Page 39 of Tango
I run a hand over the back of my neck as heat climbs over the skin. “Three of my brothers are married, Riley being the most recent one to stand at the altar. Uh, I’m single, and so are Dylan and Lani.” Why is this making me so nervous?
“No southern belles catch your eye?” she asks. She’s being playful, but for some reason, it’s hitting a bit harder. Is she prying?
“I’m not actively searching.”
“Broken heart on the mend?”
“Just not looking,” I tell her, trying to keep my tone level when it feels like it’s thirty degrees hotter in here than it actually is. Besides, it’s not a complete lie, though it’s not the truth either. “I’m pretty busy with work and the ranch. There aren’t many women who would be patient with all of that, and I’m not one to put only part of me into something. When I do find that someone special, I need to be able to dedicate a whole lot more of me to the relationship than I can now.”
“Honorable. Not a lot of men think like that.”
“I’m not like a lot of men.”
“I get that feeling.” Her pale crystal gaze locks on mine, and for a moment, the rest of the world simply fades away.
Then, the front door opens, breaking whatever tension was between us.
“Tucker, you here?” Dylan calls out.
“In here.” I clear my throat. Get it together, Hunt.
Tango rushes in first, brown eyes wide, ears forward, tail wagging. He slams into my legs and does a circle, then sits so I can pet him. “Hey, boy,” I reply with a laugh.
“He was not up for being distracted anymore,” Dylan says as he comes into the room. His gaze lands on Alice. “Miss Sterling.”
“Dylan. It’s just Alice, please.”
He doesn’t respond to her before shifting to me. “I wanted you to know Web Safe made a move on Frank.”
“What kind of move?” I step forward, a bite of anger surging through me. All I can think about is what they tried to do to Alice’s parents.
“Accused him of hacking the system and leaking that security video. Apparently, Find Me is currently doing what it can to thwart a warrant being issued for their system. Web Safe is requesting a thorough vetting of Find Me’s systems for proof that it was used to hack in and steal that video.”
Anger burns through me. They’re lies. All lies in an attempt to distract us now that Bradyn told Wilbur we were trying to find Ramiro. My guess is that the bruisers taken from Alaric’s custody also told whoever hired them that I have the Sterlings.
“There’s no way Frank or anyone at Find Me could have gotten into that system.” Alice crosses her arms. “And Web Safe knows that.”
“Of course they know it,” I say as I cross my arms too. “They’re just looking for another route to take if they can’t pin the data hack on you.”
“If they get into his system, they can plant information that makes it look as though he did what they’re saying,” Alice says, eyes widening.
“Which is why he asked me to come talk to you, Tucker.” Dylan fully faces me. “Frank wants to know if there’s anything you can do to hide the more sensitive information in Find Me’s database. Names, ages, pictures of the people they’ve saved. You’re the only one he trusts.” He casts a side-eye at Alice, who holds up her hands.
“You don’t trust me. Got it. I’ll make myself scarce for now.” Alice leaves the room. Clearly curious about our new roommate, Tango trots after her.
As soon as she’s gone, I turn toward Dylan. “She’s innocent.”
“I’m not saying she isn’t, but given that she’s wanted for murder, based on fairly clear video footage, I’m also not open to trusting her at the moment.”
“Treating her like a criminal isn’t right, Dylan.” My brother has trust issues. There’s no denying that, but for some reason, the fact that he refuses to show Alice any trust is irritating me. A lot more than it would be if it were anyone else.
Dylan takes a deep breath. “Fair enough. I’ll apologize on my way out.”
I nod. “Thanks for taking care of Tango. I didn’t want to take him into town, and leaving him here alone just seemed mean.”
“No problem. He ran off quite a bit of energy, so he should be crashing in a few hours.”
“Good to know. I’ll get to work on Frank’s database. Depending on how good Web Safe is, I might be able to design a way for the information to be invisible to them; that way, they can’t get it even with a warrant.”
