Page 8 of Hacker Beloved

Asher leaned his hip against the counter. “I only made food for Zayla.”

CJ's hand stopped moving. “I’m hungry.”

“You ate only a couple of hours ago.”

“But I had a workout afterward,” CJ’s voice deepened, and his cheeks turned a little pinkish.

Now heat coursed through my body as I thought about the naked workout the two men probably had.

Asher winked, “I guess you deserve a snack.”

CJ applied a bandage and then stepped back. “It wasn’t deep,” he said, “you should be alright.”

I looked down at my hand and smiled. I was grateful for CJ’s help.

Asher finished making the sandwiches, and we all sat down at the kitchen table. As I took a bite of my sandwich and glanced around the room, I realized how lucky I was that they’d showed up before the kidnapper changed his mind and killed me.

I’d just taken a bite when Asher asked, “Can you explain how he got in your house? I tried to figure it out from your room, but nothing made sense.”

"I was putting my laundry away when I heard the back door open," I began, recounting my steps.

Asher’s brow shot up. “But I checked your back door, and there was no sign of a break-in. We have to figure out how he got a key.”

I couldn’t help but wince. “The door was unlocked.”

Asher’s mouth shot open. CJ reached over and squeezed his hand. “This is not a time to discuss the importance of locking doors.” Asher narrowed his eyes at CJ, but CJ continued. “It’s also not the time to discuss her dead battery on the Ring doorbell or the fact she doesn’t have a seven-foot fence.”

“So, I can discuss lawn lasers?” Asher asked.

CJ blew out his breath. “No.” He turned toward me. “We won’t keep interrupting you. Please explain how he found you.”

“When I heard the back door open, I rushed into my bedroom and dove into the back of my closet. He found me right away, and before I could register what happened, he stuck a needle in my arm. I didn’t wake up again until I was in that room strapped to the table.” I paused for a moment and then realized I had no clue how they found me. “How did you track my location?”

“First, I unlocked your phone to check the Ring came-”

Asher cut CJ off. “That won’t happen again, because I plan to hire a contractor to have the doorbell wired to the electricity in your house. Also we’ll be installing a full security system.”

CJ rolled his eyes. “You will learn quickly that the Ross men take protection to the next level. I’m on your side and understand how easy it is to forget to charge the battery. Let’s get back on track with how I found you. After I couldn’t get any information on the app, I accessed your computer to find out what the last thing you worked on was. I noticed Spytrap was installed on your computer. I was able to backdoor into the software and find the location he was transmitting to.”

My stomach curled, remembering the row of monitors. “He wasn’t only watching me. Each monitor had a different family on display.”

CJ and Asher exchanged a glance, their faces unreadable.

I continued, my voice growing stronger. "He wanted me to play a game, and if I didn’t listen, he would punish me. If I reach five punishments, the last one will be my death."

Asher yanked his phone from his pocket. "We’ve had the profile wrong all along. A serial killer always has a reason for his or her killing. We need to go back and review each of the murders and expand our research."

CJ nodded, “If he had other people on camera, they could be playing the game, or he plans to go after them. Are you sending Antonio a text?”

“Yes, I added you and Kat to the chat?” Asher spoke while he typed on his phone.

CJ groaned. “You know she will be here by morning. And when she gets involved in a case outside of Ft. Lauderdale, we end up having to clean up all the bodies.”

“She?” I asked.

Asher glanced up from his phone. “Kat. If I keep her out of a mission, she will go behind my back. It’s better we bring her in from the start. Especially since she is obsessed with your podcast.”

“I’m confused. I know you’ve mentioned she has experience. I don’t want to take her away from her kids.”

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