a run for his money in the computer hacking department, it didn’t mean he was risking too much. She cared. That was all.

Which was why he had to do this.

So he’d get the chance to prove he could be someone worth caring about.

If he didn’tget deadbefore that happened.

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