Page 15 of Hacker Heart

Maggie tilts her face to the side, and that’s when I catch a flash of crazy eyes. Well shit. If I was a betting woman, which I am, I’d say Maggie is about to become a problem.

* * *

When stakingout your bff’s home, it’s wise to have a solid excuse ready to go should you be discovered. And lucky for me, Maggie just made herself the perfect scape goat.

It’s two in the morning, Val should be well and truly into REM as I stride up his driveway like it’s perfectly normal for me to be here at this hour. It’s all about confidence. I can’t have the neighbors reporting a suspicious lurker to the cops.

Once I reach the front stoop, I sidestep, spin, then drop into a squat behind the shrubs that line the front wall. With my back pressed to the scratchy brick surface I crabwalk sideways until I’m positioned close to his computer desk.

Retrieving a picnic blanket from my huge purse, I spread it out, then drop to my ass on it before pulling out my laptop. Then I get to work.

It takes seconds to login to his WIFI network, allowing me to effortlessly hack his server. I skip over all the boring stuff like bank records and tax receipts. When I find what I think I’m looking for, I cringe.

Oh, Val. It’s not even in an encrypted file—no password protections, nothing. I really need to talk to him about device security.

With a couple of taps on my trackpad, I find a single folder full of word docs. I quickly count them, five. Given their sizes, they’re not small documents. Each of them ranges from two to four hundred kilobytes. I click on the one that was most recently accessed and start reading.

I keep reading.

And reading.

And reading.

ChapterSix

Stepping out the front door,I’m still not sure how I feel about meeting up with Maggie this morning. I can’t for the life of me figure out why she suddenly wants to apologize. She was furious when I refused to choose between my girlfriend and my best friend. But being the nice guy I am, I agreed to meet her for a coffee at Perky’s.

I’m locking the front door when something pink catches my eye. I turn my head to the left and just about fall off the stoop at the sight of Belle sleeping behind my hedge. I creep over and poke her shoulder. “Bee, what are you doing?”

She jolts awake, a confused look on her face and a few twigs in her hair. She glances around at our surroundings, and mutters, “Shit.”

I have so many questions. “Ah, want to tell me why you’re sleeping in my shrubs?”

“Umm… I ah…” She runs a hand through her hair, her fingers snagging on a knot. She clears her throat as she removes a twig. “Well, okay, so I ran into Maggie yesterday afternoon, and she gave off some seriously f’ed up vibes, Val. I was worried she might show up here and cause a scene or something. I was just keeping an eye out.”

I arch a brow. “From the shrubbery?”

“That’s how stakeouts work. I wasn’t going to sit out in the open.”

I nod, as technically that’s correct. “Right yeah, I know that. But,” I gesture at her disheveled appearance. “What the fuck, Bee?” Her appearance is probably the most concerning part of all this. Belle is never anything but completely put together. Ever.

She sighs and shuffles around until she’s leaning against the wall. “You know, a thank you would be nice. I slept on the ground for you, Valentine. You could at least show a little appreciation.”

This is weird, even for us. But I don’t have time to get into it right now. “You want a hand up?” I extend my arm to her.

With a roll of her eyes, she places her palm in mine and allows me to help her stand. I pick up her blanket then reach for her discarded laptop.

“I got it!” she yelps, snatching it out of my reach just as my fingertips graze its edge. A brilliant smile stretches across her face as she deposits it in her massive purse, then takes the blanket from me and shoves it in, too. “Well, I better go. I’ll see you later.” Then she’s jogging down my drive—in six inch heels—like this is a totally normal morning.

* * *

I strollin to Perky’s just after nine and survey the filled tables. There’s always quite a crowd here on Saturday’s. I don’t spot Maggie on my first sweep across the room, so I do another. She used to harp on about punctuality like she was paid to, so I know she’s here somewhere.

On my second pass around the area, a blonde woman waves at me, and I do a double take before realizing its Maggie. When I reach her, she stands, wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug.

“I’m so glad you came!” she gushes.

Extricating myself, I hold her at arm’s length. “Hey, Mags.” She beams at me, and I force a smile in return.

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