Page 28 of Hacker Revelation

“Lucy Ivy, is that you? Why did you disappear?” Aaron ripped Daisy out of Neal’s arms and had her in a hug before Neal had time to react.

It didn’t take long. Neal yanked Daisy out of Aaron’s arms, and she fell back into Neal’s chest. Neal’s jaw was clenched. “I think you are mistaken, Aaron. Next time you want to give Daisy a hug, you ask first.”

Daisy twisted and placed her hand on Neal’s chest. “Master, it’s okay. Daisy does know Aaron. Daisy used to do his makeup for the movies, when I went by the name Lucy.” Daisy turned back to Aaron while keeping her hand on Neal. “It’s nice to see you, Aaron. I no longer go by Ivy. Daisy is my name, and Neal is my master. He’s a good master, not like the one that tortured me in Hollywood.”

I heard Neal groan. Daisy’s filter was lacking in social settings.

Aaron stepped toward Daisy but stopped short when Neal pulled her closer into him. Daisy let out a laugh that made everyone smile. “Master, can we talk with Aaron in private? He is an old friend.”

Neal nodded, and the three left the circle of friends to talk.

“Damn. The conversation was just getting interesting,” CJ quipped.

Antonio cleared a path for me back to the outdoor patio. The evil Florida sun started to set, which caused the temp to drop two whopping degrees. I sat down on the outdoor couch.

“Stay with me.”

Antonio joined me on the sofa, but his eyes never left the crowd.

“What are you looking for?”

He pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around me. “Something doesn’t feel right. It’s probably nothing, but I feel eyes on us.”

At Antonio’s words, I saw Asher search the crowd of people, and I looked for something out of the ordinary myself.

Juan hadn’t done anything for over a month. I had started to think he was gone. “I think we keep waiting for something to happen, and the longer it takes, the tenser we all become. Maybe Juan decided to take the money he had left and go into hiding.”

Antonio went still. “That’s what he wants us to think. He’s going to wait until we drop our guard.”

“I wish he were dead,” CJ said, his tone exasperated. “It’s getting to be a lot of work to run our main ops plus scan for Juan.”

“It won’t be much longer,” Asher said. He was an optimist, but his eyes studied the backyard intently.

Movement at the back of the lawn caught my attention. I strained to see what it was. Then a group of kids ran through the bushes. I breathed heavily. Antonio’s suspicion had my nerves on high alert.

“We need to stop talking about Juan and enjoy the party. Looks like Neal no longer wants to kill your brother.”

The corners of Antonio’s lips twitched. “Neal needed a kick in the ass to move things along with Daisy. Maybe he’ll feel threatened by Aaron and get a move on.”

The three were sitting in a set of chairs on the side porch with Daisy in the middle. Daisy’s smile was spread across her face.

Asher tipped his beer bottle in the trio’s direction. “They all seem to be getting along.”

Daisy deserved someone who would worship her. From the look of the three talking, she might end up with two men.

Antonio’s phone rang. His dark brow rose when he looked at the screen. He leaned over and kissed me on the forehead before he answered the call. He went to the other side of the patio, so I couldn’t hear what he said into the phone. But I could see the tension in his shoulders. It didn’t look good for whoever was on the other side of the call.

I glanced at Asher but watched every move Antonio made. He seemed to be bothered by the phone call.

The call could be about any case. AA Security had hired two more employees in the past month. The security company was up to ten mercenaries, and they were all deployed on assignments at the moment. But my Spidey sense told me it had to do with Juan.

I picked at the label on the beer bottle. Antonio’s movement became animated. “Asher, any idea what that call’s about?”

“No, but it doesn’t look good.”

“Maybe one of the new guys messed up a case?”

Asher looked away from Antonio. “If there was an issue at work, they would’ve called me, because everyone is too scared to mess up and tell Antonio. They think I’m a buffer.”

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