Page 45 of Hacker Revelation

The intruder was dressed in blue scrubs and a white jacket to match. He had a mask over his face, but I recognized his voice and beady eyes. Greg stood above my bed. I moved my hand to the side to click the call button. Greg lurched and grabbed it before I could. He leaned into me and pressed his hand on my side where the stitches were still fresh.

The pain that shot through my body was enough to make my vision sway. But I wouldn’t let him win. He would never get to Lily. I scratched my arm to pull my IV out. When it ripped out of my skin, I held it in my hand. Greg was within arm’s reach. I used what energy I had to force my arm forward and jabbed the needle into his neck.

Greg’s scream hurt my ears. It was so loud that it could be heard from the nurses’ station. Greg ripped the needle out of his neck and held one hand to the hole that squirted blood. He balled up his other fist. I didn’t have anything else to protect myself with, so I covered my head and waited for the first blow to come.

It never came. Instead, I heard a grunt and a thud on the ground. Antonio stood over Greg, who lay on the floor in the fetal position. Hospital security came into the room.

“He tried to kill my wife and took out one of my agents. Call Detective Higgins at the police department. He knows this man has made a few attempts. This one should put him away for good.” When the officers turned for a second, Antonio kicked Greg in the side. The man started to cry.

A team of nurses rushed to Jacob’s side. A half hour later Doctor O’Malley let Antonio know Jacob would be okay. He was given a high dose of sedatives.

The hospital police escorted Greg out of the room. For the next hour, they cleaned up the wound in my arm from where I pulled out my IV. Antonio was very quiet the whole time.

Once everyone had left, I patted the edge of my bed and scooted over to the side. Antonio didn’t waste a second before he climbed in next to me.

“I thought you were going home.”

“Jacob texted that you needed food. I grabbed you something and headed back up.”

For once, I was glad Antonio had been overprotective. The sedative Greg gave Jacob knocked him out for a few hours. When he woke up he was pissed and wanted to kill Greg. He also felt guilty for Greg’s attack. But with Greg and Juan both out of the picture, we could finally move on with our lives. I wasn’t upset with Jacob. For once I was happy he contacted Antonio and asked him to grab my food.

“Thanks for being my hero.”

“I would do anything for you.” Antonio wrapped an arm around me and kissed my forehead.

“I love you.”

Epilogue

Antonio

Ant’s birthday party was in full swing. Kat’s idea for a detective party was a hit. We came up with two cases. When they solved the first case, the kids received half of the gear for laser tag. The second case led them to the rest of the gear. For the past hour, Ant and his friends had run around the yard. Kat and I had rented equipment for the adults too. Once the kids went inside to watch a movie, the game would be on. We planned to play women against men.

Kat walked toward me, her white summer dress blowing in the Florida breeze. She still favored her right side, even though it had been two months since she was shot.

She wrapped her arms around me. “His birthday is perfect. Thank you, Antonio.”

I leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “I didn’t do anything. You put this all together. Have I told you how amazing a mom you are today?”

Kat giggled. “You tell me every five seconds, but I love to hear you say it.”

We sat in the chairs on the back porch, and I gazed across the backyard. I was lucky to have so many friends and family. With Kat by my side, my life was almost perfect. I laid my hand on her belly. This week we had made a quick trip to the doctor. Kat had suffered nausea for the past week.

The doctor confirmed our suspicion that Kat was seven weeks pregnant with twins. I wanted to shout the news from the rooftops, but Kat wanted us to wait for the three-month mark. I would do anything she asked.

Neal and Daisy took two open chairs. Neal leaned back in his chair and grabbed Daisy’s hand.

“My brother Aaron texted this morning to tell me he was on his way back from Los Angeles.”

Neal grumbled something under his breath. Daisy playfully tapped him on the shoulder. “Neal is going to take Daisy to Los Angeles in two weeks. Daisy hasn’t been back since she was kidnapped. Daisy is excited and worried.”

Neal pinched the bridge of his nose. “You don’t happen to have an extra bodyguard, do you?”

“Jacob can go with you.”

At that same moment, Jacob stepped onto the patio. “Go where?”

“Neal and Daisy need a bodyguard for their trip to Los Angeles in a couple weeks.”

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