Page 18 of Royal Hacker

“I feel like you will make me wait a year. At least I brought my second-favorite thing for dessert.”

“Did you bring extra Reese’s for Brock and me?”

“As if! I got you guys sandwiches. You should have learned by now, I don’t share Reese’s.”

While Patty and I were spreading the food out over the conference table, Brock walked in with his folder and sat down across the table from us so we could talk about the case.

“Hey, shortcakes, thanks for bringing food. How has John been working out the last few days?” Brock asked.

I’d needed Brock back at headquarters working on the case I had Mia looking into. So I’d put John on Patty during the day. She criticized how he didn’t know computer talk and grunted at everyone. She also grumbled that everyone was scared of him and no one would come talk to her. I laughed, and that made her madder.

“He scares everyone away,” Patty complained.

I saw Brock trying not to laugh. He’d told me Patty was a chatterbox at work. I assumed the bodyguards were putting a huge dent in her gossip at the office.

“Did you tell Patty about the changes?” Brock asked me.

“The stalker seems to have targeted another woman. This new person is out of state. I will have to go and investigate the case.” I could see the wheels turning in her head. I’d learned that when she played with her food, she wanted to ask something but wouldn’t.

I didn’t want to leave her, but if we found the guy, she would be safe. I was also worried the guy was sending me on a wild-goose chase and that he would target Patty while I was gone. The woman’s notes were exactly like everyone else’s. The media hadn’t received a copy yet, so we knew it wasn’t a copycat.

“Why do you have to go?” Patty asked, still playing with her food.

Seeing I needed some alone time with Patty to talk about the plan, Brock excused himself.

“Come sit with me. I like having you in my arms.”

Patty walked over, climbed into my lap, and rested her head on my shoulders.

“Tell me what is bothering you.”

It seemed like ten minutes before Patty said what was on her mind. “Are you taking this away case because you’re sick of me? I know I can be a little much.”

“No, it is killing me being around you every night in your cute PJs. I want to make sure the case is handled right so we can get this guy behind bars. I want to go out on a date without the thought of a stalker hanging over our heads. I want to stay at your house because we’re dating, not because some guy might kill you.”

“You mean chop my body up into unrecognizable parts.”

“Let’s not talk about the disgusting things the killer does. Once I get my hands on him, he might just disintegrate in a barrel of acid.” I wished I could get away with disposing of the body myself. The problem was the police were working the case with me, and making the body disappear might be a little hard.

“You have a barrel of acid here?” Leave it to Patty to get excited that we might be able to get rid of a body in this building.

“Here is what will happen. John will still go with you to work every day. At night, someone from my team will watch your building. Every night before you go to bed, we will FaceTime, and every morning when you get up, we will FaceTime.”

“You didn’t answer me about the acid. There are a few people I wouldn’t mind getting rid of, and if you have the means… Do you mind me using the acid while you’re gone? I will talk to Brock about reimbursement costs.”

I swear this woman will put me in an early grave.“No, we don’t have any acid here. No, you can’t kill anyone while I’m gone, especially your bodyguards.”

“Well, you took the fun out of my week. All I’ve heard is, ‘Patty, go to work. Patty, don’t kill anyone. Patty, make sure to let your bodyguards know when you go to the bathroom. Patty, stop messing with John’s phone.’”

I finally put my hand over her mouth so she would stop. I thought about grabbing the ball gag from my desk, but that would just make my dick hurt more. It would be a long week if I couldn’t see Patty.

“Are you done with your pity party?” I asked. She gave me the cutest death stare, which only made me chuckle and make her mad.

“When do you have to go? Are you going to come over tonight before you leave?”

I had to get to the crime scene as soon as possible, so once Patty left, I would jump on my plane and head to the crime scene. It was hard to leave her, especially since she still felt so good in my arms.

“No, I need to leave in the next half hour.”

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