Page 35 of Zen's Crash

“I do appreciate that, Tank.” Zen’s tone of voice seems forced. “Why don’t you set up a perimeter and let us know if anything looks amiss out there? Me, Walter, and Rob have the inside covered.”

Tank gives Walter and Rob the stink eye. “Do those two computer geniuses know how to shoot a gun? They’re gonna be about as helpful as a fart in a wind tunnel if they ain’t got weapons or they can’t aim worth shit.”

“Those two have been working really hard at target practice, so let’s leave them to it, okay?”

“Sure, I’ll be outside. Call me if you need me.”

When Tank walks outside, Zen turns around. The look on his face is priceless—almost as comical as the look on Walter and Rob’s faces.

Walter stammers, “We’ve got a killer on the loose?”

Rob asks seriously, “What DEFCON level are we at?”

Zen frowns at them. “Lexi’s father was killed ten months ago, and the killer was never apprehended. We think he may try to acquire her.” Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, he adds, “I’d say that puts us at DEFCON 3, which is a heightened state of readiness. I mean you stay together, keep the doors locked when the shop is closed, and don’t take chances with your personal safety. Got it?”

“Sure thing, Zen. You can count on us to run a tight ship.” Rob must be former military or something. He has a short haircut, asked about DEFCON levels, and there was almost a salute at the end.

Zen tells them, “Thanks guys. I knew we could count on you. We think the killer might have compromised her computer, so we’re gonna be in the storage room breaking her desktop down to see what’s going on with the hardware and software. Lexi’s a builder, so she’s gonna throw together a computer to use while we’re figuring out what’s up with hers.”

Walter asks, “What do you mean by compromised?”

Zen responds calmly, “It’s not gonna explode or anything. We think he might have installed two-way surveillance program of some sort because we could hear him speaking.”

Rob gestures to my desktop. “You need to run a full malware spread on that thing.”

“We did that already,” I tell them. “We didn’t find anything, so Zen is going to do a deep dive.”

“Alright,” Rob states. “If you need us to make a food run or anything, just let us know.”

Zen says sternly, “No more food runs for right now. Food runs are not DEFCON 3. Get deliveries only. Use cash out of the till and leave the receipts. Food’s on me until we figure this out.”

Rob responds, “You got it. We’ll be really careful.”

Zen gives him a chin-jerk acknowledgment as he walks over and picks up my computer. “See that you do. I don’t think the killer will show up here, but if he does, I don’t want anything bad to happen to my employees.”

I follow Zen back to my favorite room in the building, excited about the prospect of building my own temporary replacement computer. Once the door is closed behind us, I comment, “That was all kinds of awkward.”

“Yeah,” Zen says as he puts my computer on a long table running down the middle of the room. “Walter and Rob don’t do too well with situations involving danger. They’re good guys, don’t get me wrong but I tend to keep quiet about club business around them. As far as your father’s killer goes, my club has been in dangerous situations before. A few years ago we had a run-in with a criminal syndicate and an outlaw club who was selling drugs and trafficking in the area. We managed to run them off, but not without some back and forth.”

I begin pulling together pieces for my new build as we talk. “That sounds more than just dangerous. It sounds downright deadly.”

“Our club is good at dealing with dangerous situations. My employees, not so much.”

“I hate that I’m the one putting them in danger,” I tell him hesitantly as I pick up a screwdriver.

He glances up from opening my computer to say, “You’re not putting anyone in danger. It’s the fucking asshole who killed your father who’s putting us in danger. Don’t ever think the things he does are on you.”

“I know you’re right. But the guilt is still there.”

He gives me a slight smile. “Maybe we can get rid of the guilt the same way we did with the stress.”

My face goes hot at the mere mention of him with his hand between my legs, of him licking his fingers clean of my pussy juice. “I probably wouldn’t say no to more face-to-face time with you.” There’s no sense lying to the man or playing hard to get. Right now, I’m all alone in the world with a killer on my tail. It’s not like Cindy and Kayla can help protect me. I both need Zen and want him. There’s no doubt about that.

His unsure expression brightens. “I would love it if you would spend the night with me. Just one night, and we’ll go to your place tomorrow.”

“I guess that depends on whether or not you can figure out what’s going on with my computer. You need to be here to work on it because all your tools are here. Finding out who’s been cyberstalking me is the first real break we’ve had in this case, so this is a priority over me sitting at home being bait.”

“You’re much more than bait. You know that, right, Lexi?”

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