Page 33 of Royal Hacker

Mary nodded and wrote something on her notepad.

“Okay, everyone, Patty is missing. We’re not sure if it is a stalker who has been sending her messages. It could be someone who wants a quick buck from the tabloid story outing who she is. Can anyone tell me anything that might help in the investigation?”

At first, the room was quiet, and it seemed like nobody would say anything. Then a woman in the back said something. I couldn’t hear her, it was so faint. “Please come up here and repeat what you said.”

“I saw her coming back from the deli about two hours ago. She went into the parking garage.” The woman in a unicorn shirt and skinny black jeans spoke softly.

I wanted to shake her and tell her to speak the fuck up. I was worried I would scare her, and she wouldn’t tell me any more.

At least I had a timeline the guys could follow up on. They would be able to pull camera video from the garage. She must have left not too long after I’d finished my call with her—and she knew what she was doing. She’d known I wouldn’t call for a few hours, so she would be in the clear to run and grab food.

Why could she not send Mary to get the food or take John with her?I had a feeling she wanted to get out. We’d had bodyguards on her for the last few months, and she wanted to do something on her own.When we get her back, she will not have any option. She will have a bodyguard on her all the time. Especially until the tabloids find someone else to talk about.

“Thank you for the information. Does anyone else have anything to add?”

Everyone else looked at each other.Fuck, why can’t she appear?It was around four thirty, and she had been missing for two hours already. I pulled out my phone and texted Neal the time to check around for the cameras. I also told him where to look.

I put my phone back in my pocket and told everyone to keep an eye out for anything strange. I reminded Mary that Mia would be showing up soon. If John wasn’t around, Mary needed to ask for Mia’s ID before letting her in Neal’s office. Mary had never met Mia before, and we still didn’t know who was doing this or what they would do to cover their tracks.

As I went down in the elevator, my fists were clenched, and the apprehension from earlier had soared to a higher level. I felt like I might throw up. Exiting Black Hat Security’s front doors, I felt my pocket buzz. Hoping for a good update, I grabbed the phone. The text across my locked screen was my worst nightmare.

She’s mine now.

A picture was attached to the message, but my fingers were shaking so badly that I thought I might drop my phone. When I got the image open, it was a picture of Patty. She had her hands cuffed together, and her feet were bound with rope. There was a rag in her mouth, and her eyes were closed. She appeared to be in the back of a van.

18

Sam

It had been four hours since I received the text from the stalker. If I kept pacing in my office, I would wear a hole in the floor. The pink throw on the couch was a constant reminder of Patty. She would snuggle on the couch with her blanket and work on her laptop while I worked late.

It had to be around eight o’clock. Brock and Neal were in Brock’s office, looking through a video feed. Alex and Bridget were in the main conference room, trying to keep Jessica calm. The rest of my team was rechecking all the data we had compiled since the case started. I had to take a break from the room before I yelled at everyone. I couldn’t believe I’d let her down—the stalker had my pixie.

Lemon was walking back and forth with me. She was panting, and her tongue was hanging out of her mouth. I sat down on the couch, and she climbed up next to me and laid her head down on my lap. Slowly petting Lemon’s head, I could think of nothing but Patty’s smile. The night before filtered through my mind: Patty withering under my tongue while I took her to the brink.

Another image of Patty that morning made me smile. Her hairdresser had just left, and when she walked out with rainbow-colored hair, I smiled. I always looked forward to what color she would come up with. I’d grabbed her and had my way with her one more time before she left for Neal’s office.

Hearing a noise from the doorway, I looked up to find Neal standing there. “Any news?” I asked.

Shaking his head, Neal sat on the couch next to Lemon. “We are still looking through the video.”

I turned back to Lemon, slowly petting her. She was starting to fall asleep. “You know, I thought I would be alone the rest of my life. I never thought I would find someone who meant as much to me as Patty does. She came charging into my club and shook up my life with her humor. I can see her in my future, and I don’t know what I will do if I’ve lost her.”

“Patty is one of the strongest women I’ve ever met. I’ve known her for years. She is so happy with you and will fight until we find her. Don’t talk like we lost her.”

The longer Patty was missing, the harder it was not to get discouraged. I made a frustrated sound that made Lemon stir on my lap. “Neal, it’s starting to hit me. We’ve been on this for months, and we are not any closer to finding this guy. How did she vanish from the street? It’s already been four hours. I’m scared it will be too late by the time we find her.”

Neal nudged Lemon. She was not happy about being disturbed but jumped down. “Get your ass back in there. We need you to help find her. Sitting in here, mulling over Patty being taken will not help with the situation.”

Patty had been missing for six hours, and the video in front of me was all starting to run together. We’d been looking at the video for hours. We had his van but had lost the trail in a part of the city.

Bridget and Jessica both had their heads down on the table. They had fallen asleep about fifteen minutes ago. Alex had just left to get everyone something to eat. Nobody had eaten since the news of Patty’s disappearance. Half of my team was still going over the previous cases, looking for a clue. The other half was looking for a mistake the stalker could’ve made.

Neal was looking into something he said he was on the verge of figuring out. I wanted information and was close to losing my shit, but he didn’t want to explain until he was absolutely sure who it was.

He had two screens up. One was the video from the deli. The other was a browser that looked like a website on the dark web. Instead of .com, his site ended in .onion, and a majority of the websites on the dark web ended with .onion. Patty had been trying to explain hacking and the dark web. I let her talk about it because she lit up when she talked about technology. I would nod and sometimes pick up on what she was saying.

When Neal had something, he would let me know, so I turned back to the case files in my hand. The first email had come a couple months before Patty broke into my club.

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