Page 53 of Savage Seduction

“From my previous research, the FBI believes he’s still alive, so I think we need to approach this from that angle. What do you think?”

“I completely agree. There is little to no doubt left in me that he is alive.” I get up and go to the fridge to get some pizza. As I walk back into the living room, I say, “Searching for him would be like trying to find a ghost online, wouldn’t it?”

“Never said it would be easy, but there are things we can do to find him. The first thing we need to do is locate the information on the victims the FBI are associating with him.”

“Good idea,” I say. “He might have slipped up and tried to use something of theirs which will narrow down our search.”

“Exactly,” she says, already typing feverishly on the laptop. “You sit back and eat some pizza, and I will let you know what I find.”

I sit back and devour slice after slice. I had no idea I’d been that hungry. The stress from the day had zapped my energy and appetite, and I’d not eaten all day. I rest my head against the back cushion of the sofa and close my eyes. I can hear the tap, tap, tap of the keys as London flies across the keyboard—typing in command after command.

“Oh, he is good,” she says.

“You found something?”

She nods but continues her search. I wait for her to provide the information as I don’t want to further interrupt her flow. I have no idea how she does the things she does, but at this moment could not have been more thankful for her skills and friendship.

“Shit,” London says.

I look over at her computer screen and watch as it lights up multiple times and then goes black. The next thing happens so fast I’m not even sure what I’m looking at, but column after column of scrolling computer gibberish fills the screen. London begins frantically typing in commands, and with each hit of the enter key, grows more upset. Her escalating use of profanities is hitting top tier when she finally slaps her screen closed and falls back into the sofa cushions.

“What happened?”

There is sweat beading up on her forehead and her breathing is fast and shallow, but she eventually says, “Someone tried to hack the hacker.”

“Who?”

She shakes her head and blinks a few times. “I have no idea. My guess, either the FBI or Viktor Fedorov.”

I hadn’t heard The Butcher’s real name spoken aloud in years, and it makes me shudder. I don’t like to think of him as a real person. Maybe it’s because of the monstrous things he’dforced me to endure, or maybe it’s because somehow, he’d managed to survive four close-range forty-five caliber shots to the torso. Whatever the reason, the man feels inhuman.

“Do you think they were able to track you? Here?” I ask.

She stares at the laptop for a few more seconds and then sighs. “I don’t think so. I used multiple levels of encryption and a variable I.P. address system. If they were able to track me, they would have found our location, but not necessarily who was accessing their databases.”

“Wouldn’t be too hard to make the leap to me if they knew which apartment it was coming from.”

“There’s no way they could pinpoint us that closely… maybe the square mile, but you’re right, if they knew who you were then it wouldn’t be hard to determine it was you.” London turns to look at me. She shows pity in her eyes. “I’m really sorry, Max. I did the best I could.”

“It’s not your fault. There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

“Do you want to come stay with me tonight?” With a huge grin on her face, she says, “Nana would love to see you. It’ll give her an excuse to cook for you.”

As much as I would love to have some world-class barbeque ribs and chocolate cake, what she always made me when I stayed over, I decide to stick it out at home at least one more night. “There’s not much sense in leaving. I have my gun. I’ll put it under my pillow tonight. Viktor Fedorov…” Uttering the name feels like vomiting in my mouth. “He already knows where I live, and it’s not like the FBI are going to kill me in my sleep.”

“True,” she says. “Maybe soon? I’ll tip Nana off so she can at least stock up on your favorites.”

“Definitely.” I stand and stretch my arms overhead. “I know I took a nap today, but I’m exhausted.”

“Kicking me out?” She smiles. “You want your beauty sleep for when you meet up with Dr. Dimples? Huh?”

I can’t hide my smile. The idea of getting another hug from him gives me goosebumps. “He smelled so good when we hugged.”

“Boy, I’m going to need all the nitty gritty afterwards. Promise me.”

“Scouts honor,” I say, holding up two fingers.

London gets up and laughs. “It’s three fingers, dude.”

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