Page 48 of Tango
“I won’t lie to you, and I don’t know. But if you give me a minute, I can put out feelers.”
I nod then pull away from him. Tucker walks back to his bedroom, returning with a shirt on and his cell phone, which is already pressed to his ear. “I need you to do a check on someone.” He looks over at me.
“Logan Tarmac,” I tell him. “He lives a few blocks from my apartment. Works at Web Safe.”
“Logan Tarmac,” he repeats. “Yeah. Thanks. Call when you know something.” He ends the call then shoves his phone into the pocket of his sweats and crosses over toward me. In a tender gesture, he puts both hands on my shoulders. “Let’s have some coffee, okay? A buddy of mine is going to go check on him. He’s a homicide detective with the LAPD.”
“Okay.” It all feels surreal. But who knows? Knowing Logan, he’s probably just fine. I bet we’ll all laugh about this one day. Once the smoke is cleared and everything goes back to normal.
I follow Tucker into the kitchen and take a seat on a bar stool as he preps the coffeepot.
“They’re here. I’m out of time.”
He’d known they were coming, which is why he’d written the virus to deliver the message. He probably killed his computer in the process, just as he did mine. My chest aches, and I rest my head in my hands.
Why is this happening to me?
Lord, why?
“Are you okay?”
I don’t even try to hide it. I’m barely clinging to sanity as it is. First, losing Ramiro, and now, maybe Logan—what’s next? Will they find their way here and finish the job with my parents? Will they bring war to the Hunts’ doorsteps? “No.”
“Then talk through it.”
“I don’t know what there is to talk about.”
“You said that you asked Logan to get involved.”
I nod. “Aside from Ramiro, he was the only one I could trust at Web Safe.”
“What did he do for them?”
“When he got out of the army, he spent his time hacking into databases and reporting their weaknesses. Specifically in regard to virus protection software companies.”
“Which is how he knew to hack your computer rather than just send a message. It’ll scramble it. Make it nearly impossible to trace.”
I nod. “I asked him to keep his ear to the ground, but I never imagined he’d—” I trail off, my chest aching. “I can’t lose him too.”
I expect Tucker to pry. To ask who Logan was to me and what else I said to him. So when he walks around the counter and takes a seat on the barstool next to mine, turning my chair to face him, I’m honestly a bit surprised.
And then he says, “‘Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me. Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I’ve never done; with every breath they threaten me with violence.’” Remember the Psalm, Alice.” He takes my hands in his.
“I don’t know why I thought I could do this. I can’t take on a company like Web Safe. They have people everywhere. Government contracts, law enforcement—why did I think I could do this alone?”
“You’re not alone,” he says to me.
“You’re just another body that can pile up, Tucker. If you were smart, you’d turn me over to the police and never think about me or this case again.”
“We don’t know that he’s dead, Alice. Just breathe, okay? If we find out they got to him, then?—”
“Then what? You’ll do as I suggested and turn me over? They already killed Ramiro, likely Logan, nearly got to my parents. How many more people have to die before I realize that this isn’t a fight I can win? I’m not David, but Web Safe is certainly a Goliath.” I’m rambling, but I don’t know what else to do. The world is steadily spinning out of my control.
The coffeepot beeps, so Tucker gets up and fills two travel mugs with coffee. “Go get some shoes on. I want to take you somewhere.”
“This is not the time.”
“I think it’s the perfect time. We’re waiting for answers, and there’s nothing we can do right now except keep our heads and pray.”
