Page 1 of Second Chance Savior

Prologue

River

I heardvoices outside my door, and then a knock. Without taking my eyes off my screen, I called out, “It’s open.”

Owen and Genevieve strolled into my apartment, arms around each other’s waists. I wasn’t even looking at them, but their aura of lovey-doveyness flooded the room like a heavy spray of perfume.

I took off my glasses, leaning back in my chair. “How’s the newspaper business?” They were a few minutes late for our meeting, but I wasn’t going to mention that. It was pretty obvious what had held them up.

Sheriff Owen Douglas was head-over-heels in love with Genevieve Blake, the feisty new reporter in town. Even better, the two of them weren’t annoying the shit out of me with their pining for one another anymore.

Nah, I was kidding. Mostly. It was good to see them bothsmiling and happy. Me? I didn’t have a personal life aside from my friendships.

I was a simple guy at heart. I had a short list of things that mattered to me. My friends, who knew me as River. My computer, where my network of associates knew me only as Rubicon.

And last, my mission. At the moment, that was Stillwater. A criminal organization I’d been tracking for months.

I detached my laptop from its docking station at my desk, and we gathered around my kitchen table. First, I gave them a quick update on my efforts to trace Stillwater on the dark web. I’d been working with another hacker, Cerberus.

“There’s been an increase in chatter lately among known Stillwater associates. Nothing specific so far. I think they could be working on their next move.”

“Do you think it’ll be soon?” Owen asked.

“My gut says yes. They haven’t mentioned any of our names. Yet.”

Genevieve and Owen exchanged a glance. After Gen had published a major exposé on Stillwater a couple of months ago, we all knew she had a potential target on her back. But Stillwater would surely have learned all our identities by now. We had to stay vigilant.

A muscle in Owen’s jaw pulsed. “What about the official in Hart County that Stillwater was bribing?”

The existence of this corrupt official pissed off the sheriff to no end. Stillwater had been operating in Owen’s county for years, and it rankled him that he’d had no clue. It was personal to him. Which could be a problem if he let that emotional response become a weakness.

“Cerberus and I are still trying to follow the money,” I said. “No luck yet. It was laundered too well. And the offshore bank accounts we knew about haven’t been touched in a while.”

Genevieve nodded. “That’s why I’ve been searching for the mole from other angles. I’ve been looking at motivations, changes in behavior.” She had brought a portfolio with her, which she flipped open to reveal papers inside. Gen did love her hard copies.

She removed a paper and passed it to me. “This is my current list of suspects. The latest addition is the one I’m most interested in. Charlotte McKinley, the Colorado lieutenant governor.”

I went still. My apartment seemed to telescope around me, my vision tightening on those two words.

Charlotte McKinley.

Charlie.

Genevieve kept talking, oblivious. Listing the reasons that Lieutenant Governor McKinley could be our target.

“No,” I interrupted. My voice was strained. Distant. “It’s not her.”

Gen glanced at me. “You know Charlotte McKinley?”

“I know it’s not her.”

Owen sat back in his chair. “Riv, could you give us a little more to go on than that?”

“You can take my word for it. That should be enough.”

I sounded defensive.Shut it down, I told myself. I had to control my reaction. But this had caught me completely unaware.

I just…fuck, I hadn’t been prepared to hear her name. Not like this.

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