Page 27 of Innocent Princess

Interesting."I could help you mark off some of those items," I hedge.

She blushes more. I'm willing to bet she's got some items on that list I'd enjoy way too much. I really want to know what they are, that's for sure.

She clears her throat. "Have you thought about putting on your white hat and using you hacking for good?" She whips out the question so fast, it nearly gives me whiplash.

"Huh." I swallow hard.

"I mean, I know you had to do a bunch of not so legal stuff to find my birth parents, but you were doing good. What if you did more good? What if you helped people more? Did less of the changing grades, signing people up for inappropriate websites and dating apps?"

Shit, she doesn't even know the half of it.

"Someone's been brushing up on hacker lingo." I smirk.

She makes a face just shy of sticking out her tongue. "Well?"

"I'm just not sure it's my thing. I kind of like playing by my own rules, Blondie. How much fun would it really be doing good all the time?"

She shakes her head. "I don't know, Ryker. I think you'd make one helluva white hat."

She leans forward in her seat and turns up the music a little, giving us a reprieve from the questions. Truth is, I'm not ready to think about how good it felt to do some good. Maybe it's more rewarding helping people who deserve it rather than people who want to hurt others. I don't know, but it's something to think about.

Zella is lost in the music, and I'm lost in my thoughts about how I'm going to use my hacking skills once I graduate. I glance at the dash to check my gas levels when I notice my temperature gauge is getting pretty hot. I shut down the AC and crack the windows.

Well, damn.That's not good. I'm not sure we are anywhere close to a town, so I hope it doesn't get any hotter. We have about two hours left on the trip before we can stop for the night. I just hope we can make it. We haven't gotten dinner yet, but Zella bought up all the snacks when we stopped for gas just before lunch. We've made good time, only needing to stop for gas once and a few quick restroom breaks.

Another twenty minutes pass, and the needle on the gauge is only climbing. I know I can't drive any further, as the needle is now in the red zone.

"Shit," I mutter.

This alarms Zella, and she snaps her head toward me, grabbing the oh-shit handle above her door when I slam on my breaks and pull off to the side of the road. "What's happening?"

I ignore her panic as I maneuver the Jeep to a stop. Smoke billows up from the hood as I shut the car off.

"Shit," I grumble under my breath.

"Ryker, what just happened?"

"We overheated. That's what just happened. Stay here." I unbuckle and check my side mirror to see if anyone is coming down the two-lane highway. We've been pretty much the only car on the road today, so I'm not surprised when I see open road in both directions.

Jumping out of the Jeep, I walk to the front and pop the hood.

Immediately, I'm assaulted with smoke. I leap back, waving it away and out of my face.

I hear the slam of a car door and wonder if we've been rescued when Zella comes to stand next to me. Figures she wouldn't listen and stay in the car like I asked.

"I'd feel better if you'd stay in the car, Zella." I glare down at her. She's wearing tight gray capris that look painted on, a purple T-shirt that says, "best day ever" on it, and matching purple flip flops, which I'm glad to see her wearing. Who knows what we might find out here.

"I wanted to see what's going on. Plus, what's the big deal?" She lifts her arms from her side and makes a show of looking around at our surroundings. "There's nothing to worry about."

"It's nearly dark, we are in no-man's-land, and I would feel better if you got back into the car." I look back at the engine; most of the smoke has cleared.

She giggles beside me. "What? You think the boogie man might get us? Or I don't know... maybe a lizard? I heard lizards out in these parts can be ravenous."

I get it. She's making fun of me. Still, I don't want her getting hurt. I move closer to the Jeep and ask, "Why don't you go look up the nearest town. Maybe search for a mechanic or something in case I can't fix this."

She giggles again. "Roger that."

Good.

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