Page 55 of Hacker Identified

Sophie pointed her finger at Kat. “Whenever Kat is involved, trouble follows. You’re in the group chat and see all the shit my sister gets into.”

The group chat was like watching reality television. Every so often, it was so out of control I had to mute the conversations. Then later I’d spend an hour trying to get caught up.

“You should talk.” Kat shot back. “Last week, you hacked your son’s preschool to make sure he got the lead role in the play. I’ve never gone that far.”

“Are we not going to talk about how you took Candy Nickle down?” Sophie asked.

Kat shrugged and said, “I never claimed to be perfect. Technically that’s different. She was the head of the PTA.”

Sophie threw her head back and laughed. “Now, how is that working out for you?”

“Crappy. I thought the PTA was a bunch of elite snobby women who had nothing better to do. But they take on way more than I realized. It’s why I handed over the position to someone I felt capable of handling the position. How did your plan pan out?”

“Zayden and Zion are both happier at the school.”

My phone dinged, and I glanced at the screen.

Zack: Are you having a good time?

Me: Yes, but I’m going to meet Nicole. There’s a protest happening.

Zack: Send me the address, and I’ll meet you there.

Me: No. Have fun with the guys, and I’ll see you tomorrow.

Zack: Let me send Texan.

Me: Kat is coming. I promise I will be fine, have fun.

Zack: Can’t wait until tomorrow. Call me later. I want to hear your voice before I go to bed.

The waitress cleared the plates while I texted Zack. Somehow I’d missed Kat handing over her credit card and picking up the bill. We all headed out the door, and Sophie wrapped me in a big hug. She made us promise to call her when we were back at the penthouse.

“Since you took an Uber, why don’t you ride with me? I’m excited about this protest.”

The two of us climbed into Kat’s black Lexus SUV. Kat pushed the start button on the dash, and two things happened at once. A cold blast of air pumped through the vents, and Zayla Solace’s voice boomed through the speakers as she read a report about blood spatter analysis. Her podcast Serial Killers Unfound analyzed unsolved cases. Kat told me for the past few months, Zayla had pulled together four cases, and she believed they were all linked to one killer. I’d only caught a few sound bites of the podcast.

“I’m thinking about reaching out to her to see if she needs help on this case…” Kat paused as she turned at the light. “This is the third killing this month. I wonder if the killer sped up the kills because they like the attention her podcast receives, or they like the attention Zayla gives them.”

“Are you sure she’s not making things up to get more subscribers?”

Kat tapped her foot on the brake and slowed down. “That was my first thought too, or she was taking cases from around the United States and fudging evidence to make the murders all fit her storyline. That’s why I had Sophie hack her system and pull the data... Don’t look at me like that. I wanted to see if the claims were true, and from what we could see, they are. I’m not sure how she got the police reports, but everything lines up. Asher and CJ are planning to head to Raleigh next week and try to meet with her.

For so long, I wished my life was different, but all the pain and heartache I experienced led me to the best group of people I’d ever met. The media portrayed each of them in a different light, and I know now that was why I had a misconception about Zack when we met.

The GPS announced we’d arrived as Kat pulled into a parking spot in front of a small pink abandoned building. To the left was a new four-story office building, and on the right was a small barber shop. We were nowhere near any type of wildlife habitat. I glanced at the screen and double-checked the address Nicole had sent me.

“What are we supposed to protest?” Kat asked.

“Nicole said she would explain when I got here. We are only a few blocks from the ocean, so maybe it is about sea turtles. I normally only go to events tied to endangered plants and trees though. Maybe that’s why she didn’t say. Let me send Tim a text.”

Me: Did you send me the right address?

Kat typed on her phone next to me while we waited for him to reply.

Tarzan: Yes. When you get here, just come inside. We are all in the back room discussing our strategy.

“This is the place.” The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I glanced back at the building with a piece of plywood over the window.

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